Valley hobby farmers' influence grows

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the owner of a small local poultry farm picked up 7,500 day-old chicks that were stranded at the Federal Express facility at Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage. Tony Schmidt's Triple D Farm became an escape route for the chicks, which had been ordered destroyed by their shipper.

But Schmidt's farm is only a part of the story. At peak capacity, Triple D would accommodate around 3,000 birds -- it's a small niche farm which provides live stock to hobby farmers and fresh meat and eggs for people who shun the cheaper offerings in grocery stores.

The last large poultry operations in Alaska were egg farms, which disappeared in the late 1980s. That any of the 7,500 chicks were saved in September is a testament to the growing influence of hobby farmers in the economy of an area that has become more suburban than rural.

"I found homes for most of them and I kept a few for myself," Schmidt said. "People came from all over the place."

Larry Tallman is one of the principal partners in Alaska Animal Food Warehouse. The sort of person who would purchase a dozen chicks for 25 cents apiece and raise them to butcher is Tallman's best customer.

"There's two sides to that business," Tallman said. "One of them is the live stock side, but our concentration is on the feed and supplies side. We have been growing, almost beyond what you would believe."

Tallman's partner, Tim Sonnentag, opened the business in March 1987. It certainly wasn't the best of times for the Alaskan economy. Tallman bought into the warehouse-style retailer five years ago. He said Sonnentag was looking for a recession-proof business when he founded the company.

And the company is doing well, with a second store in Anchorage and plans to expand the Wasilla store next year. Tallman claims gross sales climb every year, even with cheaper products available at big retailers like Wal-Mart. He actually says Wal-Mart helped his business.

"[Wal-Mart] forced us to deal with the realities of being a niche marketer," Tallman said. "Our business has absolutely thrived in the shadow of Wal-Mart."

Tallman calls his typical customer the "urban farmer" or "gentleman farmer" -- a person who owns more than one species of animal, but rarely owns more than a few of any single species.

Today's hobby farmer is looking for a rural lifestyle similar to what the so-called Depression-era "back to the land movement" historians write about, but with an important difference . . . these hobby farmers have cash.

Tallman's job is to convince them his products have the best price-value ratio.

"You can feed your animals 10 cups a day of something that costs 10 dollars a bag, or three cups a day of something that sells for 12 dollars a bag -- you'll figure out what the best value is," he said.

Tallman also noted that winter is a good time in the feed business.

"Animals need more nutrients during winter. Our business actually does better in the winter than in the summer," he said.

There are changes on the horizon for Alaskans who raise birds for eggs and meat. A new poultry brooding operation will start up next spring, and shipped-in birds like those sold at Triple D are in the middle of a national tug of war involving the U.S. Postal Service and the major airlines.

Because most of Triple D's shipments are small, Schmidt typically receives his birds by mail. Last summer airlines balked at handling the birds at regular mail rates.

A recent act of Congress requires the airlines to carry day-old birds if they carry mail. But the arrangement only lasts until June 30, 2002. After that, special postal rates for birds will be worked out with the airlines, according to Bird Shippers of America. Schmidt and his peers from all over the country have been writing letters to Congress this year and waiting for prices to be set.

"I think they'll have it worked out at least through the busy part of the year, but it remains to be seen what happens after that," Schmidt said. " . . . I expect the postage to nail us -- I mean, they're trying to raise the cost of stamps, so I expect the cost of shipping poultry to go up as well."

Schmidt will also be competing with a new Valley hatchery operation next year. Mike Cunningham, who has worked as the herdsman at Havemeister Dairy Farm for a decade, plans to sell birds next spring at Alaska Hatchery, a new operation he built at his home off Wasilla-Fishhook Road.

"We're trying to set ourselves up to hatch up to 5,000 a month if needed," Cunningham said. "I don't know if we'll need to do that, but I want to be prepared just in case."

There are differences in the two farms. Cunningham doesn't plan to sell meat off the farm -- Triple D, on the other hand, is butchering turkeys this month.

Triple D is more wholesaler than hatchery. Schmidt receives chicks shipped day-old, and retails them locally. Triple D sells birds at the farm and chicks in pens placed in local feed stores. Schmidt said Outside hatcheries allow him to provide more variety to his customers.

"I'm not going to change my game plan," he said. "I certainly can't imagine bringing in big brood stocks and still being able to provide variety -- people don't want just this chicken or that chicken, they want

variety."