 Palmer
Research & Extension Center
The
Matanuska Experiment Farm, part of the Agriculture
& Forestry Experiment Station, provides a site in Southcentral
Alaska for research in sustainable agriculture, land reclamation
and other environmental issues. The Experiment Farm is located
on Trunk Road off the George Parks Highway about 36 miles north
of Anchorage. It includes 260 acres of cultivated land and 800
acres of forest land for research or demonstration purposes, including
barns, feed storage facilities and pasture land. The experiment
farm has a complete complement of farm equipment to produce and
harvest grain, forage (both hay and silage), and other crops.
There are also field and laboratory facilities for research on
soils, plants and livestock, and an adjacent greenhouse facility,
operated by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. This facility
includes a modern headhouse and physical plant capable of supporting
six greenhouse units.
Laboratory
- 8,500
square feet
- Houses:
- Soil
and Plant Analysis Lab
- Soil
Morphology and Classification Lab
- Plant
and Range Science Lab
- Plant
Pathology Lab
- Equipped
with modern analytical instruments, including B.O.B.,
the aerial observation blimp
- Supports
research in horticulture, agronomy, forestry, plant pathology,
arctic soils, revegetation, animal science and various environmental
research projects
- Available
for contract analysis by other university units, public agencies
and the private sector
History
- 1917:
Established as a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Agricultural Experiment Station
- 1931:
Transferred to the University of Alaska
Agronomy
- Soil
research and managing crops for sustainable agriculture emphasize:
- Plant
breeding, especially developing small grain varieties adapted
to northern latitudes;
- Forage
quality including developing alternative forages with superior
nutritional qualities for high latitudes;
- Soil
science involving classifying arctic and subarctic soils,
carbon cycling in arctic soils in relation to global change,
cooperative Russia-Alaska research on permafrost-affected
soils in Alaska and eastern Siberia
- Range
science and research ecology on reclaiming and revegetating
lands disturbed by oil and mining development
Horticulture
- Horticulturel--Alaska's
largest agricultural industry--research focuses on:
- Evaluating
potato varieties suitable for Alaska's growing conditions
- Assessing
and controlling potato diseases
- Evaluating
alternative organic fertilizers
- Evaluating
lettuce varieties for disease and tip burn resistance
- Evaluating
alternative vegetable crops
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