Agricultural & Forestry Experiment Station |
Palmer Research & Extension Center |
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The
Matanuska Experiment Farm 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
- 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
- Horticultural--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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