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

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 lettuce varieties for disease and tip burn resistance

Contact Info:

1509 S Georgeson Drive
Palmer, AK 99645

Phone: (907) 746-9495