The Alaska Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (AFES) was established in 1898 in

Sitka russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, also the site of the first agricultural experiment farm in what was then

Alaska Territory The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from August 24, 1912, until Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959. The territory was previously Russian America, 1784–1867; the ...

. Today the station is administered by the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for cla ...

through the School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences. Facilities and programs include the Fairbanks Experiment Farm (est. 1906), the Georgeson Botanical Garden, the Palmer Research and Extension Center, the Matanuska Experiment Farm, and the Reindeer Research Program. Research at AFES has concentrated on introducing vegetable cultivars appropriate to Alaska and developing adapted cultivars of

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

es,

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es, and

berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

(for example,

strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

and

raspberries The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with w ...

). Animal and poultry management was also important in early research, with studies on

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

yak The domestic yak (''Bos grunniens''), also known as the Tartary ox, grunting ox or hairy cattle, is a species of long-haired domesticated cattle found throughout the Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, the Tibetan Plateau, Kachin Sta ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

dairy cow Dairy cattle (also called dairy cows) are cattle bred for the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cattle generally are of the species ''Bos taurus''. Historically, little distinction was mad ...

s, and swine over the years. Modern

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...

study at AFES is focused on

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

and

muskox The muskox (''Ovibos moschatus'', in Latin "musky sheep-ox"), also spelled musk ox and musk-ox, plural muskoxen or musk oxen (in iu, ᐅᒥᖕᒪᒃ, umingmak; in Woods Cree: ), is a hoofed mammal of the family Bovidae. Native to the Arctic, i ...

en, with some research on

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

. Other research is in soils ( cryosols and

carbon cycling The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth. Carbon is the main component of biological compounds as well as a major component ...

studies, for example) and

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

revegetation Revegetation is the process of replanting and rebuilding the soil of disturbed land. This may be a natural process produced by plant colonization and succession, manmade rewilding projects, accelerated process designed to repair damage to a land ...

forest ecology Forest ecology is the scientific study of the interrelated patterns, processes, flora, fauna and ecosystems in forests. The management of forests is known as forestry, silviculture, and forest management. A forest ecosystem is a natural woodland u ...

and

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

, and rural and economic development, including energy and

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...

research.

History

The

Hatch Act of 1887 The Hatch Act of 1887 (ch. 314, , enacted 1887-03-02, et seq.) gave federal funds, initially of $15,000 each, to state land-grant colleges in order to create a series of agricultural experiment stations, as well as pass along new information, es ...

authorized agricultural experiment stations in the U.S. and its territories to provide science-based research information to farmers. In 1898 the federal government established the Alaska Agricultural Experiment Station in Sitka. The

Kodiak Kodiak may refer to: Places *Kodiak, Alaska, a city located on Kodiak island * Kodiak, Missouri, an unincorporated community *Kodiak Archipelago, in southern Alaska *Kodiak Island, the largest island of the Kodiak archipelago ** Kodiak Launch Com ...

station was also established in 1898, operating until 1931. Stations in Kenai (1899–1908),

Rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...

(1900–1925), Copper Center (1903–1908), and

Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...

(1906–present) followed quickly. In 1915 the Matanuska Station (now the Matanuska Experiment Farm) was established. In 1931 the federal government transferred ownership of all experiment station facilities to the College of Agriculture and Mines in Fairbanks. The Sitka and Kodiak stations were closed. The college was renamed the University of Alaska in 1935.

Region-specific variety development

Few varieties of northern-region grains, vegetables, and fruit have been developed for subarctic or arctic areas. The Alaska experiment station works to produce new varieties that will succeed in Alaska's weather conditions, often starting from plant or animal strains used in Scandinavia and Siberia. Below are release dates and varieties developed. *2009. Sunshine hulless barley *2008. Midnight Sun-flower (unofficial release) *2006. Wooding barley *2001. Finnaska, a short-stemmed, high-protein

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

*1987. Kenai polargrass *1986. Nortran tufted hairgrass *1983. Alasclear

*1981. Datal barley; Otal barley; Thual barley; Norcoast Bering hairgrass; Highlat russet potato; Squentna strawberry; Ingal wheat; Nogal wheat; Vidal wheat *1980. Sourdough bluejoint reedgrass *1979. Denali potato *1977. Alaska red potato *1976. Tundra glaucus bluegrass; Alyeska polargrass; Kiska raspberry; Toklat strawberry *1974. Yukon Chief corn *1972. Denali alfalfa; Lidal barley; Weal barley; Ceal oats; Toral oats *1970. Alaska 6467 & 6469 cabbages; Alaska Frostless potato; Early Tanana tomato *1969. Susitna and Matared strawberries *1968. Pioneer strawberry *1965. Nugget Kentucky bluegrass, Polar bromegrass *1964. Arctared red fescue *1963. Alaska russet potato *1961. Stately potato *1959. Alaska 114 potato *1953. Gasser wheat, Alaskaland red clover, Knik potato *1920. Trapmar barley *1905. Sitka hybrid strawberry

References

100 Years of Alaska Agriculture
''Agroborealis'' 30(1), Spring 1998. Fairbanks: University of Alaska.

External links

Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station homepage
{{Coord, 64, 51, 25, N, 147, 51, 48, W, display=title 1898 establishments in Alaska Buildings and structures in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska Farms in Alaska Research institutes established in 1898 Science and technology in Alaska University of Alaska Fairbanks