Through an online survey targeting food producers, the governor’s office and the state Division of Agriculture is exploring if a farmer- and rancher-owned cooperative could help strengthen Alaska’s agriculture industry. On the top of the survey page, the state asks, “Should Alaska expand cooperative opportunities for agriculture?
“Absolutely. I think cooperatives are fundamentally, they’re more democratic, Ian Zacher said. “You elect your boards, you elect your members, people have more say in what is being produced, right?”
Zacher, along with his wife and two young sons, run a farm on Kodiak Island called Ferme Bear Donn, also known as brown bear farm, located in Bells Flats.
Zacher supports the co-op concept, but he’s skeptical that it could address the underlying issues that plague Alaska’s agricultural industry, such as a lack of infrastructure and high shipping costs.
“There’s many different forms of cooperatives and they all have their pros and cons, but it’s not going to change the fact that it costs about 40 to 50% more, in some cases up to 100% more, to get things up here," he said.
The intro text to the state’s survey suggests that a co-op could help producers cut costs through bulk purchasing, shared marketing and transportation. It also says that if “enough” farmers and ranchers fill it out, then the governor’s office will support a feasibility study to explore next steps with up to $50,000 with the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office didn’t make anyone available for an interview on Nov. 14 because of scheduling conflicts with the Alaska agriculture conference and grazing lands symposium in Anchorage, but a spokesperson did answer questions by email. Though not one about what “enough interest” means.
Grant Robinson, the deputy press secretary, said in an email that the state’s involvement is only in facilitating the scoping of the co-op and that improving food security continues to be one of the governor’s top priorities.
Michelle Pages, the president of the Kodiak chapter of the Alaska Farm Bureau, said cattle ranchers and vegetable farmers alike face exorbitant shipping costs.
“Shipping in all the seeds, the soil, the hoop houses. I’ve been wanting a hoop house on my farm and it’s been a challenge just to figure out how to ship it here [to Kodiak]," Pages said. "We got one quote that was like $4,500 from Kenai.”
That's $4,500 just to cover shipping. According to a report from the state’s food security and independence task force from 2022, most of Alaska’s food supplies are imported from outside which results in roughly $2 billion being sent out of state per year.
Pages is also a Kodiak farmer with dozens of chickens, but like many on the island, it’s not her full-time job. She works as a chef at a local coffee shop, a gym manager and fitness instructor at a local gym as well as a ranch hand for one of the cattle farms on the island, Copley Ranch.
“I believe there needs to be more farmers so that we don’t put so much stress on a couple of farms," Pages said. "And with more farmers, there’s more food security in that we’re building a stronger base.”
There are roughly 1,200 farms in Alaska, according to the latest federal census of agriculture, and their needs are varied. About 500 operate on 9 acres or less. The Kodiak Island Archipelago alone has small scale family vegetable farms, cattle ranches, a certified goat dairy, hydroponic operations and kelp farms.
Zacher, the vegetable farmer, said he’s concerned about how a co-op will meet those unique needs.
“One of those concerns is like, how are these cooperatives going to be run? And how are they going to be assembled?" he asked.
The governor’s spokesperson, Robinson, said by email that would all be up to the co-op members and the agricultural cooperative would not be a “subdivision of the government.”
The 12-question survey was developed by the governor’s office of food security, the Division of Agriculture, and the Alaska Cooperative Development Center at the University of Alaska Anchorage. The survey is open through the end of the month and can be found on the Division of Agriculture's Facebook page.
