June 17, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH

Frontiersman

MATT TUNSETH/Frontiersman Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer, left, talks with Havemeister Dairy farmhand Floyd Harmon Friday following a rally held at the Palmer farm in support of the state’s dairy industry.

MAT-SU - In 1935, a rugged group of Midwesterners packed up and left a continental United States ravaged by the Great Depression and headed for Alaska Territory in search of a better life. Settling in the fertile Matanuska Valley, the colonists found winters long and growing seasons short, but the hardiest and most stubborn among them managed to hang on.

The agrarian lifestyle those first 202 families brought to Alaska changed the face of the Valley, turning it into the state's agricultural heartland and bringing farming to an area many thought could never sustain it.

While farmers using Depression-era technology were able to sustain themselves off the land, today's Mat-Su farmers are on the verge of becoming a footnote in the history of the state's fastest-growing region.

A recent decision by the Matanuska Maid Dairy - the only major dairy in Alaska - to close its doors next month has sent shock waves through the Valley farming community. On Friday, that close-knit group met at the area's last producing colonial-era dairy farm to try and shed light on their plight.

The rally attracted statewide media attention - both because of the importance of the dairy to the state and because of the presence of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who made headlines last week when she was denied access to the state-run dairy plant by officials citing homeland security concerns.

State Creamery Board chair Mac Carter later said the incident was nothing more than a communications breakdown, but the damage was done. Although he wouldn't comment specifically about the incident, he issued a statement about Palin's public appeals.

“I have made three attempts to get ahold of Meg Stapleton of the governor's office to ask the governor to stop talking to the media and for us to start talking to each other,” Carter said.

Alaska grown

Raised in Wasilla, Palin's reputation is that of a fighter, and she came out swinging Friday. While tactfully dodging media requests, the governor told the crowd of about 200 who gathered at the Havemeister Dairy Farm that she doesn't plan to let the dairy industry dry up just yet.

“We can revive it, and that's what our commitment is,” Pain told the crowd, which interrupted her with cheers several times during her brief remarks.

Palin was vague in her promises, but said she plans to do whatever it takes to help the farmers continue milking their twice-daily milking routine.

“To show you our commitment to you, we are going to help,” she promised.

Palin has expressed outrage at the board's decision not to use $600,000 in state funding that was intended to help keep the dairy operational. Instead, the board shut down based partially on a report by Mat Maid CEO Joe Van Treeck that endorsed closing the dairy because of rising shipping and dairy prices nationwide.

Valley stock

Bob Havemeister was born on the farm five years after his family began raising dairy cows near Palmer. Today, the Havemeister's family farm includes around 150 head of cattle, including 90 active milking cows. Havemeister said he believes Palin will be true to her word, and that he doesn't think the governor is one who will let the industry go down without a fight.

“I think she got mad,” Havemeister said. “Joe's in for a big shock.”

Havemeister - whose life on the farm has left him with rough hands and an unflinching tendency to speak his mind - said that without some kind of action by the state, he'll be in a tight spot. Cows need milking, but with no dairy to sell to (the only other in the state, in Delta Junction, can't handle the farm's 700-gallon per day volume) he'll be left with few options.

“You're going to see a lot of dead cows,” he said.

If the farm is forced to destroy its livestock, Havemeister said it will mean the end of decades of work spent raising cows specially bred for life in the Last Frontier.

“You don't do that overnight,” he said. “If it goes to slaughterhouse, that's it.”

Seeing his life's work destroyed would be a tough blow for Havemeister.

“It's not the money, it's just getting rid of a herd of cows you've used for 50 years,” he said.

If Havemeister and the handful of producing dairy farms in the state shut down, it's likely to cripple the $50 million farming industry. While niche produce farmers won't be much affected, hardy hay is one of the state's most reliable crops. Without cows to eat their hay, those farmers - already under increasing pressure to sell their land as the Valley becomes a more attractive living option for Anchorage commuters - will be hard-pressed to keep planting crops.

A way of life

State representative Carl Gatto, R-Palmer, thinks that would be a shame. Gatto took time following Friday's rally to visit the Havemeister's barn, where farmhand Floyd Harmon gave him the grand tour, which included close-up looks at the milking floor as well as a massive, 1,800-pound bull Floyd described as “a whole lot of hamburger.”

After getting a first-hand look at the operation, Gatto said he believes measures need to be taken not only to save the dairy industry, but to ensure farming remains a way of life in the Valley.

“I wish we could buy the rights to agriculture,” Gatto said.

Without farming, the Mat-Su Valley won't be the same, he said. “This is the flavor of the Valley. It's the place where agriculture developed.”

Floyd, the 63-year-old self-described “shovel operator” who ushered Gatto around the barn, milks the Havemeister cows twice a day. He's been working on farms his whole life and has lived in Alaska since 1970. He said he doesn't want to see the farm go, and would like to continue milking cows for as long as he's able.

“At the end of the day, I can say I accomplished something,” he said.

While the work is hard, he said he enjoys the slower pace of farm living.

“As long as I get my work done, I can sit down for 20 minutes,” he said.

Harmon thinks more should be done to encourage young people to get into farming. While wages might not be high, he said it's honest work and provides him with a good living.

“If you're willing to work at it,” he said.

Common concerns

Among those who lent their support to Alaska's struggling dairy industry Friday was a group of roughly 30 outside farmers who share a common bond with those working the Valley. Many of the union members who made the 45-minute bus trip from Anchorage hailed from the nation's heartland, the place that gave birth to the original Matanuska Colony more than 70 years ago.

Minnesota Farmers Union President Doug Peterson said the group felt it was vital to show support for their Alaska brethren.

“You're going to take an economy and pull their leg out from under them? It doesn't make any sense,” Peterson said.

Peterson said Alaska residents should let their government officials know they believe their state's dairy industry is worth saving.

“Consumers ought to be outraged,” Peterson said.

He added that larger forces at work within agriculture are what has helped put Matanuska Maid in peril. Large companies now own most of the nation's farms, meaning corporations can dictate prices and run small operations out of business. In his state, he said 85 percent of the meat raised is now under corporate control.

“The very large corporations own it from the dirt to the dinner plate,” he said.

Wisconsin Farmers Union President Sue Beitlich agreed. While her state is the nation's second-largest dairy producer, she said farmers there are facing problems similar to those in Alaska.

“Small cheese plants in Wisconsin are hurting too,” she said.

Beitlich said it's high time consumers realized that corporate control is hurting the entire industry.

“Something doesn't quite smell right with this whole thing,” she said.

Something worth saving

Bob Havemeister doesn't think the answer to the problem is for the state to throw money at farmers.

Instead, he believes the dairy industry could be saved if Alaska residents and politicians would decide homegrown farm products should be a priority. For too long, politicians have focused too much energy on oil and gas issues and not enough on agriculture.

He also noted that Matanuska Maid is on the verge of collapse because the dairy lost sight of its core values in favor of trying to expand into other products.

“All we need is a nice little plant here in the Palmer area that will handle fluid milk - period,” he said.

The Havemeisters aren't giving up their fight to save their way of life. Following Friday's rally, Bob said he's confident in the state's Valley-grown governor. He believes Palin and others in state government will come through with a plan to keep the milk flowing.

He's cautiously optmistic there's hope the ambitous farming experiment that began in 1935 will prove a success long into the future.

“I kinda think, maybe, it will,” he said.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com