August 2023 Outlook
USDA official announces grants, visits Fairbanks
USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Chavonda Jacobs-Young and three members of her staff paid a whirlwind visit to Fairbanks in August.
Jacobs-Young, also USDA's chief scientist, said she wanted to get a closer look at programs funded by the USDA, including the five-year, $18 million Next-Gen grant awarded to IANRE earlier this summer.
An additional $1 million was awarded to the "" project. This ongoing project has been funded at about $1 million per year since 2005, for a total of about $20 million to date. It is led by UAF's College of Rural and Community Development.
Jacobs-Young met with UAF officials and toured Georgeson Botanical Garden. She later met up with Eugenia Hartsook for a tour of 4-H exhibits and livestock at the Tanana Valley State Fair where she met with current and former 4-H'ers. Marla Lowder noted, "It was a wonderful experience."
Granddaughter of first University of Alaska graduate visits UAF
— Julie Stricker
Alaska has been a part of Jennifer Shanly Boll’s life for as long as she can remember. She was born in Alaska and spent five summers here as a child and travels in the state frequently as part of her job. Those roots go even deeper with the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Boll’s grandfather, John Sexton Shanly, was the very first graduate of the University of Alaska — then known as the Alaska Agriculture College and School of Mines — on June 12, 1923.
The headline in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner for that day was splashed across the top of the page in huge letters: “First ‘COMMENCEMENT’ of Farthest-North College at 8 O’clock Tonight.”
The Class of ‘23 had exactly one graduate: Shanly.
World War I had interrupted Shanly’s college career at Cornell University, where he was studying agriculture. After the war, he decided to homestead in Alberta, but ultimately ended up in Alaska working on the Alaska Railroad and as a coal miner in Healy. He met college President Charles Bunnell while filing for a homestead in Fairbanks. Bunnell learned Shanly had already completed three years of agricultural studies at Cornell University and talked him into enrolling in the very first class at the college. Shanly was 28. As he was the only senior, he was promptly elected president of the Student Association.
He received a bachelor’s degree in agriculture.
One of Shanly’s three daughters, Patricia (Boll’s aunt), also attended the then-University of Alaska in Fairbanks in 1947. She frequently mailed copies of the school newspaper, the Polar Star, to her father, some copies of which Boll brought with her.
Boll lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, and works for a travel company that specializes in continuing education. She said John Shanly “was quite the Irish charmer,” who kept in touch with friends in Alaska throughout his life.
Kristin Haney led Boll on a tour of the Fairbanks Experiment Farm, including the nearly century-old barn, the Variety Trials fields and the student experimental plots. Boll also toured Georgeson Botanical Garden.
Mat-Su Field Day and listening sessions
— Jenn Wagaman
The Mat-Su Experiment Farm hosted its first annual Field Day event on Aug. 3, 2023. Community members and public officials joined researchers for a tour of the farm and short informational talks about research projects at the facility.
Representatives from Alaska Sen. Shelley Hughes, U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, as well as Mrs. Alaska AmeriCAN Alison McCullough and University of Alaska land management staff learned about research on the farm including barley and small grain trials, rhubarb, cover crops, pest management, community and healing gardens and even Alaska-grown hazelnuts.
The event was a huge success with lots of positive feedback from participants. It culminated in a brown bag lunch on the farm grounds with researchers and community members discussing the farm's history, projects and possibilities. Stay tuned to learn how you can join us next year.
Listening sessions
IANRE Director Jodie Anderson continued her community listening sessions in August with a visit to Kenai and Soldotna.
Anderson met with MAPTS director Bill Bieber and learned about a new partnership between MATPS and the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation to provide oil and gas support training at the MAPTS Delta Junction facility this fall. The two discussed the increased programming and workforce development projects happening at MAPTS as well as Bieber's partnership with the University of Utah to compete for a nationwide grant from the U.S. State
Department to provide training and consultation to Greenland for underground mine training, methods and design at the Greenland KTI Rastofskolen School of Minerals.
Anderson also met with the Kenaitze Tribe to discuss community needs and partnership possibilities. The Tribe is farming a greenhouse as well as three acres of fenced land to feed Tribal elders and run youth and elder programming. Tribal members expressed a need for classes in preserving and canning, food safety and nutrition education, and shared their excitement over a recent USDA grant that will be used to build an ADA-accessible raised bed.
Anderson finished off her visit by attending the 4-H Ag Expo where she participated in the auction and met with 4-H community members and Kenai office staff to discuss local needs and successes.
Tanana Valley State Fair
2023 Tanana Valley State Fair recap
— Leslie Shallcross and Ronda Boswell
Each year, the Tanana Valley State Fair provides an important educational outreach event for IANRE. People count on us being there and are always looking for new publications, research-based practical information … and jar openers!
The Tanana District Extension Office extends a big thank you to IANRE booth attendants who shared their time, expertise and enthusiasm with fair-goers. It was especially enjoyable having such a wide variety of departments within IANRE represented at the booth. Special kudos also go out to our Communications Unit for the new eye-catching posters, well-stocked boxes of publications, swag and display items, and frequent announcements with important fair updates.
For the entire run of the fair, July 28-Aug. 6, we had unusually hot and humid weather, which makes one wonder if we had a record-breaking fair with no rain? That may explain why we missed the usual swarms of people taking shelter from the rain in the Borealis Pavilion and reading our pubs to pass the time!
Final numbers are pending, but we estimate about 160 hours were put into the booth, with about 120 of those hours provided by booth attendants. Our prize drawings this year included "Alaska's Sustainable Gardening Handbook," which drew 210 entries over the full 10 days of the fair. The second, "Using Alaska’s Wild Berries and Other Wild
Edibles," drew 141 entries in the first five days of the fair. "An Alaska Herb Garden" had 188 entries over the last five days of the fair. A total of 116 people requested to receive periodic emails.
Visitors, both new and longtime CES supporters, are always happy to see our booth and comments were positive and appreciative. One such comment was left on Director Jodie Anderson’s voicemail, which really helps sum up our statewide mission and validates our efforts:
Hi Jodie!
I’m a local artist here in the Fairbanks area. I’m just at Tanana Valley State Fair here selling my art and I’ve had several customers come in to tell me about the booth you got here at the Cooperative and to check it out and I did and I was blown away with the amount of information — very useful information — that you have there. It could definitely change or save somebody’s life up here in Fairbanks. Just wanted to reach out and say thank you so much for being a part of that and putting the effort forth making that happen.
Thanks again to all who sat at the booth. If you have any ideas, comments or suggestions for next year’s fair booth, please pass them along to Ronda Boswell at rlboswell@alaska.edu or Leslie Shallcross at lashallcross@alaska.edu.
A busy fair for Tanana District 4-Hers
Youth participated in diverse activities such as the 4-H Bake Off, a fashion show, large and small animal showmanship and the horse show.
Elle Gifford of 40 Below Musketeers had a chance to show some of the more than two dozen arts and crafts exhibits she entered to visiting USDA Under Secretary Chavonda Jacobs-Young. That's not counting her vegetable entries, Gifford said. Several of her exhibits in Upper Totem Hall were displayed with first-place and grand champion awards. Jacobs-Young and an aide were particularly impressed with some of the sewing projects on display in the pavilion.
On the livestock front, 27 youth in the Tanana District sold 45 animals for $87,588.46.
Jude Huffman, a member of North Pole Ptarmigan 4-H Club, again won grand champion for his market steer, as well as grand champion lamb.
The Cloverbuds even had an afternoon at the fair with their teen leaders. They wore the tie-dye T-shirts they had made, drew chalk art on the sidewalk and got to pet some bunnies.
The barn outside the petting zoo was renamed in honor of longtime 4-H leader Nancy Graff, who passed away in April.
Kenai Peninsula Ag Expo
Kenai Peninsula ag expo a success
— Cassy Rankin
Kenai Peninsula District 4-H has wrapped up its third annual Agriculture Expo, which was held at the Soldotna Sports Complex in Soldotna the weekend of Aug. 4-6.
This year’s event was a success due to the generous support of 36 sponsors from across our community and our state.
At Ag Expo, KP 4-H saw:
- 90,700 dollars poured into our KP 4-H JML youth by way of Junior Market Livestock auction purchases and outcry add-ons
- 6357 pounds of ethically raised homegrown livestock sold to community members and businesses: one ton of cattle; 1.25 ton of swine; half ton of sheep and goat; quarter ton of poultry.
- $2,250 raised by JML youth for a local charity of their choice
- $1,000 raised for KP 4-H programming by way of a Silent Cake Auction
- 815 people at our event
- 118 4-H animal exhibits
- 75 community youth participating in agricultural activities at the 4-H Kids’ Corner during Community Classes
- 67 non-animal 4-H exhibits
- 57 4-H animal exhibitors
- 51 bidders at the JML auction
- 42 auction items sold
- 26 non-animal 4-H exhibitors
- 19 Expo Team Members working hard to keep the train running
- 17 4-H horse show exhibitors
- 13 local vendors selling food, wares, or sharing about their organizations
- 13 4-H livestock showmanship competitions by youth members’ age
- 12 4-H livestock shows by species
- Seven volunteer exhibit judges
- Four livestock judges
- Three community classes on various agricultural topics presented for all Expo guests
- Three antique tractors and engines on display
- Two entries into our first-ever Towmater Farm Truck Show
- One first-ever Ag Olympics event for our community
- One barn dance for KP 4-H
- One IANRE director who was the lucky winning bidder on a Thanksgiving turkey!
Check your vinegar before canning
— Julie Stricker
Some vinegar sold in Alaska stores may not be acidic enough for use in home canning, according to the University of AV Cooperative Extension Service.
Vinegar used in nonpressurized water-bath canning, such as pickles or chutney, should have 5% acidity. Some vinegar now in Alaska stores has only 4%. The acidity percentage is listed on the label.
The higher acidity is necessary to prevent the growth of deadly botulinum bacteria.
The level of acidity in a pickled product is as important to its safety as it is to taste and texture.
If the vinegar is too weak, soft or slippery pickles will occur. These symptoms indicate microorganisms were not destroyed.
If you have used vinegar with an acidity of less than 5%, the recommends the following:
• If your canned food has been preserved for less than 24 hours using 4% vinegar, it is recommended to store the jars in the refrigerator to maintain the safety and quality of the product.
- If your canned food has been preserved for more than 24 hours using 4% vinegar, it is recommended to discard the product.
For more information, contact Health, Home and Family Development agents Leslie Shallcross at lashallcross@alaska.edu, 907-474-2426 or Julie Cascio, jmcascio@alaska.edu, 907-745-3677.
Ice your fish to avoid scombroid poisoning
— Julie Cascio
(This post was prompted by reports of a Delta couple who became ill after eating fish brined at room temperature.)
Catching fish is a true adventure. But when caught, it’s very important to ice fish immediately. This is to retard bacteria growth and to prevent scombroid poisoning.
“Scombroid is caused by eating fish that has not been properly refrigerated or preserved, which causes it to have high levels of histamine. The histamine causes symptoms resembling an allergic reaction in people," according to the .
Fish should be immediately iced, refrigerated, or frozen when caught to prevent scombroid as cooking will not destroy it.
Scombroid poisoning occurs after the ingestion of fresh, canned or smoked fish with high histamine levels due to improper processing or storage. For more information, visit the .
Research update
Busy summer for soils team
— Chelsea San Roman
The soils team has been hard at work collecting data on trials, planting, as well as visiting farms and gardens across Alaska.
Our cover crop trial had a slow start so some of our more unique crop selections such as sorghum have not grown as well as we would have liked, but even bad news is good data. Some standout performers have been spring camelina and phacelia. Both have good canopy cover to keep weeds at bay and are a favorite of the pollinators at the farm. We will continue to let our cover crops grow into the fall and then start collecting biomass, soil and root samples.
We have also been conducting a statewide soil health survey. In this survey, we visit farms and gardens around Alaska and collect up to three soil samples. We ask questions regarding soil amendments, tillage practices, crop rotations, cover cropping and much more. We have enjoyed seeing the diversity in Alaskan agriculture and meeting the people involved in it. When we are back to the lab we set about drying and sifting the samples. We will be sending out a portion of these samples to outside labs for testing soil nutrients. We will be conducting other tests in our lab for soil texture, microbial biomass carbon.
This week Jakir Hasan and Chelsea planted a perennial wheat trial and a kernza trial. The purpose of these trials is to develop varieties suited to Alaska’s unique growing conditions. We planted the wheat trial with our trusty v-belt seeders and were done within an hour.
For the kernza trial we had our not-so-trusty wintersteiger cone seeder fresh from the shop. We planted 9 of 12 rows when our clutch went out again! With some creative thinking, engineering (aka MacGyvering) and the help of Alex, Jeff, and Bob we attached the seeder to the back of our John Deere 2040. With Chelsea driving the tractor, Jakir loading the seeds, and JT steering the seeder we were able to finish planting!
In the News
- Heidi Rader's Aug. 20 gardening column in the News-Miner:
- Marla Lowder's Aug. 13 column in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner:
- Joey Slowik is featured in this ADN story:
- Glen Holt in the Alaska Beacon on spread of spruce beetles:
- Cassy Rankin and a youth 4-H member was interviewed on the on July 26 about Kenai Peninsula 4-H
- Leslie Shallcross's July 30 column in the News-Miner:
- Here's a nice from the University of Alaska system wide office
- Ned Rozell visits with Pat Holloway and an Austrian researcher
(Note, if you don't subscribe to the News-Miner, you can read Extension columns on the )
Events
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