Published every Friday at Primer, Alaska, for the the Motonusha Valley Pc.•'•triers eo
oper .ting Association, Tor the purpose of giving nets of the Association’s work,
prob 1ms and acco.npllohmnto. And nets of Interest-._
Cub .orlptlon by mn 11 H1»V5 ycsr 1 y ._Bex $1 ,00._Single cot
. ’ ' AGRICULTURAL EXPANSION
The most dramatic fact about Alaskan agriculture, In Its present stage of
development, Is Its failure to keep pace with the local demand for many of the
products which can successfully be produced In the Territory. Shipments from
the States of food products more or less competitive with those which c- n be
provided by Alaskan agriculture amounted to about five million dollars in 1939.
The various commodities were as follows:
Value of specified agricultural products shipped from States to Alaska, lSSQ'*'
.lOg.
Meat and meat products.$:2,iyu.uuu
Epss..*. 544.-000
Milk, condensed, evaporated, dried . 425,000
Butter and cheese .. 65*^,000
Fodders and feeds . 104,000
Potatoes, white . 145,000
Vegetables, canned . 407,000
Malt liquors .. . 597 -000
_Total. 5.065-000
1 U. S. Department of Commerce: Statistical abstract of the United Stat s,
1940, Page GEO.
Scrlctly comparable information on the value cf farm products supplied to
the Alaskan market by Alaskan''farms is not available. The census does, however,
report sales of certain principal products. These data, in combination . ith
those which have been cltud, give a rough indication of the great discrepancy
between the Alaskan supply and the existl «,g demand. The reported value cf
specified products sold from ^laskan farms in 1939 v\as as follows:
Value of specified products sold from Alaskan farms, 19391
Milk and cream .. $'306,387
Potatoes . 43,203
Eggs.. i. 40,523
Vegetables ..»..* . 22,930
Greenhouse products 13,095
Poultry. 7,197
Fruits and berries .. t . t. 4,613
Hay .... i ...» t ... i ... « 1,625
Nursery stock . 1.320
Total. 441.092
1 Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, Agriculture in Alaska.
All of the figures are for the year 1939 prior to the initiation of the large
scale defense program in Alaska. The disparity between demand and local supply
is, of course, much greater now.
Of the millions of acres of potentially arable lands in the Territory,
Alaskan farms contain only about 11,000 acres now classified as crop lane. Of
this, bout 7,000 acres were harvested in 1939. About 750 persons are sinfully
employed on farms. This is less than 2g% of the gainfully employed population.
Agriculture, in a well-balanced economy, should directly support 15 to 20y of
the population. Slightly more than one-third of l.laskan farm operators are over
55 years of age.
Taken from “Regional Resources Development—
Report for 1942
(There is much more to this article; however, limited space does not permit its
inclusion at this time.)