Agriculture conference scheduled for Fairbanks
February 15, 2017
Debbie Carter
907-474-5406
The Alaska Sustainable Agriculture Conference will take place Feb. 21-23 in Fairbanks
with an eclectic mix of sessions that cover reindeer husbandry, farm management and
processing of birch sap.
“If you want to grow food or raise animals, this is perfect conference,” said organizer
Steven Seefeldt of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. The
conference usually draws more than 200 people, including farmers, ranchers, gardeners
and others in the agricultural support industry.
The keynote speakers will be Mike Ridenour of Meadow Maid Foods in Wyoming, Steve
Caccamo of Next Generation Maple Products in New York and National FFA president David
Townsend. Ridenour will talk about challenges he faced starting and building his farm
in Wyoming. Seefeldt said Ridenour and his wife, Cindy, who grow vegetables and raise
grass-fed beef, face similar problems as Alaska growers, including cold weather and
distance from markets. Caccamo will discuss developing a viable birch sap and syrup
industry in Alaska, and Townsend’s topic is the opportunities for youth in agriculture.
The main meeting day will be Feb. 22, with presentations on sustainable practices,
farm management, meat and fiber production, and birch sap and syrup making. Full-
and half-day workshops are scheduled on Feb. 21 and Feb. 23 on birch sap processing,
woodlot management, improving soil with combusted biomass, soil management, farm risk
management and financing, growing rhodiola, and gardening and farming in rural Alaska.
A full-day reindeer husbandry course will feature university experts and reindeer
producers talking about reindeer nutrition, handling techniques, parasite control
and artificial insemination.
The Cooperative Extension Service will host the 13th-annual conference at the Westmark
Fairbanks Hotel. Agenda and registration information are available at http://bit.ly/sareconf. For more information, contact Seefeldt at ssseefeldt@alaska.edu or 907-474-1831 or Darcy Etcheverry at ddetcheverry@alaska.edu.
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Debbie Carter, 907-474-5406, dscarter@alaska.edu