America's Heartland - Episode 216

Episode 216
	This edition of America’s Heartland comes to you from the Matanuska valley outside Anchorage, Alaska. It’s not the first place you’d think to find American agriculture but as we’ve learned, it doesn’t matter where you travel in our United States the lower forty-eight, the islands of Hawaii, or here in Alaska. We found a vivid example in the fertile Matanuska Valley, where we met some of descendants of a bold Depression-era farming experiment.

Alaska's Mantanuska Valley
We travel to Alaska to learn about an historic experiment in farming that brought settlers from all across America and Canada to open up Alaska’s Matanuska Valley. Then, thanks to summer days lasting almost 24 hours, farmers grow incredibly large vegetables that are the wonder of the world. We also travel to the Alaska State Fair for a very “big” display.

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Alaska State Fair
After 70 years running, The Alaska State Fair is still the best place to see the state’s agricultural bounty. It’s a crowd sporting parkas and sweaters in mid-August. Exhibitions featuring sledgehammers, and chainsaws. While Alaska’s total crop yield may be small compared to the lower 48, the crops that do grow in the Land of the Midnight Sun can be huge.

Alaska Potatoes and Chips
Growing potatoes in the cool wet weather of Alaska is just one of the challenges faced By Alaska potato farmers, but they still make the most of their modest commodity.

Kenai Salmon
We can’t spotlight Alaskan agriculture without including its aquaculture. Seafood – king crab, whitefish and salmon, are a big part of the state’s economy. Commercial salmon fishing began here back in the 1880’s. Today, Alaskan waters produce more than seven hundred million pounds of the tasty fish. And many consider the Kenai Peninsula to be “salmon central.”

Musk Oxen Farm
Throughout the heartland, there are small numbers of dedicated ranchers raising all kinds of exotic livestock. It’s the Arctic’s oldest living species the musk ox. Fifty years ago, one man began an effort to save this endangered animal while at the same time, helping lift some native tribes out of poverty.

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The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture, Farm Credit, and the United Soybean Board make presentation of America's Heartland possible.

Additional production and promotion assistance is provided by
The American Soybean Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Cotton Council, U.S. Grains Council,
National Association of Wheat Growers, and the National FFA Organization.