Guest essay by Eric Worrall
According to climatologist Nancy FrescoAlaska may have the potential to be self-sufficient by 2100 – but a lot of government intervention is needed to kick-start Alaska’s agricultural revolution.
Climate change could allow Alaska to grow more of its own food – now is the time to plan for it
February 4, 2022 12.10 am AEDT
Nancy Fresco
SNAP Coordinator, Faculty of Studies, University of Alaska Fairbanks…
As a climate researcher at International Arctic Research Center in University of Alaska Fairbanks, I recently worked with other scholars, farmers, and gardeners to begin an investigation into our state’s agricultural future. We used model of global climate change low class at the local level, along with detailed information from farmers grow vegetables for the local market and tribal groups interested in horticulture and food security. Our goal was to take a preliminary look at what climate change means for agriculture in communities across the state, from Nome to Juneau and from Utqiaġvik to Unalaska.
Our research shows that planning for future decades and even future generations can be critical to keeping Alaska nourished, healthy, and economically stable. We’ve created online tools to help Alaskans start thinking about the possibilities.
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Our climate models show a significantly variable future for crops in Alaska by 2100, with frost-free seasons extending not only by days, but also by weeks or months; cumulative summer heat doubled or more; and the coldest winter days become 10 or 15 degrees lower.
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Growing more fresh food here will help Alaska economically and nutritionally – but it won’t happen automatically. To achieve a meaningful long-term increase in agriculture, Alaska Food Policy Council recommended the creation of a state-funded proactive nutrition education program, further developed food storage infrastructureoffer for sale financial incentives to expand agriculture and teach the inhabitants about northern farming methods. The council’s research shows that the state can realize great benefits from investing in training, technology, support for concentrated businesses such as packaging and storage, and programs to promote culture. farming chemistry.
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The idea that Alaskan agriculture will begin with government intervention is even more absurd than the idea that Alaska will experience significant warming over the next century.
Farmers always pay attention to low-cost land that can be productive.
I remember a very educational radio interview with an Australian frontier desert wheat farmer. He explained that he joined because he couldn’t afford to buy a normal farm, but once you consider the cost of capital he made more profit than the average farmer. He’d only gotten a decent crop in two out of five years, but the government’s leasing of large tracts of marginal land so cheaply, it more than made up for the bad years.
How many second sons of farmers, skilled but landless people, will rush to exploit any new land ushered in by global warming? It will be like a new gold rush.
All the Alaskan government has to do is stay away.
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