On a Thursday in April, Abby Raisanen unlatched a pen and watched as her pig Magpie barreled straight for the freshly filled food bowl. More than a dozen piglets waddled right behind her.
Raisanen has been helping raise animals for about five years and said she’s learned a lot of valuable skills, like patience.
“There's so much that goes into raising livestock that you never would know everything,” she said. “It's fun. It keeps me busy.”
Along with swine, the family’s farm in Wasilla is home to several cows and chickens. The 16-year-old also works at a microgreen farm nearby and recently received the Alaska Agricultural Youth Impact Award.
Alaska has one of the smallest agriculture industries in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but it's growing. Some in the industry say more producers are needed, but several economic factors make it hard to get started, especially for young Alaskans.
Dylan Blankenship is working to change that. The 30-year-old owns a hay farm in Point Mackenzie and chairs the statewide chapter of Young Farmers and Ranchers, a national program with about 60 Alaska members that offers support to producers ages 18 to 35.
Blankenship said the group aims to help the next generation of producers, like Raisanen, by giving them a seat at the table.
“It's so easy to forget that there's a next generation that wants to do this,” Blankenship said. “We're losing people wanting to get into agriculture – they’re going to the Lower 48. Hopefully this is another stepping stone for them to give Alaska a chance to be their home forever.”
The number of young producers in Alaska, defined by the USDA as those under 35, has remained flat over the last two agricultural censuses in 2017 and 2022. The census is published every five years and will next be released in 2027.
According to the Alaska Food Policy Council, food production has become increasingly expensive and is often seen as a risky investment, which can limit entrepreneurs from starting farms. Many farmers in the state work more than one job to make ends meet.
“I have not met a single farmer yet that doesn’t have an off-farm income. Everyone up here is doing it because they love to do it, and they hope one day it can be economically viable, and we're all trying for that. It's for the love of the game,” Blankenship said.
That raises the question - how do you attract a new generation? It’s one Blankenship said keeps him up at night.
Ken Hoffman shares that concern. The 28-year-old is executive director of the Alaska Farm Bureau and owns Mat-Su Microgreens, where Raisanen works, and supplies to restaurants around the state. He said those joining the sector are driven by passion.
“Dumbledore in Harry Potter said you can do the right thing or you can do the easy thing. Farming is, I think, the right thing to do, but it definitely is not easy.”
Although locally grown produce is more expensive, Alaskans are willing to buy it. Hoffman said that appetite is growing.
“If you grow it, people will buy it,” he said. “We should be spending a little bit more at the grocery store for local vegetables, because they really are the best in the world.”
Despite the challenges, the number of farms in Alaska has doubled since the early 1990s, but they’ve gotten smaller. More than 40% of farms in the state produce on less than 10 acres.
Zoe Fuller is one of those small-scale farmers. The 32-year-old owns Singing Nettle Farm in Palmer, which produces on just over an acre of land. Fuller said most farms in Alaska don’t fit the stereotype, which she finds inspiring.
“We think of a man on a tractor on 100 acres. That is not what it looks like in Alaska,” she said. “I think we have an incredible farming network here that is small scale farms, that are operated by hand, and we're producing a whole lot of food on a small acreage.”
Nearly half of Alaska farmers are women. Fuller farms full time. Her partner is a teacher, which she said helps with insurance and income.
Fuller grew up on the land she’s farming now. Her parents bought it in the early 1990s, which is a privilege, she said. Access to affordable land is a significant hurdle for producers, and that problem is amplified in Alaska. She said she’d like to see more land trusts offer long-term leases to farmers.
When she opened Singing Nettles in 2020, Fuller said she wanted to make a difference in her community. She said food brings people together – and by feeding her community, she’s built one.
“We were able to kind of buffer those costs for ourselves by growing our own food. But also, beyond that, for our extended family and our community,” Fuller said.
Fuller co-founded the Matanuska Community Farmers Market, which kicks off for the season on June 10.
Raisanen, the Wasilla teen, said there’s a lot of benefits to raising your own food – like knowing where it came from. Plus, she said it tastes better than what you can buy at the store. She says she hopes to continue farming as an adult.
“I really enjoy farming,” Raisanen said. “It would be cool to stay in it, just see what the future brings.”
