Bring Home the Milk: A Mat-Su Co-op Can Make Local Cheaper Than the Barge – If the Borough Steps Up
We’re Paying Too Much for Milk
I walked into Carrs in Palmer yesterday. A gallon of the cheapest milk on the shelf costs $4.50 to $5.00. That’s the “good” price this week.
Next week? Who knows. The price jumps fifty cents or a dollar every time a barge runs late or fuel prices spike. Meanwhile, we’re surrounded by thousands of acres of hay fields, yet we ship in almost every drop of milk and nearly every pound of ground beef from 2,000 miles away.
This isn’t just expensive. It’s unnecessary.
Local Farmers Stand Ready
Fifteen to twenty local hay farmers have already committed. They’re ready to put cows and steers into a shared Valley co-op. They just need one thing: someone to build one modern milking parlor and a small processing locker.
That’s it. One facility unlocks everything.
With that single facility, we can deliver 500 gallons of milk per day and 5,000 pounds of local ground beef every week. Suddenly, local milk drops to $3.50–$4.00 per gallon. Local hamburger falls below six bucks a pound.
We’ve Done This Before
Remember Matanuska Maid? It was once the biggest dairy in Alaska. The land is still here. The hay is still here. The customers are still here. Even the know-how remains.
So what’s missing? A little help from the people we elected.
The Borough Has Started – Now Finish the Job
The Borough Assembly has taken solid first steps. They’ve kept hay land in production, passed a food sovereignty resolution, and funneled some grants our way. Good start.
Now it’s time for the moves that actually put money back in our grocery carts.
1. Lease Land to the Co-op
Give the co-op a 10–20 acre hay-field parcel on a $1-per-year lease. Better yet, make it free for five years. Use it for the parlor and pasture.
We already cut sweetheart land deals for ball fields and fire stations. Feeding 115,000 residents matters more.
2. Create a “Valley Protein Fund”
Set aside $750,000 to $1 million annually for three years. Use it to cover half the cost of robotic milking equipment, solar power, and a mobile butcher unit. Existing state and federal grants cover the rest.
This isn’t charity. It’s leverage.
3. Waive All Borough Fees
Eliminate every borough permitting and inspection fee for the co-op’s buildings. Plan reviews, building permits, zoning applications, inspections – they add up fast. We’re talking $8,000–$12,000 on a project this size.
Every dollar we waive is a dollar that doesn’t get baked into your milk price.
4. Give Co-op Producers the Same Breaks We Give Big Business
Extend the same fuel tax break and electric-rate discount we give large commercial users to co-op producers. Cows don’t stop eating in January. Farmers shouldn’t pay premium rates to feed them.
These Aren’t Handouts – They’re Investments
Every one of these measures pays off at the checkout stand. Week after week. Year after year.
The Interior can keep its bison and its –40° winters. Mat-Su has the milder climate, the flat land, and the population to make this work. We just need the political will to make local milk and beef the cheapest option on the shelf instead of the most expensive.
Here’s What You Do Next
Pack the December 10 Agriculture Advisory Board meeting. Show up at every Assembly meeting after that. Tell them loud and clear:
- Build the co-op
- Cut the red tape and the fees
- Give us milk that costs less than the barge stuff
Because in Mat-Su, “Alaska Grown” shouldn’t just be aBring Home the Milk: A Mat-Su Co-op Can Make Local Cheaper Than the Barge – If the Borough Steps Up