In 1898, the Alaska Agricultural Experiment Station was established in Sitka, also the site of Alaska’s first experiment farm. Subsequent stations were opened at Kodiak, Kenai, Rampart, Copper Center, Fairbanks and Matanuska.
The Alaska Agricultural Experiment Station was not originally part of the Alaska land-grant college system. In 1931, the experiment station was transferred from federal ownership to the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, and in 1935 the college was renamed the University of Alaska. When campuses opened at other locations, the Fairbanks campus became the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
To reflect its broader mission, the experiment station became known as the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station in 1984. Two experiment stations remain as the Fairbanks Experiment Farm and the Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center.
Early experiment station researchers introduced many vegetable cultivars appropriate to Alaska and developed adapted cultivars of grains, grasses, potatoes and berries. Animal and poultry management was also important. Variety trial and other agricultural research continues, as does research in soils and revegetation, forest ecology and management, and rural and economic development. As the state faces new challenges in agricultural and resource management, the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station continues to bring state-of-the-art research information to the people of Alaska.
Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station
P.O. Box 756180
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775
Phone: 907-474-5211
e-mail: afes@alaska.edu
The Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station is part of the UAF Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension. The institute includes the Cooperative Extension Service.
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