Matanuska Experiment Farm
The Matanuska Experiment Farm is a working research farm serving Southcentral Alaska. It has 260 acres of cultivated land and 800 acres of forestland for research or demonstration purposes, including barns, feed storage facilities and pastureland. The experiment farm has a complete complement of farm equipment to produce and harvest grain, forage (hay and silage) and other crops. There are also field and laboratory facilities for research on soils, plants and livestock.
The fields at the Experiment Farm are home to several research projects including work with soil health, cover crops, invasive species and trials searching for new commercial crop varieties. A 2024 grant from the Alaska Community Foundation will be used to increase accessibility to the MEFEC Community Gardens. Each fall, the farm donates thousands of pounds of potatoes to local food banks as well as traditional healing programs through the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.
It is also home to the Mat-Su/Copper River Cooperative Extension Service district office, which provides community outreach and education in a variety of areas, including agriculture and horticulture; health, home and family development; natural resources and community development; and 4-H and youth development. As the state’s gateway to its university system, Extension helps bring research into the hands of Alaskans. It provides hundreds of publications that are accessible online or in offices. Many of these publications are free and provide Alaskans with useful information on a wide range of topics.
The farm also collaborates with other entities across the Mat-Su Valley and throughout the state to support research, including the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which conducts nutritional studies with moose and caribou. It also partners with Alaska Pacific University on the , which use the farm’s greenhouses to grow produce to help feed those in need and to build food security in the Mat-Su Valley. Hay produced on the farm feeds the wood bison at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.
View the Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center's 2019 long-range plan.