Nearly 150 rural families produced potatoes in the Railbelt area of
Alaska during 1952, Only a small proportion of these families were
specialized potato farm ers. Since potato production is readily adaptable
to part-time farming, many of these families grew potatoes on
a part-time basis or as a minor enterprise, Twenty-four of the 83
farmers interviewed in the Matanuska Valley specialized in potato
production with an average of 11 acres per farm. Thirteen of the 18
farmers in the Tanana Valley grew potatoes as a major enterprise
averaging 16 acres per farm. Virtually all of the potatoes on the
Kenai Peninsula were grown as a minor enterprise or as a part-time
venture. As a source of farm income to Alaskan farm ers, potatoes
ranked second only to dairy,
A major portion of the money spent by potato farmers in both the
Matanuska and Tanana Valleys was for improving service buildings
and increasing equipment inventories in 1952,
The net returns on 24 Matanuska Valley potato farms ranged from
a loss of 5,489toanetgainof8, 958 and averaged 3,446cThreefarmerslostmoneyintheirfarmoperations.Yieldwasthemajorfactorinfluencingincomefrompotatoesin1952,Farmerswiththehighernetreturnobtained6,8tonsofU„S.No,l′speracreascomparedwith4,4tonsobtainedbyfarmersrealizinglessfromfarming.Bothgroupshadapproximatelythesameacreageofpotatoes.Farmerswiththehigherincomesgrossedmoreandspentlessintheirbusinessventurethandidfarmerswithlowerincomes.Savingswereincurredonhiredlabor,feed,seed,machineryrepairs,fuelandoil,andfertilizer.Farmerswiththegreatestacreageofpotatoesnettedonly300 more
than those with fewer acres. The form er averaged 14 acres of potatoes
per farm and the latter 8 acres per farm. Labor costs for farmers
with greater acreages were 3 times greater than those for farmers with
the lesser acreage. The difference was 1,171,Thepotatoyieldperacreon48MatanuskaValleyfarmsrangedfrom0to8,7tonsofU,,ScNo,l’sandaveraged5,6tons.Twenty−eightofthesefarmersreportedaboveaverageyields.Localvariationsoccurredamonggeneralareasastobothyieldandmanagementpractices.Averageyieldwashigherin1ofthe3generalareasandanotherareausedmorefertilizerandseedthanthethird.However,theratesoffertilizerandseedusedperacrehavebeenincreasinginallareasinrecentyears.AfrostinAugustseverelycutaverageyieldintheTananaValley.Somefieldswereatotalloss.Inspiteofthefrost,averagenetreturnson10potatofarmswere4,019 which was about $600 more
than Matanuska Valley potato growers realized.
Potato farmers on the Kenai Peninsula were severely handicapped
by lack of equipment. Many planted and harvested by hand. Potatoes
were a common cash crop; 12 of the 19 farmers interviewed produced
small acreaged.In cooperation with the
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUR