WASILLA, Alaska – Alaska’s Triple D Farm and Hatchery, the last commercial poultry farm in the state has closed, according to the Alaska Dispatch. The Wasilla-based turkey farm, which former Gov. Sarah Palin visited in 2008 to ceremonially pardon a turkey, unwillingly made headlines when news cameras captured images of a turkey being slaughtered just behind the vice presidential candidate.
Owner Anthony Schmidt said he just couldn't make ends meet, adding his poultry prices have become cost prohibitive for most customers.
According to the report, Alaska once had as many as 81,000 chickens on farms. But in 1986-1987, when oil prices plummeted and the farm crisis hit the rest of the US, Alaska's chicken population plummeted, too, from 58,000 to 6,000 in 2007. Many of Alaska’s farmers went broke. However, there's still money that can be made in the poultry market in Alaska, insists Daniel Consenstein, state director of the Alaska Farm Service Agency, a part of USDA. Alaska-grown chickens will someday return, he predicted in the report.
