Michaella Anderson turned her 4-H hobby into a farm business.
With the help of her husband, John, her parents and her two sisters, she is trying to make Alaska more food secure through 907 Livestock.
They raise cattle and swine and sell it, processed, in variety packs to people who find them on Facebook for $10 a pound.
They have ground beef, roast, lower cut steaks, sirloin, prime, T-bone and more. Local delivery is free. 907 Livestock also sells breeding animals, shipping them across Alaska.
“We want to help the state with food security and with healthy food,” Anderson said.
The family members all have school or day jobs and take turns caring for the animals — a few dozen pregnant cows and some pigs right now.
“Everybody is involved,” Anderson said. “We put a big emphasis on quality … We are really invested to see how the steaks come out.”
The livestock are kept at Anderson’s property at about 7 Mile Chena Hot Springs Road. Steve and Priscilla Rice, Anderson’s parents, live nearby and keep some of the animals on their property. Anderson is looking for pasture to lease and expand the enterprise, she said.
“We’re not technically organic but we do try to feed local, and we only give shots if they are absolutely necessary,” Anderson said.
The barley and hay for feed comes from Delta Junction. The meat is processed by Alaska Interior Meats and Delta Meat & Sausage Co.
“We mix our own food so that we know exactly what protein level and fat level is going in,” Anderson said.
They dabbled in raising chickens for eggs but it didn’t work out.
“It’s not that profitable, and it’s a lot of work,” Anderson said.
The 2013 Lathrop High School graduate learned how to artificially inseminate a cow during a three-day cooperative extension class with her husband in Colorado. By then, they had decided to return to Alaska and raise cattle. 907 Livestock was established in 2015.
Anderson is interested in animal genetics and breeding for certain qualities. 907 Livestock offers angus and wagyu beef.
Local food tastes better and is good for the economy, Anderson said.
She has raised everything but horses growing up participating in 4-H.
“The cows and pigs were what stuck,” she said, adding: “I want to see agriculture succeed in the state. It’s a lot of work but it’s fun and rewarding.”
Anderson, a former student of political science, works for the Alaska Legislature as an aide with an emphasis on agricultural issues. Her husband is a firefighter. Her father is a construction supervisor and her mother is a substitute teacher.
Contact staff writer Amanda Bohman at 459-7545. Follow her on Twitter: @FDNMborough.
