Anchorage Daily News

WASILLA -- A bit of Alaska history goes on the auction block today and Thursday.

Altogether, 885 items from the defunct Matanuska Maid milk-processing plant in Anchorage and bottle-making facility in Palmer will be offered for sale. The list includes a Jacuzzi-size cheese vat and various tools such as wrenches and drills.

Chairwoman Kristan Cole of the state Creamery Board said the proceeds would be used first to pay debts, and the remainder given to the state Agriculture Revolving Loan Fund. Yet to be decided is when and if to sell the Mat Maid properties in Anchorage and Palmer.

Also, a 301-acre dairy farm at Point MacKenzie, one of only six such working dairies left in the state, will be auctioned Saturday by its owners and former operators, Craig and Vicki Trytten.

Craig Trytten, now running a cattle ranch in Minnesota, said he didn't want to sell the farm. But without Mat Maid, he had no buyer for his milk.

"I couldn't take living on air," he said

The sales take place against a backdrop of new hope for the state's dairy business. The closure in December of state-owned Mat Maid after 71 years in operation left Southcentral farmers without a market for most of their milk.

But the Matanuska Creamery near Palmer started production recently and expects to sell its milk in Fred Meyer stores in Anchorage, Eagle River and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

AUCTION ONLINE

First up is the Mat Maid sale. Scheduled for today in Anchorage and Thursday in Palmer, the auction features items that are dairy-specific but also enough generic tools and gear to spark the interest of many a handyman or handy woman.

Among the items are circular saws, a tile cutter, wrenches and cordless drills. There's also pallet shelving, diesel tractors, a portable band saw, a military surplus forklift and items like lot No. 263 from the Anchorage plant: "Misc. Parts Along Wall." Even the company's digital time clock, office furniture and ink jet printer are for sale.

Ray Nix, a state Division of Agriculture asset manager, said about 40 people toured the Anchorage and Palmer plants Monday where items are tagged and on display.

Nix said they included people from the water bottling business looking for equipment and others interested in scrap-metal salvage.

Auctioneer Tauber-Arons Inc. is conducting the two-day sale at the plants in Palmer and Anchorage and simultaneously online. Local bargain hunters could find themselves pitted against Outside bidders. Locals may have some edge, however, given that buyers must pay shipping costs.

GUERNSEY ROAD FARM

The Tryttens spent 10 years with their family eking out a living on the farm off Guernsey Road. They threw in the towel in October 2007 when it became clear the state was going to shut down Mat Maid.

At the time, the Tryttens were one of six commercial dairy farmers in the state, and one of only four in Mat-Su.

Craig Trytten said the sale would allow the couple to pay off their federal loans. He declined to say how much they owe.

Gareth Byers, who took over the operation, said he has hopes to keep it running as a dairy farm. He said he has an agreement with the Tryttens to stay on through the summer, but the sale places no restrictions on how buyers use the property.

In addition to a multitude of tractors and other farm equipment, the 301-acre farm features a 4,000 square-foot house, three barns and a milk parlor.

An auction pamphlet touts it as only 12 miles from Anchorage -- strictly true, but it doesn't mention that's across the water of Knik Arm.

The pamphlet also states that everything is being sold "as is, where is."

Find S.J. Komarnitsky at www.adn.com/contact/skomarnitsky or 352-6714.

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