Farming in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley originally began as an experiment in the 1930s to increase agricultural output of the country during the Great Depression. More than 240,000 acres were set aside for farming and farming families from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan were brought in colonize the land. But the lack of infrastructure and unavailability of basic supplies discouraged the settlers and by 1940, over half of the population had left the valley.
