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The Permafrost Grown project (NSF RISE Award # 2126965) is co-producing knowledge with farmers in Alaska (Tanana Valley and Bethel) to investigate the interactions and feedbacks between permafrost and agriculture. Additional project objectives include understanding legacy effects over a 120-year cultivation history in the Tanana Valley, evaluating the socio-economic effects of permafrost-agriculture interactions and provide decision making tools for farmers and finally to utilize education and outreach activities to share knowledge with the farmers and the public. The project focuses on in-the-ground farming in a range of cultivation types including crops, peonies and livestock. The project is funded through the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Navigating the New Arctic Initiative. Data was collected at a small (less than one acre) farm that grows diverse crops. This farm has been impacted by subsidence from thawing ice-rich permafrost. The goal of the celery trials was to compare celery grown in areas that are wetter due to subsidence and celery grown in an upper area that has been less impacted by subsidence. In addition, over the same period, monitoring was done of two compost piles: one older pile that has been actively used and maintained for a few years that will no longer be maintained (i.e. adding of new material for decomposition) and the establishment of a new compost pile. The monitoring of the compost pile is part of a larger effort to determine the thermal impact of commonly used agricultural practices and the potential impact on permafrost. 

The Permafrost Grown project (NSF RISE Award # 2126965) is co-producing knowledge with farmers in Alaska (Tanana Valley and Bethel) to investigate the interactions and feedbacks between permafrost and agriculture. Additional project objectives include understanding legacy effects over a 120-year cultivation history in the Tanana Valley, evaluating the socio-economic effects of permafrost-agriculture interactions and provide decision making tools for farmers and finally to utilize education and outreach activities to share knowledge with the farmers and the public. The project focuses on in-the-ground farming in a range of cultivation types including crops, peonies and livestock. The project is funded through the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Navigating the New Arctic Initiative. Temperature monitoring of various crop types with and without extension techniques was done at two farm sites in Fairbanks, Alaska (AK) during the 2022 growing season. This work was done through the Permafrost Grown Project as part of an effort to determine the thermal impact of commonly used agricultural seasonal-extension techniques, crop types and their potential impact on permafrost. Both farms are small scale, each cultivating on about 1 acre and both grow diverse crops. Both farms use various season extension techniques, including the use of plastic mulch to artificially warm soils and/or help control weeds. This dataset provides monitoring of ground temperatures at four depths (ground surface, 15 centimeter (cm), 50 cm and 100 cm) of various crops (carrots, cabbage, beets, onions, and squash). 

Permafrost-agroecosystems include all cultivation and pastoral activities in areas underlain by permafrost. These systems support local livelihoods and food production and are rarely considered in global agricultural studies but may become more relevant as climate change is increasing opportunities for food production in high latitude and mountainous areas. The exact locations and amount of agricultural production in areas containing permafrost are currently unknown, therefore we provide an overview of countries where both permafrost and agricultural activities are present. We highlight the socioecological diversity and complexities of permafrost-agroecosystems through seven case studies: (1) crop cultivation in Alaska, USA; (2) Indigenous food systems and crop cultivation in the Northwest Territories, Canada; (3) horse and cattle husbandry and Indigenous hay production in the Sakha Republic, Russia; (4) mobile pastoralism and husbandry in Mongolia; (5) yak pastoralism in the Central Himalaya, Nepal; (6) berry picking and reindeer herding in northern Fennoscandia; and (7) reindeer herding in northwest Russia. We discuss regional knowledge gaps associated with permafrost and make recommendations to policy makers and land users for adapting to changing permafrost environments. A better understanding of permafrost-agroecosystems is needed to help sustainably manage and develop these systems considering rapidly changing climate, environments, economies, and industries.