Month: November 2010

November 4, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Mosquito-borne dengue hits victims with pain, fever

Andy Irons’ father said he believes that the world champion surfer died this week of dengue fever, a painful, mosquito-borne illness that causes flu symptoms and sometimes blinding pain.

Irons had been in Puerto Rico last week, where dengue fever infections are reported “year-round,” said Esther Volper, a Ph.D. candidate and dengue fever expert at the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine.

Dengue is characterized by high fever, severe headache, chills, joint and muscle pain, nausea and vomiting, eye pain and a rash.

It typically takes four to seven days for dengue fever to show its symptoms, Volper said.

Before he arrived in Puerto Rico last week, Irons had competed in Portugal, a country that does not have dengue fever, Volper said.

“If he, indeed, had dengue fever he would have had to be bitten by an infected mosquito in Puerto Rico,” Volper said.

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November 3, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Wetland Restoration Approved Despite Contention

It started simply enough: transform an overgrown wetland into a habitat for endangered water birds. But after three years of seeking approval from federal, state and county officials – and enduring objections from the community over his plans – Kip Dunbar is anxious to begin work.

Dunbar plans to restore about an acre of deteriorated wetland on the east end, skimming the water’s surface down 18 inches to remove invasive vegetation and building a fence around the perimeter to keep out predators.

“Slowly but surely this wetland has narrowed and narrowed,” Dunbar said. “Once you take the vegetation out of there and it stops transpiring all the water, it’ll be a wetland again.”

Last week, Dunbar received permission from the Molokai Planning Commission (MoPC) to begin work, the last in a series of regulatory hurtles. The project has already been signed off on by the Army Corp of Engineers, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the state Historic Preservation Committee.

Arleone Dibben-Young, a local water bird researcher, created a similar wetland on her property near Kawela 10 years ago, which is now home to Bristle-thighed curlews and endangered Hawaiian Stilts and Coots. Dibben-Young testified to MoPC in support of Dunbar’s project.

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November 3, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Aiu roping event draws top cowboys

LIHU‘E — A couple years ago an idea entered the mind of Jerry Nakasone, hanai son of Juliet and Harold Aiu, to hold a jackpot roping event dedicated to Harold Aiu, a member of the Hawai‘i Cowboy Hall of Fame and a Living Treasure as honored by the Kaua‘i Museum.

The event was planned for the summer of this year, around the time of Harold Aiu’s 80th birthday.

After Harold Aiu died earlier this year of cancer, Nakasone decided to go ahead with the event, at CJM Country Stables in Po‘ipu, in cooperation with Jimmy Miranda, CJM owner.

Over 100 cowboys and cowgirls came from near and far to compete in the two-day event, with each night ending with a feast and paniolo entertainment.

Every child, grandchild and great-grandchild of the Aius attended, some coming from as far away as Boston.

Harold “Papa” Aiu was watching over the belt-buckle and check presentations to the winners, from a poster atop one of his favorite horses.

Not only did Aiu actively rope on Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i for decades, he also traveled to the Mainland, as far as Oklahoma City, to compete in the U.S. team roping championships, oftentimes with partner Lelan Nishek of Kaua‘i Nursery & Landscaping.

Aiu would return with trophy saddles, belt buckles, blankets, bridles and other prizes in addition to cash winnings, family members said.

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November 3, 2010 Ag Tourism, General Ag News and Notes, Turkey Post a Comment

Four Fantastic Thanksgiving Beach Vacation Ideas | The Brooklyn Nomad

Oahu is an ultimate Thanksgiving vacation beach destination, and here you can celebrate “traditional” Thanksgiving with an island flare. Several organizations in Hawaii raise funds by selling to-go turkey dinners cooked in an Imu – the way succulent kalua pig is prepared for luaus – in an underground “oven” covered with banana leaves. Look in the local Hawaii newspapers every year for Imu Thanksgiving turkey fundraisers, and take your Imu turkey dinner to the beach for a Thanksgiving Day picnic. Before succumbing to your turkey feast you can join the 36th annual Turkey Trot 10 Mile Run held on Thanksgiving morning. Every year there is a holiday parade in Waikiki the Friday evening following Thanksgiving. The parade features high school and military bands from across the United States, as well as brightly colored floats decorated in the Hawaiian style with flowers and leis.

You can still revere the pilgrims, autumn leaves, and frost on the pumpkin – but really enjoy Thanksgiving sunbathing on a beach!

Four Fantastic Thanksgiving Beach Vacation Ideas | The Brooklyn Nomad

November 3, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

A&B earnings triple on strength of Matson’s China service and sugar operations

Alexander & Baldwin Inc. tripled its third-quarter profit with greatly improved performances from its ocean transportation service in China and sugar business on Maui.

The Honolulu-based company reported today earning a net profit of $25.7 million, or 62 cents per diluted share of stock, in the July-September period, up from $8.5 million, or 21 cents per share, in the same period last year.

The big gain was largely from A&B’s ocean cargo subsidiary, Matson Navigation Co., which posted a 67 percent rise in operating profit to $40.4 million in the third quarter from $24.2 million a year earlier.

A&B said Matson’s performance was principally driven by higher volume and yields in its China service, which it expanded in mid-September.

Another contributor to the rise in profit was A&B’s Maui sugar subsidiary, Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., which benefited from higher sugar prices and production.

HC&S, along with Kauai Coffee Co., delivered an $800,000 operating profit for A&B, which represents a $13 million improvement from a $13.8 million operating loss in the 2009 third quarter.

Operating profits from real estate leasing and sales were lower for A&B.

A&B earnings triple on strength of Matson’s China service and sugar operations – Hawaii News – Staradvertiser.com

November 3, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Maui Invasive Species group seeks nominees

MAKAWAO – The Maui Invasive Species Committee seeks nominations by Nov. 15 to honor efforts in Maui County to eliminate invasive species.

MISC, the Maui Association of Landscape Professionals and Maui County co-sponsor the Malama I Ka Aina Award. It recognizes a landscaper; plant provider (retail or wholesale nursery, or garden shop); or the owner or manager of a commercial or agricultural property for efforts to keep invasive species out of Maui County.

Application forms are available at websites mauiisc.org or malp.org; click on “what’s new.”

Completed forms should explain how a nominee’s activities or decisions have contributed to keeping the county free of invasive species.

Forward applications via e-mail to miscpr@hawaii.edu, fax to 573-6475 or mail to MISC, P.O. Box 983, Makawao 96768.

Organizers will announce the winner Dec. 4 at the 15th annual Lawn & Garden Fair at the University of Hawaii Maui College.

The winner will receive a plaque and one-year membership in the Maui Association of Landscape Professionals.

For more information, call 573-6472 or send e-mail to miscpr@hawaii.edu.

Maui Invasive Species group seeks nominees – Mauinews.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Visitor’s Information – The Maui News

November 3, 2010 General Ag News and Notes, Turkey Post a Comment

Kailua High offers imu space

The Kailua High School athletic program will tend to a Thanksgiving imu and is offering space inside for trays of food.

Food goes into the underground oven on Nov. 24, emerging the next morning steamed full of luau flavor.

Cost is $15 per large foil tray. Food — such as whole turkeys, roasts or pork butt (meat chunks should have three deep cuts in them), sweet potatoes, taro or luau leaves — must be thawed, seasoned and well wrapped in foil. Drop in pan and wrap again in foil. Weight limit per tray is 25 pounds.

Reservations due by Nov. 17. Make checks payable to Kailua High School and send to the school, 451 Ulumanu Drive, Kailua 96734. Write “Attention IMU” in lower left corner of the envelope. Include your name, telephone number and a self-addressed, stamped envelope so a confirmation ticket can be sent to you. To be included in an e-mail list for future imu, provide e-mail address as well.

Call 266-7910 or 728-7389.

Morsels – Hawaii Features – Staradvertiser.com

November 3, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Modified corn spreads the love around

A study published in the Oct. 8 edition of the journal Science, finds that widespread planting of genetically modified Bt corn throughout the Upper Midwest has suppressed populations of the European corn borer, historically one of corn’s primary pests.

The area wide suppression has dramatically reduced the estimated $1 billion in annual losses caused by the European corn borer, even on non-genetically modified corn.

Bt corn, introduced in 1996, is so named because it has been bred to produce a toxin from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) that kills insect pests.

Corn borer moths cannot distinguish between Bt and non-Bt corn, so females lay eggs in both kinds of fields, says William Hutchison, professor of entomology at the University of Minnesota.

Once eggs hatch in Bt corn, young borer larvae feed and die within 24 to 48 hours. Because it is effective at controlling corn borers and other pests, Bt corn has been adopted on about 63 percent of all U.S. corn acres.

As a result, corn borer numbers have also declined in neighboring non-Bt fields by 28 percent to 73 percent in Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin, depending on historical pest abundance and level of Bt-corn adoption.

The study, the first to show a direct association between Bt corn use and an area wide reduction in corn borer abundance, documents similar declines of the pest in Iowa and Nebraska.

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November 2, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Ban on imported coffee beans urged

The Kona Coffee Farmers Association is pushing for the state Department of Agriculture to suspend imports of green coffee beans into Hawaii in a move the association said will prevent further crop destruction by the coffee berry borer beetle.

The trade group publicized its wish yesterday following a resolution passed by members two weeks ago.

A technical advisory board to the Agriculture Department may consider the request at a meeting later this month. However, the Agriculture Department has doubts about whether the coffee borer got to Hawaii in green bean imports. The agency along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture is studying the issue.

The agency also is considering whether to prohibit transporting green, or unroasted, beans between islands. Another pursuit calls for seeking biological control methods including finding natural enemies of the tiny bug threatening one of Hawaii’s biggest crops.

Hawaii had been one of only two places in the world free of the borer, Hypothenemus hampei, which is a beetle that’s a bit smaller than a sesame seed and is native to Central Africa.

The devastating pest’s presence is believed to be limited to South Kona, and it may have been present for several years. The beetle’s existence in Kona was reported and confirmed in September.

Business Briefs – Hawaii Business – Staradvertiser.com