Students in Professor Jan Wampler’s class, Architecture Design Studio, spent eight days designing affordable dwellings for farmers in Hawaii
Hawaii Island is caught in a Catch 22 situation.
Although the island boasts a fertile landscape that can easily support a broad range of agriculture, 85-90 percent of food consumed is imported from the mainland. High real estate costs have been partially responsible for perpetuating this dependency, prohibiting many young families from owning and farming the land as their parents did. Some locals have even left Hawaii in search of work.
As part of a larger effort to revitalize Hawaii’s agricultural economy, MIT architecture students, led by Professor Jan Wampler, have partnered with the local non-profit Kohala Center and the Starseed Ranch to provide young farmers with land and housing.
Continue reading ‘Revitalizing the land of plenty with affordable housing | MIT news’
Haliimaile Pineapple Company (HPC) is turning out consistently super sweet Maui Gold Pineapple. I’m amazed at the quality. Small Co.=better!
Twitter / vickie kadotani: Haliimaile Pineapple Compa …
By KEVIN MCCULLEN
TRI-CITY HERALDRICHLAND, Wash. — Scientists in Eastern Washington are at the forefront of research into an ancient practice that shows promise as a clean fuel source, a way to improve soil condition and to capture carbon that otherwise would be released into the atmosphere.
Researchers from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the federal Department of Agriculture’s research station in Prosser and Washington State University have been integral figures in studies of biochar and its potential uses.
Biochar, a charcoal-like material, is produced when biomass – including wood, plant and animal waste – is burned in the absence of or under low oxygen conditions so the material doesn’t combust.
This process, called pyrolysis, thermally decomposes the waste into biochar, bio-oil and syngas. Biochar and bio-oil show commercial promise and syngas offers a power source that can run a pyrolyzer.
The USDA’s Agricultural Research Service has estimated that if the United States were to pyrolyze 1.3 billion tons of various forms of biomass annually, it could replace 1.9 billion barrels of imported oil with bio-oil. That would represent about 25 percent of the annual oil consumption in this country. In addition, USDA estimates the country could sequester 153 million tons of carbon annually by adding biochar to soils.
Continue reading ‘E Wash scientists study biochar for energy’
We’ve determined that Whole Foods Market (WFMI) was more relevant to the development of Hawaiian Agriculture do to their commitment to sell fresh local agricultural products rather then tracking an index so PowerShares DB Agriculture (DBA) has been replaced.
The annual charts have bee updated. CLICK HERE to view. The 360 day comparative price, line and histogram charts, page has been updated also. CLICK HERE to view.
Maui Land and Pineapple (MLP) 02-26-2010
14.02% GAIN from the open on the 12th to the close on the 19th
open 3.28 02/12/2010 close 3.74 02/19/2010
activity on the 19th was extraordinary
Whole Food Markets (WFMI) 02-26-2010
Calavo Growers (CVGW) 02-26-2010
Alexander and Baldwin (ALEX) 02-26-2010
Monsanto (MON) 02-26-2010
Syngenta (SYT) 02-26-2010
DUPONT E I DE NEM (DD) 02-26-2010
Continue reading ‘Hawaii and Related Agriculture Daily Charts for the week ending 02-26-2010′
Congresswoman Mazie Hirono meets with employees at the Haliimaile Pineapple Company during a recent visit to Maui
Congresswoman Mazie Hirono visits Maui’s Haliimaile Pineapple Company on Flickr – Photo Sharing!
When Maui Pineapple closed it’s doors, Haliimaile Pineapple Company opened their’s, thereby saving lots of local jobs. Cudos to the Haliimaile Pineapple Company!
The company is growing the popular Maui Gold variety of pineapple and the strategy is to focus mainly on the local market, although a small portion will be exported to the mainland.
Pineapple will stay on Maui. « Dcmaui’s Blog
Admit it: You’re in denial
Richard Tedlow is the Class of 1949 Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. His most recent book is Denial: Why Business Leaders Fail to Look Facts in the Face — and What You Can Do About It.
If any business leader could stare facts squarely in the face, it would seem to have been Henry Ford. His hard-headed analysis of mechanics, manufacturing, and marketing produced the legendary Model T, which put America on wheels and made Ford a business titan. More than 15 million Model T’s were sold in the two decades after its introduction in 1908.
But something happened. By 1927, Model T sales had flagged so severely that Henry Ford discontinued the line in order to retool his factories for its successor, the Model A. To make the change, he shut down production for months, at a cost of close to $250 million. This chain of events was disastrous for the company, because it allowed Chrysler’s Plymouth to gain market share and permitted General Motors to seize market leadership.
Why did Henry Ford, who was such a visionary in the industry’s infancy, fail to see that the Model T was about to run its course and that a smooth transition to a new vehicle was essential? After all, evidence of the Model T’s declining fortunes was everywhere apparent at the time. But Ford dismissed sales figures documenting the product’s declining market share, because he suspected rivals of manipulating them. When one of his top executives warned him of the dire situation in a detailed memorandum, Ford fired him.
Ford wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t ill-informed. He wasn’t merely mistaken. He was in denial.
Continue reading ‘Guest Insights: Admit it: You’re in denial – Richard S. Tedlow’
Prickly issue of vanishing pineapple
Growing sugarcane and pineapple is hard work, as generations of plantation and farm workers in Hawai’i can attest, but making money at it these days may be even harder. While conditions have improved in modern times for the islands’ fieldworkers, the competition from Third World countries — with different standards of living and labor laws — has also increased.
One of the latest large landowners to cry uncle is Maui Land & Pineapple, which announced Nov. 3 that its pineapple subsidiary — renowned for its "Maui Gold" brand — would cease production at the end of the year. Citing losses of $115 million since 2002, along with $20 million in expenses for a new packing facility, the announcement continued: "The painful decision to close pineapple operations at MPC after 97 years was incredibly difficult to make, but absolutely necessary. We realize this ends a significant chapter in Maui’s history — an important part of many lives, over many generations."
The company’s last harvest took place two days before Christmas, but just before New Year’s, a group of investors came up with a plan to continue operations on about 1,000 acres — a third of the former farm — under the name Haliimaile Pineapple.
Continue reading ‘Hawaii Insider : Prickly issue of vanishing pineapple’
For Neil Harl, distinguished professor emeritus in agriculture and economics at Iowa State University, a request to appear at a hearing March 12 in Ankeny on antitrust issues in the seed industry was compelling enough to lure him back from his winter retreat in Hawaii.CLICK for larger image
“It was tempting to stay away,” Harl said from Hawaii Tuesday after the announcement that he would appear on a panel at the day-long session that will examine competition in the seed industry. “But for years I have urged the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to be more aggressive about competitive issues in agriculture.”
“Now,” Harl continued, “we apparently have an administration that is willing to be more aggressive about these issues and I felt that I couldn’t turn down their request.”
The controversy over competition in the seed business exploded into the open last summer with acrimony and lawsuits between Monsanto and Pioneer Hi-Bred, attracting the attentions of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Justice Department.
Continue reading ‘Ag hearing lures Harl back from Hawaii | Des Moines Register’
Watching TV.
All day.
Well, six hours anyway. I wouldn’t miss tomorrow’s health care political extravaganza. I’m planning to crack open a brewski and a bag of Cheet-Os, and splay out in front of the boob tube for the full six excruciating hours. C-Span on steroids.
What’s wrong with me? Don’t I know health reform is dead? Don’t I know the Obama administration was dumped into the dustbin of history following election to the Senate of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown, which overturned what all viewed as a permanent Democrat/Kennedy lock on the ultimate safe seat?
Oops, there I go, getting wonkish. Well, that’s what it is with me. I used to cover health policy – wrote, edited and published a newsletter called “Health Policy Week,” for God’s sake – and I can’t get it out of my blood. The issues I covered during 1982-86 are, basically, the same issues as today. They weren’t resolved then – indeed, the solutions of the ‘80s and ‘90s (managed care, prospective payment) may have made things worse – and there’s a fair chance they won’t be resolved this time.
But that doesn’t have anything to do with my plans for tomorrow. Sure, I believe passionately that health reform must pass or this great nation will go bankrupt. And yes, in my opinion the current compromise pretty much stinks, may not work, needs the public option or something like it, yada yada yada. Health policy does indeed matter to me. But the reason I’ll be glued to the TV tomorrow has more to do with spectator sports. What NFL football and NBA basketball are to others, health reform is to me. Even if I had a full schedule, I’d cancel all engagements.
Now, as it happens, I don’t have any engagements tomorrow. The decks are clear for stultifying TV. I’ve been home from the hospital since last Friday, recovering from total knee replacement.
Click Here to view the complete Frank S. Joseph commentary on Health Care Reform
Whole Foods Market Kahului, Maui, opens at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Maui Mall with a traditional bread-baking ceremony, prizes for shoppers, and a schedule of events throughout this month and next.
The first 200 shoppers who spend $50 or more receive a free, reusable tote printed specially for the occasion; this offer repeats Saturday, Feb. 27. The first 50 to sign up for the Market’s newsletter on Thursday, Feb. 25, receive a $10 Whole Foods Market gift card. On Friday, Feb. 26, the Market will be giving coffee away free, along with tumblers, to the first 200 shoppers. On Sunday Feb. 28, Sandwich Sunday, those who purchase a custom-made sandwich can choose free potato or macaroni salad.
Guided tours will be held Sunday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.; call 808-872-3310.
Information: wholefoodsmarket.com/maui/
Maui Whole Foods Market opens Wednesday | The Honolulu Advertiser
The 2010 ABN Hawaii AgVenture Tour kicked off last week as The ABN’s Andy Vance and Lindsay Hill are in Hawaii for a nearly two week excursion with ABN listeners. As we tell them of the snow and cold temperatures here in Ohio, they are filling us in on the beautiful scenery and interesting Ag-related events they are taking part in. You can follow all of their explorations by becoming a fan of The ABN on Facebook! We will have updates here on Ohio’s Homepage for Agriculture as well, so keep checking back!
Andy Vance checks in from Lyon Arboretum on the campus of The University of Hawaii.
Mauna Loa Macadamemia Nut Plantation was one of the stops on the tour.
Andy felt right at home on Kahua Ranch.
Lindsay Hill caught up with the folks at Kona Joe’s Coffee Plantation.
BARN | Buckeye Ag Radio Network | ABN
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ — SG Biofuels, a sustainable plant oil company specializing in the development of Jatropha as a low-cost, sustainable source of oil, today announced the launch of JMax 100, a proprietary cultivar of Jatropha optimized for growing conditions in Guatemala with yields 100 percent greater than existing varieties.
JMax 100 is the first elite cultivar developed through the company’s JMax Jatropha Optimization Platform. The platform provides growers and plantation developers with access to the highest yielding and most profitable Jatropha in the world, the sequenced genome and advanced biotech and synthetic biology tools to develop cultivars specifically optimized for their unique growing conditions.
"The yields and profitability of JMax100 and the JMax platform far exceed what is currently available through existing varieties of Jatropha," said Kirk Haney, President and Chief Executive Officer of SG Biofuels. "In Guatemala, we have utilized the world’s largest library of Jatropha genetic material and our advanced genetic program to enable exponential increases in productivity and profitability, and establish Jatropha as a large-scale sustainable energy crop."
Continue reading ‘SG Biofuels Launches World’s First Elite Jatropha Cultivar’
By Duane ShimogawaWAIALUA (HawaiiNewsNow) – As the state’s agriculture industry goes through some sour times, a relatively new crop is hoping to sweeten things up. Sugar and pineapple were once the staple crops of Hawaii’s plantation era, but with these industries practically extinct, Hawaii’s ag lands are now returning to a new era of small farms.
An exciting new crop may be the sweet savior to Hawaii’s lagging ag industry. State ag leaders say they aren’t just looking to one crop to replace both sugar and pineapple.
Instead, they’re hoping a variety of crops, including another sweet tasting one will take the lead and help the state’s ag industry grow to new heights.
Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. where chocolate can grow. That’s because it only flourishes in areas close to the equator. So it made sense for Dole Foods to try it out.
HGP IN KAHULUI MAUI PRODUCES RESULTS!!
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