Tag Archive for 'agriculture'

Providing Relief for Molokai Homestead Farmers

Published on February 14, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.


By Rep. Mele Carroll

This session I introduced House Bill 1483, which directs the Department of Agriculture (DOA) to provide water to Molokai Irrigation System users who lease tracts of land at a reduced rate. It also requires the DOA to forgive past due water bills for the provision of irrigation water for Molokai homestead farmers.

With this challenging economy, the hardship of our Molokai homestead farmers is real and I feel that we need to provide some relief to our farmers so they can continue to economically survive during these most trying times.
House Bill 1483 was advanced by the Committee on Hawaiian Affairs on Feb. 4, and will now advance to Joint House Committees on Agriculture and Water, Land & Ocean Resources for consideration.

The Molokai Irrigation Ditch was created for the homesteaders to be used for agricultural purposes, per an agreement made between the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, the homesteaders and the Department of Water Supply. That agreement called for sufficient water be given to the homestead farmers to be used for their farming. As the years have progressed, the federal mandate that homesteaders be given two-thirds of the water allotment has seemingly lost its strength or forgotten altogether. Continue reading ‘Providing Relief for Molokai Homestead Farmers’

Did you like this? Share it:
Closed Tags: , , , , , , , .

Farm to School Bill Public Hearing

Published on February 4, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Sustainability.

We have great news! Rep. Riviere’s Farm to School bill has been assigned a public hearing next week, Wednesday Feb 9th, 10am in House Conference Room 312.

This is our first step toward instilling appreciation for agriculture in the hearts of Hawaii’s youth for generations by perpetuating self-reliance, health and by stimulating our farming investments & growth. E komo mai!

This is our big chance to show strong community support for this bill. Immediately after listening to public testimony, the Agriculture Committee will vote to pass or stop the measure.

So please inform those you know would want to attend the hearing. It would help the bill tremendously if we could fill the room with supporters!

Link to read the full bill:

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2011/Bills/HB1475_.HTM

Link to submit testimony:

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/emailtestimony/

Testimony must be received at least 24 hours before the hearing.

Did you like this? Share it:
Closed Tags: , .

Public hearings set for Na Wai Eha water withdrawal applications

Published on November 30, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.


PAIA – The state Commission on Water Resource Management will hold two days of hearings starting Wednesday on competing applications for withdrawal of water from Na Wai Eha, the surface water collection system that serves Central and South Maui.

During earlier proceedings, the commission received applications from existing users to continue withdrawing water pending a final commission decision on allocating the water resource. Most of the applications have been challenged because there likely will be less water allocated by the commission than the total of present withdrawals, even before applications for new uses are considered.

Starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Paia Community Center, the commission will hear testimony from users to justify the reasonable and beneficial uses they intend for water.

The commission staff will present a new map, which graphically represents the users’ locations and the ditches and gates where they seek to draw off the water. Commission staff member Roy Hardy said the map should help sort out exactly which applications are in conflict.

Two commissioners, Neal Fujiwara and Sumner Erdman, will conduct the hearings. Continue reading ‘Public hearings set for Na Wai Eha water withdrawal applications’

Did you like this? Share it:
Closed Tags: , , , , , , , .

HC&S explains the Pa‘ia spraying incident

Published on November 29, 2010 in Farm Machinery, General Ag News and Notes and Sugar Cane.


By A&B spokesperson Meredith Ching

This is my understanding of the situation you have inquired about. On October 23, HC&S conducted an aerial application of an herbicide, Clean Amine, on its Field 212, located along Hana Highway, just west of Paia town. We were attempting to eliminate a noxious weed, castor bean, from the field, as it shades out the crop and depresses sugar yields. Aerial herbicide application was required because the 16-month old cane is too dense to allow access for ground spraying, and the weed height exceeded the canopy of the cane.

The active ingredient in Clean Amine is 2,4-D, which is among the most widely used weed control chemicals in the world and is present in a number of substances labeled for residential use. For more information about 2,4-D, refer to http://www.24d.org. This product is labeled for aerial application, and applications were made in compliance with the pesticide label. The mix used on Field 212 was a very diluted formulation, consisting of about 2% of 2, 4-D by weight.

We fully appreciate that the helicopter’s presence was likely startling for the residents. By design, they fly very low when applying the agricultural substances, for the very reason of minimizing drift and applying the substances most directly on the plants. Further, with this type of application of Clean Amine, the substance is only released when directly over the targeted weeds (which are very visible above the cane).

Further, when HC&S undertakes aerial applications on its fields, we generally do so in the morning when wind speeds are lower and more predictable; gusts and variable winds typically occur later in the day. Wind characteristics are an important factor for aerial applications, and one that HC&S carefully considers prior to any application. A spotter goes along on all aerial applications, monitors and records wind speeds and directions, and watches for any visual signs of drift so that prompt action can be taken to address it. Continue reading ‘HC&S explains the Pa‘ia spraying incident’

Did you like this? Share it:
Closed Tags: , , , .

Sugar rush – Restating the Obvious by Harry Eagar – Mauinews.com

Published on November 5, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes, Sugar Cane and Water.


Funny how things work out. Our new mayor wants to take over plantation water systems (although when he had a chance four years ago, he backed down).

A couple of years ago, a combination of drought and low prices had HC&S on the ropes, and the board at A&B was beginning to wonder whether sugar was a business they wanted to be in. At best, it accounts for only about 7% of revenue. HC&S is such a small part of A&B that it cannot ever contribute largely to profits, although it can — and recently has — hammered them down.

Since A&B answers to Wall Street, which does not give a damn about Upcountry water meters, low sugar prices open the way to a county takeover of EMI. This would be a disaster, but, like I say, funny how things work out.

Arakawa’s in, sugar prices are up, A&B will presumably stick with HC&S for a while longer, the valley will be green and Kihei will not have to live through endless dust storms. Continue reading ‘Sugar rush – Restating the Obvious by Harry Eagar – Mauinews.com’

Did you like this? Share it:
Closed Tags: , , , , , , .

Dems to honor ‘Ag Country Roots’ today

Published on October 16, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes.


Everyone invited to free afternoon event in Honokaa

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye will bring his entourage and several other politicians to Honokaa High School from 3-6 p.m. today to join North Hawaii residents in celebrating their community’s “Ag Country Roots.”

The event is paid for and authorized by the Democratic Party of Hawaii.

The community is invited to this free celebration that will spotlight many of the hard-working food producers of the region and include samplings of grilled grass-fed beef and a new sausage of Kahua mutton, Hamakua mushrooms and other foods grown or produced in Hamakua, Waimea and Kohala.

boocoo auctions
Informational exhibits also will feature in-school programs to grow the next generation of farmers and introduce the benefits of fresh, locally grown foods from farms and ranches in the region as well as backyard gardens.

The program also will acknowledge the 40-year contribution to Hawaii Island agriculture by Milton Yamasaki, who has managed the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources’s Mealani Research Station, which includes two sites in Waimea, one in Hamakua and two in Kona.

Yamasaki, who was born and raised in Waimea and graduated from Honokaa High School, formally retired from CTAHR’s Mealani Research Station Sept. 30. Continue reading ‘Dems to honor ‘Ag Country Roots’ today’

Did you like this? Share it:
Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Amid mounting safety concerns, technology helps track food from farm to table

Published on October 3, 2010 in Agricultural Equipment, General Ag News and Notes and Vegtables.


Recalls push more companies to adopt digital tools that can prevent or contain the harm caused by contaminated food.

By P.J. Huffstutter, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from San Jose — Inside a Silicon Valley company’s windowless vault, massive servers silently monitor millions of heads of lettuce, from the time they are plucked from the dirt to the moment the bagged salad is scanned at the grocery checkout counter.

That trail can be traced in seconds, thanks to tiny high-tech labels, software programs and hand-held hardware gear. Such tools make it easier for farmers to locate possible problems — a leaky fertilizer bin, an unexpected pathogen in the water, unwashed hands on a factory floor — and more quickly halt the spread of contaminated food.

This Dole Food Co. project and similar efforts being launched across the country represent a fundamental shift in the way that food is tracked from field to table. The change is slow but steady as a number of industry leaders and smaller players adopt these tools. Continue reading ‘Amid mounting safety concerns, technology helps track food from farm to table’

Did you like this? Share it:
Closed Tags: , , , .

PostPartisan – The firing of Shirley Sherrod — and the cowardice of Tom Vilsack

Published on July 21, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes.

The firing of Shirley Sherrod — and the cowardice of Tom Vilsack

From everything I’ve read, I’m told that the firing of Shirley Sherrod, the once and probably future Agriculture Department official in Georgia, is about race or dishonest journalism or the vagaries of the 24-hour, incessant news cycle. Permit me a dissent. It is mostly about cowardice.

The coward in question is Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack who, even though from Iowa, fired Sherrod in a New York minute, and by extension and tradition –“The buck stops here,” remember? – Barack Obama himself. Where do they get off treating anyone so shabbily?

Sherrod was caught on video supposedly telling an NAACP meeting last March that she had not given a certain farmer the service he deserved because he was white. A clip of that speech made the rounds of right wing blogs and media outlets — Fox News, for instance — and in no time Vilsack ordered the woman canned. He moved with what would have been commendable dispatch had he first heard her side of the story, viewed the entire video and asked what its source was. The answers should have stopped him in his tracks.

The full video showed that Sherrod, after repressing some racial antipathy, treated the farmer with dignity and efficiency — and, anyway, the entire event took place more than 20 years ago. Had Vilsack seen the entire video, he would also have learned that Sherrod’s story had a moral: She learned that poverty, not race, is what mattered. Since this is America, it is God who taught her that.

But that full video was not shown by the right wing blogger Andrew Breitbart.
Continue reading ‘PostPartisan – The firing of Shirley Sherrod — and the cowardice of Tom Vilsack’

Did you like this? Share it:
Closed Tags: , , , , .

New pineapple company to rise from ashes of Maui Land subsidiary – Starbulletin.com

Published on December 31, 2009 in General Ag News and Notes and Haliimaile Pineapple.

star

New pineapple company to rise from ashes of Maui Land subsidiary

By Star-Bulletin staff

POSTED: 01:32 p.m. HST, Dec 31, 2009

Pride in Island!
Pineapple on Maui FOREVER!
CLICK for larger image

A group of Valley Isle residents plans to start operating a new pineapple company tomorrow to serve whole fruit customers of Maui Land & Pineapple Co.

The last pay day for Maui Land’s subsidiary Maui Pineapple Co. Ltd. was today.

The new business Haliimaile Pineapple Co. has purchased some of Maui Land’s pineapple equipment and leased 1,000 acres with an option of leasing more land, said Doug Schenk, one of the investors.

Schenk, an investor and a former president of Maui Pineapple Co., said the new company will be employing about 68 people, including about 60 who formerly worked at Maui Land and were ILWU members.

A group of Valley Isle residents plans to start operating a new pineapple company tomorrow to serve whole fruit customers of Maui Land & Pineapple Co.

The last pay day for Maui Land’s subsidiary Maui Pineapple Co. Ltd. was today.

The new business Haliimaile Pineapple Co. has purchased some of Maui Land’s pineapple equipment and leased 1,000 acres with an option of leasing more land, said Doug Schenk, one of the investors.

Schenk, an investor and a former president of Maui Pineapple Co., said the new company will be employing about 68 people, including about 60 who formerly worked at Maui Land and were ILWU members.

New pineapple company to rise from ashes of Maui Land subsidiary – Starbulletin.com

Did you like this? Share it:
Closed Tags: , , , , .

Finance officials tightening enforcement – The Maui News

Published on November 8, 2009 in General Ag News and Notes.

County of Maui Administration Continues Anti-Agriculture Policies Despite Polls Showing Public Supports Agriculture on Maui

maui-news-ad

POSTED: November 8, 2009

WAILUKU Maui County finance officials are stepping up efforts to collect delinquent taxes, reclassifying some nonfarmers who claim agricultural tax assessments, and taking other steps that could add to the county’s revenues ahead of what’s expected to be a tight year in 2010.

Other efforts by the Real Property Tax Division include pursuing tax foreclosures against property owners who have been delinquent on their taxes for more than three years and a program to verify that people claiming the homeowner classification really live on their properties.

Some of the programs to tighten tax loopholes were started before county finances began heading for a decline. But Finance Director Kalbert Young said projections for a 10 percent slide in revenues next year brought a greater focus on enforcing rules that have been in place all along.

Chasing down delinquent taxpayers won’t close the estimated $45 million budget deficit, but it will be a step in the right direction, he said.

Continue reading ‘Finance officials tightening enforcement – The Maui News’

Did you like this? Share it:
Closed Tags: , .

Shave Ice – The Maui News

Published on September 30, 2009 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.

tbodysurf1

Shave Ice

By TOM STEVENS, For The Maui News

POSTED: September 30, 2009

Amid all the chatter and bluster of isle politics, there arise from time to time truly historic occasions. One of those is coming down on Maui next month.

On Oct. 15, the state Commission on Water Resource Management will hear closing arguments on the future of the Central Maui watershed. The 9 a.m. contested case proceeding should pack the Iao Congregational Church’s Konda Hall, so interested citizens will want to get there early. No public testimony will be taken.

To draw attention to this fateful session, a public "river walk" will be held this Friday afternoon from Iao Valley to Market Street in Wailuku. At the end of the walk, the Native Intelligence store will host water rights speakers during Wailuku’s "First Friday" festivities. Later the same day, commission staff members will travel to the Paia Community Center to seek public input from 5 to 9 p.m. on East Maui water issues.

The contested case proceeding takes as its prologue a startling "proposed decision" the commission’s hearings officer issued in April. At that time, Lawrence Miike recommended that the commission partially restore the historic flows of Central Maui’s famous "four waters" – the Waihee, Waiehu, Iao and Waikapu streams.

Continue reading ‘Shave Ice – The Maui News’

Did you like this? Share it:
Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Hawaii and Related Agriculture Daily Charts for the week ending 09-25-09

Published on September 26, 2009 in General Ag News and Notes.

hawaii-agriculture-logo

The annual charts have been updated also. CLICK HERE to view.

Maui Land and Pineapple (MLP) 09-25-09
Maui Land and Pineapple (MLP)

Calavo Growers (CVGW) 09-25-09
Calavo Growers (CVGW)

Alexander and Baldwin (ALEX) 09-25-09
alexdaily092509

iPath DJ AIG Sugar TR Sub-Idx ETN (SGG) 09-25-09
iPath DJ AIG Sugar TR Sub-Idx ETN (SGG)

Monsanto (MON) 09-25-09
Monsanto (MON)

Syngenta (SYT) 09-25-09
Syngenta (SYT)
Continue reading ‘Hawaii and Related Agriculture Daily Charts for the week ending 09-25-09′

Did you like this? Share it:
Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Hawaii and Related Agriculture Daily Charts for the week ending 09-18-09

Published on September 19, 2009 in General Ag News and Notes.

hawaii-agriculture-logo
The annual charts have been updated also. CLICK HERE to view.

Maui Land and Pineapple (MLP) 09-18-09
Maui Land and Pineapple (MLP)

Calavo Growers (CVGW) 09-18-09
Calavo Growers (CVGW)

Alexander and Baldwin (ALEX) 09-18-09
alexweek091809

iPath DJ AIG Sugar TR Sub-Idx ETN (SGG) 09-18-09
iPath DJ AIG Sugar TR Sub-Idx ETN (SGG)

Monsanto (MON) 09-18-09
Monsanto (MON)

Syngenta (SYT) 09-18-09
Syngenta (SYT)
Continue reading ‘Hawaii and Related Agriculture Daily Charts for the week ending 09-18-09′

Did you like this? Share it:
Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

VIDEO: Hawaii Mayor talks about upcoming "painful" budget – Big Island Video News

Published on September 15, 2009 in General Ag News and Notes and Sustainability.

Click Here to View Video

Click Here to View Video


September 15, 2009 – Hilo, Hawaii Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi took a moment last Friday to talk about the challenges facing the Big Island economy, and how it will impact next year’s county budget.

According to a news release, Kenoi told his county staff on Monday at a meeting to kick off budget preparations that "deep and painful budget cuts will be necessary to carry the county through the next fiscal year". The county says its facing a $44.8 million hole in next fiscal year’s budget, which combines $33.8 million less in projected revenues and $11 million more in projected expenses.

“We’ve never faced what we face today,” said Mayor Kenoi in Monday’s media release. “Which means we’ve got to take steps that we never took before,” to make government more efficient and reduce county spending. Continue reading ‘VIDEO: Hawaii Mayor talks about upcoming "painful" budget – Big Island Video News’

Did you like this? Share it:
Closed Tags: , , , , .

Kula housing project gains a little ground – The Maui News

Published on September 15, 2009 in General Ag News and Notes and Sugar Cane.

maui-news-ad

Kula housing project gains a little ground

WAILUKU – Maui Planning Commission members were unable to agree where to designate growth boundaries in South Maui, but they did make some progress in Kula.

The Kula Ridge housing project had both supporters and doubters before the planning commission.

Part of the project is supposed to be affordable, but some wondered how to ensure that it really turns out that way.

"Don’t get into a project-review decision-making mode," advised Department of Planning Director Jeff Hunt, adding that downstream reviews of matters such as community plan designations can look at projects in detail.

"This is the beginning of a 125-hurdle process," said Chairman Wayne Hedani.

When it came to a vote, the controversial portion of Kula Ridge cleared its hurdle, with commission member Warren Shibuya dissenting over concerns about water and the adequacy of Lower Kula Road.

However, A&B Properties’ bid to add 80 acres to 63 acres for residential development at Haliimaile failed.

Commission member Kent Hiranaga pointed out that the developer is going to provide water and sewage treatment anyway, so it would be financially helpful to expand the project.

"A&B is an agriculture company and a development company," he said. "If we want to allow them to continue the agricultural sector of their business, you need to allow some development. If you take away development, I believe you are jeopardizing the future of sugar cane.

"Then you will have lots of ag land to use for something."

However, farmers – organic and conventional – opposed taking prime agricultural land out of production, and on a split vote the 80 acres were excluded from the designated growth zone.

That Hiranaga moved to support an A&B proposal was ironic in light of earlier testimony.

Continue reading ‘Kula housing project gains a little ground – The Maui News’

Did you like this? Share it:
Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

East Bay Express – Shoddy Science

Published on September 15, 2009 in General Ag News and Notes.

Shoddy Science

A national panel criticizes the USDA’s scientific research on the light brown apple moth but affirms the agency’s power to start another round of aerial spraying.

As expected, a panel from the National Academy of Sciences said on Monday that the government has the legal authority to embark on a massive new eradication effort against the light brown apple moth, thereby opening the door for another round of aerial pesticide spraying. But the panel also criticized the United States Department of Agriculture for engaging in shoddy science to substantiate its war on the moth.

The 21-page report came in response to petitions submitted by opponents of the government’s extermination plans. They had asked the USDA to reclassify the light brown apple moth from being a major pest to one that could be easily controlled by farmers. Such a move would have prohibited aerial spraying or other major eradication efforts that the government is now planning.

Opponents believe the USDA and state officials have severely overstated the threats posed by the moth, and have noted that it has lived for more than one hundred years in Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii without causing serious, sustained damage to crops or native plants and trees. The USDA, nonetheless, believes the moth will destroy large swaths of cropland throughout California and much of the southern United States. The agency also considers it a serious threat to native redwood and pine forests.

Continue reading ‘East Bay Express – Shoddy Science’

Did you like this? Share it:
Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , .