Tag Archive for 'farmers'

Farmers worried as Indonesia plans to cut beef imports

Published on December 16, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Livestock.


AUSTRALIAN cattle farmers fear a plan by Indonesia to drastically cut the amount of beef it imports next year will be a massive blow to the domestic industry.

Indonesia will only allow for 280,000 cows to be imported, down from 520,000 permits this year. Live exports to Indonesia are believed to be worth $300 million to Australian farmers.
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Indonesia will also limit the boxed beef it buys from overseas to 34,000 tonnes. Last year, Australia exported 48,500 tonnes of boxed beef to Indonesia.

Indonesia has indicated it wants to be self-sufficient in beef by 2014.

The Cattle Council of Australia president, Andrew Ogilvie, said Indonesia’s decision had dealt the industry a huge blow.

”Industry is pretty disappointed that there has been a reduction but we recognise Indonesia’s determination for self-sufficiency,” he said.

Mr Ogilvie said he did not believe the decision was in retaliation to Australia’s suspension of trade in June.

The live cattle trade was suspended by the Australian government for a month this year after the ABC’s Four Corners program sparked animal welfare concerns. The trade was later reinstated.

The Australian Live Exporters Council chief executive, Lach McKinnon, told the ABC any drop in exports would be massive blow to the cattle industry in the northern states.

”It’ll put us under a lot of pressure and we’ll have to work very hard to get through this,” he said.

”It’s like any of these particular trade issues – it’s about government to government and working through what it is both parties want to get.”

This month the Labor Party’s national conference rejected a push to phase out live cattle exports altogether. Continue reading ‘Farmers worried as Indonesia plans to cut beef imports’

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Maui County Farm Bureau Presents Maui Ag Day

Published on August 25, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes, Haliimaile Pineapple, Maui Gold Pineapple, Pineapple and food safety.


The Maui County Farm Bureau (MCFB) will present the second annual Maui Ag Day with a focus on “Understanding Food Safety Certification” on Friday, Aug. 26, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Hāli‘imaile Pineapple Company located at 872 Hāli‘imaile Road.

The trade show, panel discussion, tour and parking are free and open to the general public.

The day opens with the trade show and continental breakfast. At 9 a.m., the event will feature a Food Safety Certification Panel Presentation by three Maui farmers who have completed the Food Safety Certification process: Heidi Watanabe of Watanabe Processing, Geoff Haines of Pacific Produce and Brian Igersheim of Hāli‘imaile Pineapple Co. At 10:30 a.m., tour of Hāli‘imaile Pineapple Company facilities and pineapple fields. A Grown on Maui lunch will be provided to MCFB members at 11:45 a.m.; non-members may purchase lunch. Continue reading ‘Maui County Farm Bureau Presents Maui Ag Day’

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Support North Shore Agriculture and Help Keep it Country! Experience the 2011 – Fourth Annual Taste of Waialua

Published on April 17, 2011 in Ag Tourism and General Ag News and Notes.

On Saturday, April 23, 2011 from 8:30 am – 5 pm, Island X Hawaii / Old Sugar Mill Brand Coffee & Chocolate will host a celebration of North Shore grown coffee, cacao, produce, food, art, film, music, and surf industry manufacturing at an open house exhibition in the Old Sugar Mill, Waialua.

The North Shore town of Waialua was once a bustling sugar mill town producing what locals said was the “World’s Best Sugar” but in 1996 the Waialua Sugar Mill stopped production and closed its gates after over a 100 years of operation. In recent years, however, there has been a quiet resurgence of shops, businesses, and local product manufacturing that has helped transform the Old Waialua Sugar Mill into one of Oahu’s newest visitor destinations. The mill is also the processing site of Waialua Coffee and Cacao / Dole. Free mini tours of the coffee and chocolate mill as well as free Waialua Coffee samples are offered daily at Island X Hawaii. Come join us on Saturday, April 23rd, for a gathering of local art, food, music, and community groups and to celebrate the rebirth of the Old Historic Waialua Sugar Mill town. Continue reading ‘Support North Shore Agriculture and Help Keep it Country! Experience the 2011 – Fourth Annual Taste of Waialua’

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Maui shows it cares about ag

Published on April 3, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes.


A big crowd filled the grounds at the Maui County Agriculture Festival at the Maui Tropical Plantation in Waikapu.

Farmers of vegetables, flowers, livestock and other local products were on hand to share their goods with the community.

Organizer Charlene Kauhane said the festival drew its largest crowd to date.

“It just ended, and it’s still packed,” she said. “It was a tremendous success, and it really shows us that the community really cares about agriculture on Maui.”

Kauhane said more than 6,500 people attended the festival, an increase of about 1,000 over last year.

Maui shows it cares about ag – Mauinews.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Visitor’s Information – The Maui News

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Recent rainfall eases drought

Published on January 8, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.


Downpours have ended drought conditions on Oahu and Kauai, but the suffering continues for farmers and ranchers on other islands

Oahu and Kauai are no longer officially in drought conditions after last month’s heavy rain, the National Weather Service said.

But farmers and ranchers are still suffering, especially those on Maui, Molokai and the Big Island, where some ranchers are reportedly still hauling water to support their livestock.

National Weather Service hydrologist Kevin Kodama said “conditions on the leeward side of the Big Island, which is a dry area normally, improved slightly.”

However, last month’s rainfall “was not enough since it occurred over a short period of time,” too short to eliminate the drought conditions there.

The report issued by the Weather Service is just one of several steps that must be met before the emergency drought declaration issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is lifted. The emergency declaration, which made farmers and ranchers eligible for emergency loans and other payments, was issued for the Big Island in 2006, Maui and Molokai in 2007 and Kauai and Oahu last January.

“It’s good news,” said Diane Ley, state executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency.

However, it will be several years before the state’s pasture lands recover from the past four years of drought conditions. Continue reading ‘Recent rainfall eases drought’

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Kaua‘i’s newest farmers union is nation’s oldest

Published on November 15, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes.


LIHU‘E — The oldest agricultural organization in the United States has arrived on Kaua‘i.

The National Farmers Union was founded in 1902 to protect and enhance the economic interests and quality of life for family farmers and ranchers and rural communities, according to its mission statement.

In a state where most land is zoned agricultural or conservation, the Hawai‘i Farmers Union was not formed until June 2008. More than a year later, the organization reached Kaua‘i.

The Kauai‘i Farmers Union may be young, but is steadily growing on the island. HFU Treasurer Patti Valentine said the Kauai‘i chapter — for which she serves as liaison — already has 93 members. Half of them are farmers and the other half are friends of farmers.

“We encourage people who support farmers to join us too,” she said.

Valentine said HFU is a state organization which is mainly an advocate for small farmers, but large farmers can also join.

“We define members as a natural person,” said Valentine, adding that corporations can join at a higher fee but have no voting power.

HFU promotes prosperous agricultural communities through cooperation, legislation and education, the three basic frameworks of the NFU, Valentine said.

“That’s how they like to do everything, help set up cooperatives, help teach people how to do new and better farming methods, and show up in legislation,” said Valentine. Continue reading ‘Kaua‘i’s newest farmers union is nation’s oldest’

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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.

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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’

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Video: Farmer on a mission rides tractor to Capitol Hill

Published on September 17, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes.

John Boyd, the president of the Black Farmers Association, is protesting the non-payment of black farmers in a $1.15 billion case settled years ago by driving his tractor to Capitol Hill. The compensation is for thousands of black farmers who were denied government loans because of their race. (Anna Uhls/The Washington Post)

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OVERSEAS HELP

Published on September 13, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes.


The H-2A program allows agricultural employers to bring in foreign workers when there is a shortage of U.S. workers.

2008 | H-2A approved

» Bay View Farms: 10
» Bird Feather Hawaii: 25
» Captain Cook Honey: 2
» Hawaiian Queen Co.: 4
» Haleakala Ranch Co.: 1
» Kapapala Ranch: 1
» Kona Cold Lobsters: 8
» Kona Coffee Grounds : 36
» Larry Jefts Farms: 48
» Rincon Family Farms: 2
Total: 137

2008 | Rejected
» Bird Feather Hawaii : 10
» Precy Nazaire/Hawaii Agricultural Labor Services: 50
» Takenaka Nursery: 5

2009 | H2-A approved

» Bird FeatherHawaii: 18
» Captain Cook Honey: 2
» Global Ag Labor: 48
» Haleakala Ranch: 1
» Hawaiian Queen Co.: 6
» Kapapala Ranch: 2
» Kona Coffee Grounds: 28
» Kona Queen Hawaii : 5
» Larry Jefts Farms: 40
» Richard T. Watanabe Farm: 1
» Waikele Farms: 80
Total: 231

2009 | Rejected

» Bird Feather Hawaii: 3
» Global Ag Labor: 12
» Greenwell Farms: 12
» Kona Queen Hawaii: 2
» Palehua Ohana Farmers Cooperative: 8

Source: U.S. Department of Labor’s Foreign Labor Certification Data Center

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20100913_Local_farms_in_labor_bind.html

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Developer finds land for displaced farmers – Hawaii News – Starbulletin.com

Published on March 12, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Sustainability.

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A developer who hopes to build 3,500 homes makai of the H-2 freeway says farmers working on the land have found another place to plant.

Bruce Barrett, executive vice president of residential operations for Castle & Cooke Hawaii, said the farmers will have an equivalent piece of land and could seek more with the landowner, Dole.

Castle & Cooke is trying to address several impacts arising from its planned community, called Koa Ridge, including the displacement of farmers.

The developer will appear before the Land Use Commission on Thursday as part of the ongoing process to receive a permit converting agricultural land to urban land.

The developer addressed some concerns about its project at a community forum on Wednesday sponsored by the Mililani Neighborhood Board and the Sierra Club.

Those two groups are intervenors against the petition, which would allow the developer to build the homes and 500,000 square feet of commercial development.

The neighborhood board plans to support the development if the Land Use Commission imposes conditions on the developer that address traffic, education, affordable housing and other impacts on the community.

The Sierra Club, however, opposes the project because it displaces farming businesses and destroys agricultural land for more homes.

Continue reading ‘Developer finds land for displaced farmers – Hawaii News – Starbulletin.com’

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Hawaii’s dry spell predicted to linger through May | The Honolulu Advertiser

Published on January 26, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.

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Even the wettest spot in Hawai’i — Mount Wai’ale’ale — wasn’t so wet last year as the state experienced below-normal rainfall in all but a few spots.

Rain gauges at the Kaua’i mountaintop measured 308 inches in 2009, 73 percent of normal levels, and a scant 3 inches in December, only 7 percent of normal. It was Mount Wai’ale’ale’s third-driest December on record, according to National Weather Service data.

In Honolulu, only the O’ahu Forest National Wildlife Refuge experienced above-normal rainfall in 2009 — 214 inches. Totals for most sites in central and west O’ahu were less than 50 percent of their annual averages.

The December rainfall numbers were even worse, with most O’ahu gauges measuring a third or less of normal rainfall averages, a trend that has continued into the new year.

The U.S. Drought Monitor reports that 99 percent of the state is experiencing "abnormally dry" or worse conditions, compared with 37 percent at the same time last year. More than a third of the state is suffering "severe to exceptional" drought.

On Maui and the Big Island, the U.S. Department of Agriculture last month designated the two counties as natural disaster areas so farmers could seek relief for crop losses.

Continue reading ‘Hawaii’s dry spell predicted to linger through May | The Honolulu Advertiser’

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The demand is there for locally grown food – Starbulletin

Published on January 3, 2010 in General Ag News and Notes, Sustainability and Vegtables.

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UNDER THE SUN

By Cynthia Oi

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jan 03, 2010

Growing food is better then picking up cigarette buts at the resort.
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Now comes a study suggesting that early Hawaiian agriculture was vast and substantially more complex than previously known, implying that what was grown fed a population of perhaps a million people, which is about the present occupancy of Hawaii.

Samuel M. Gon III was clearly excited by the findings of a team of researchers and scientists from noted institutions.

"If a million mouths could be fed back then, this points to a future where we can wean our reliance on food from the outside world," said Gon, who as senior scientist with The Nature Conservancy in Hawaii participated in the study.

Continue reading ‘The demand is there for locally grown food – Starbulletin’

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East Oahu farmers face big decision about the fate of their existence – KHNL

Published on October 10, 2009 in General Ag News and Notes.

Posted: Oct 10, 2009
By Duane Shimogawa

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HAWAII KAI (KHNL) – It’s the last large piece of undeveloped land in East Oahu and farmers have been working to prevent its development for the last five years.

The farmers face a big decision come next year involving the fate of their existence there.

Continue reading ‘East Oahu farmers face big decision about the fate of their existence – KHNL’

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