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’
Tag Archive for 'maui'
I stopped by to see the operations at Hali'imaile Pineapple Co., home of the famous Maui Gold pineapples.
I stopped by to see the operations at Hali’imaile Pineapple Co., home of the famous Maui Gold pineapples.
The owner of a Maui financial services loan company filed for personal bankruptcy the same day as his company, claiming nearly $23.8 million in unsecured debt.
Lloyd Y. Kimura’s Chapter 7 filing late last month came on the same day as his company, Maui Industrial Loan & Finance Co., also filed for Chapter 7
Much of the unsecured liability Kimura listed — $16.2 million — is duplicated in Maui Industrial Loan & Finance’s filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
The Wailuku-based firm ran afoul of state regulators last year and was ordered by state Commissioner of Financial Institutions Nick Griffin to cease taking deposits or borrowing money.
Maui businessman owes $23.8M following 2 bankruptcies – Pacific Business News (Honolulu):
Complaint claims Kimura used account access to loot couple
By HARRY EAGAR, Staff WriterPOSTED: February 10, 2010
WAILUKU – Another creditor has filed a million-dollar lawsuit against Wailuku certified public accountant Lloyd Kimura. Unlike previous claims, this one also names his accounting firm, Lloyd Y. Kimura CPA.
Kimura filed for bankruptcy two weeks ago, listing debts of about $23 million. His wholly-owned industrial loan company, Maui Finance, also filed for bankruptcy.
Among the creditors in both bankruptcies were Ronald and Miriam Jacintho, owners of Rojac Trucking, Rojac Construction and Jacro Lowbed Services, who were listed as $1 million creditors of Maui Finance. In their lawsuit filed earlier this month in 2nd Circuit Court, they claim their losses were higher, although the complaint did not disclose the total.
This complaint, filed for the Jacinthos and their Dairy Road Property LLC by attorney Lyle Hosoda, differs from other lawsuits by also alleging that Kimura, as their accountant, had access to their accounts and looted them. Continue reading ‘New suit over isle CPA, firm seeks millions – The Maui News’
WAILUKU – Certified public accountant Lloyd Kimura is facing a flood of lawsuits for unpaid loans, foreclosures and for claims of mismanagement by buyers of a commercial condominium he developed and managed in the Wailuku Industrial Park.Neither Kimura nor his lawyer, Phil Lowenthal, returned phone messages seeking comment.
In November, the state Division of Financial Institutions ordered Maui Industrial (also known as Maui Finance, or MILFCO) to stop taking deposits. Kimura has owned and managed Maui Finance since 1969.
Continue reading ‘Lawsuits, foreclosures, other issues trail isle CPA – The Maui News’
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’
Pineapple revival
A new, smaller company picks up where Maui Land & Pineapple Co. left off
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jan 03, 2010
About 65 workers arrived at dawn yesterday for the first day of work at a new though much smaller pineapple company that will allow fresh pineapple farming and packing to continue on Maui.
Haliimaile Pineapple Co. began operations yesterday on 1,000 acres of leased land with some equipment purchased from Maui Land & Pineapple Co.
All workers were former employees of Maui Pineapple, which shut down last week after 97 years in operation. The company laid off about 285 employees and transferred 130 to partner companies.
Yesterday, workers picked more than 41 tons of pineapples in five hours.
"This morning was a real chicken-skin moment," said Rudy Balala, Haliimaile vice president, who worked at Maui Land & Pineapple for more than 30 years. He began talking with Darren Strand, a former Maui Pineapple operating director, about running their own operation a year ago.
"Our thing is trying to run as lean as possible and have everybody involved in the operations," Balala said. "We want everybody to be cross-trained."
Because volume is much lower than Maui Pineapple’s, the company needs a small crew that can do everything, he said.
Some workers who haven’t picked pineapple for more than 10 years were picking pineapple yesterday, Balala said.
"Everybody wants this company to succeed and they’re really showing it, especially on the first day," he said.
Tomorrow, all employees will go to Kahului to train and pack pineapples.
"There were a lot of smiles, a lot of happy people," said Doug Schenk, a shareholder in the new company. "A lot of people raring to go."
by: Derek Paiva
Fresh, whole Maui-grown pineapple will not be a relic of Hawaii’s past after all.
A consortium of Maui-based investors on Thursday announced the formation of Haliimaile Pineapple Co. Ltd., a new company that would immediately continue farming and harvesting the sweet and juicy fruit on 1,000 acres of Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. land.The World knows that Maui produces the BEST Pineapple!
Click for larger imageHaliimaile is slated to begin operations today.
On Nov. 3, Maui Land & Pineapple announced that it would shut down all operations at its Maui Pineapple Co. subsidiary at the end of 2009 after 97 years of growing the signature Hawaii fruit on the island. The largest grower of pineapple left in Hawaii, Maui Pineapple Co. sold fresh whole pineapple in stores and online under its Maui Gold brand. Maui Pineapple’s last harvest was completed on Dec. 23.
By Alan Yonan Jr. Advertiser Staff Writer
A group of former Maui Pineapple Co. executives have teamed up with the owner of Ulupalakua Ranch to take over some of the pineapple operations of Maui Land & Pineapple Co.
ML&P had announced in November that it would close its pineapple division after nearly 100 years of plantation-scale farming on the Valley Isle. The company last week harvested its final pineapple crop.Pineapple is BACK!
YES, YES, YES!
CLICK for larger imageThe new company, Haliimaile Pineapple Co., will continue to grow and market fresh pineapple under the established Maui Gold Brand, although on a smaller scale. The company said yesterday it will hire back 65 former Maui Pineapple Co. workers and farm about 1,000 of the 3,000 acres that were previously cultivated.
"We’re thrilled to be doing this," said Doug Schenk, former Maui Pineapple Co. president and member of the new management team.
"Maui Gold pineapple is a variety that no one else has. We knew that there was huge demand for it," said Schenk, who left Maui Pineapple in 2001.
Haliimaile has purchased and licensed key assets, and leased farm land, equipment and buildings from ML&P.
The other principals in the new company are Pardee Erdman, owner of Ulupalakua Ranch; former vice presidents of Maui Pineapple Doug MacCluer and Ed Chenchin; and the current operating directors for Maui Pineapple, Darren Strand and Rudy Balala.
Erdman will be the majority owner. The group brings more than 150 years of combined expertise in growing and packing premium pineapple on Maui, the company said.
"We are proud to continue the 100-year legacy of pineapple on Maui," said Strand, president and CEO of the new company.
"Haliimaile Pineapple Co. brings new hope for a new year by immediately saving 65 agricultural jobs with an expectation of adding more in the future."
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 imageA 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
Jobs, fields at risk in stream water dispute
By CHRIS HAMILTON, Staff Writer
POSTED: October 9, 2009
PUUNENE – They came out on their coffee breaks and at the end of their shifts, in dust-covered shirts and grease-flecked work boots and with rough hands. A circle of soot rimmed their cheeks where their respirators had been minutes before.Sugar Needs Water! Save HC&S Jobs! Click for Larger Image
About 20 Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. employees held their own news conference Thursday afternoon, along with a few HC&S supervisors, to make their case to the public that 800 full-time Maui jobs with benefits are at stake if the state Water Resource Management Commission rules against them in the Na Wai Eha streams case.
At issue is HC&S’ current practice of diverting up to 70 million gallons a day from Na Wai Eha, or "the four great waters" – Iao, Waihee, Waikapu and Waiehu streams. Water Commission Hearings Officer Dr. Lawrence Miike, who also sits on the independent board, has proposed reducing that amount by half.
HC&S agronomist Mae Nakahata said that if Miike’s proposed decision stands, about 5,500 acres of sugar cane above and below Honoapiilani Highway in Central Maui would be lost forever.
"If this goes against us, it could be a show stopper," said Robert Lu’uwai, HC&S vice president of factory operations. "Our expenses keep going up, and this year was the lowest sugar production we’ve ever had because of the (three-year-old) drought."
The mill typically produces up to 200,000 pounds of sugar, but produced just 127,000 pounds this year, Lu’uwai said.
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, Sept 30 (Reuters) – A federal judge dismissed a class-action lawsuit accusing Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc of violating antitrust law by using monopoly power to charge excessive prices on a sweet variety of pineapple.
Wednesday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard Berman rejected claims brought on behalf of retailers such as Publix Super Markets and Whole Foods Market Inc, as well as consumers, who bought the “Fresh Del Monte Gold” pineapples beginning in 1996.
The plaintiffs complained that Del Monte Fresh Produce Co, a unit of Fresh Del Monte, issued false and misleading “threat letters” to competitors that said its extra-sweet pineapple, described in court papers as “revolutionary,” was patented. They also said Del Monte threatened lawsuits against rivals that tried to sell the fruit and began “sham patent litigation,” in order to thwart competition and charge “supracompetitive prices for the Gold pineapples.”
Among those rivals alleged targeted by Del Monte were Dole Food Co and Maui Land & Pineapple Co, court papers show.
Continue reading ‘Fresh Del Monte wins dismissal of pineapple lawsuit’
PUUNENE – Sugar prices are through the roof this year, but that will be of little help to Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., which will have its sugar output reduced by drought to an estimated 125,000 to 130,000 tons this year.Hookipa Maui Harvest
Click for Larger ImageBut even if HC&S had more to sell, it still wouldn’t benefit, because it sold its production on forward contracts at what now seem like low prices.
The Alexander & Baldwin subsidiary does not participate in the government loan price support program, which is irrelevant this year, since world and American prices are far higher than the 18 cents per pound support rate.
HC&S will soon complete its harvest and shut down the mill, but for much longer than the usual one or two months.
Continue reading ‘Drought, maintenance extend shutdown – The Maui News’
In the late 1920s, people intentionally introduced birds known as Japanese white-eyes into Hawaiian agricultural lands and gardens for purposes of bug control. Now, that decision has come back to bite us. A recent increase in the numbers of white-eyes that live in old-growth forests is leaving native bird species with too little to eat, according to a report published online on September 17th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. The findings show that introduced species can alter whole communities in significant ways and cause visible harm to the birds that manage to survive.Native birds, Himantopus knudseni or Aeo, feed at Kealia Pond on Maui
Click for Larger Image"Native Hawaiian songbirds cannot rear normal-size offspring in the presence of large numbers of introduced Japanese white-eyes," said Leonard Freed of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. "Their growth is stunted."
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’
By EDWIN TANJI, For The Maui NewsPOSTED: September 11, 2009
Sonny Kaniho was a Native Hawaiian. He was also a loyal citizen of the United States, an Air Force veteran, a Pearl Harbor shipworker.
As a Native Hawaiian, he recognized injustices perpetrated on Native Hawaiians. As an American, he believed the government could be pushed into reversing the injustices. He knew it would take effort and it would take time. He committed himself to the effort. It’s taken more time than he had, but the injustices he strived to correct had been in place for most of the century.
His effort also was mostly personal but it ran parallel with and enhanced other efforts by many groups to revitalize Hawaiian culture and restore Hawaiian rights. In the 1970s, efforts at restoring Hawaii as a place reflecting its indigenous people included the Aboriginal Lands of Hawaii Association, Hawaiian musicians, kumu hula, the Polynesian Voyaging Society, the Protect Kahoolawe Ohana, and Dr. Terry Shintani, who established the nutritional value of the Hawaiian Diet.
Kaniho’s effort gave a synergistic boost to the 1978 debate that led to formulation of Article XII of the Hawaii Constitution – the Hawaiian Affairs section mandating state funding for Hawaiian Home Lands and establishing the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
Sonny Kaniho was an unlikely protester who conducted unlikely protests, a soft-spoken man engaging in nonviolent acts of civil disobedience in the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King. His peaceful protests were not angry confrontations. They were designed to draw public attention to what he viewed to be unjust decisions of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
The department didn’t agree, but it based its actions on 50 years of inertia. Kaniho knew the excuses. He didn’t accept them.
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