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) 04-30-2010
Whole Food Markets (WFMI) 04-30-2010
Calavo Growers (CVGW) 04-30-2010
Alexander and Baldwin (ALEX) 04-30-2010
Monsanto (MON) 04-30-2010
Syngenta (SYT) 04-30-2010
DUPONT E I DE NEM (DD) 04-30-2010
South Carolina, which grows more peaches than the Peach State next door, might be putting a dent in another famous Georgia product soon – sweet onions.
Dozens of farmers joined leaders of the S.C. Department of Agriculture on Friday to start a publicity campaign for what they hope can expand from a new niche crop into another sweet source of profit from the fields.
Sweet onions aren’t a big deal here yet. South Carolina farmers have planted a little more than 60 acres this year, compared to about 14,000 acres of sweet onions in the Vidalia region of Georgia.
Palmetto Sweet Green Onions: "Eat one of these, and you’ll never want another Vidalia onion as long as you live," says Rep. Harry Ott, D-Calhoun, the only full-time farmer in the S.C. Legislature.
"We’re not trying to compete with Vidalia," said Martin Eubanks, director of marketing for the S.C. Department of Agriculture. On a broad scale, "we’re not going to be able to compete with 14,000 acres."
But others at the news conference apparently didn’t get that memo.
"Eat one of these, and you’ll never want another Vidalia onion as long as you live," said Sen. Harry Ott, D-Calhoun, the only full-time farmer in the S.C. Legislature.
Chris Rawl planted 6 acres of sweet onions this season on his family’s Lexington County farm, which hosted Friday’s gathering. They were the first in this soil since 2002, when Rawl ended a 10-year experiment with sweet onions that he believes was killed by marketing – or lack thereof.
"I’d get them to the market and people would ask, ‘Are they Vidalias?’ I’d say no, and they’d just walk," Rawl said.
But he insists South Carolina-grown onions taste just as sweet as Vidalias. "It’s not the soil, it’s not the climate," Rawl said. "Vidalia onions are just a fad, a marketing niche the Vidalia growers created."
Vidalia onions, by Georgia law, are grown only in 20 counties in that state. Growers there claim sulfur in the soil contributes to the onions’ unique flavor. Sales of Vidalia onions are estimated at $50 million annually.
Other famous sweet onion varieties are grown in Texas, New Mexico, Nevada and Hawaii.
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) 04-23-2010
Whole Food Markets (WFMI) 04-23-2010
Calavo Growers (CVGW) 04-23-2010
Alexander and Baldwin (ALEX) 04-23-2010
Monsanto (MON) 04-23-2010
Syngenta (SYT) 04-23-2010
DUPONT E I DE NEM (DD) 04-23-2010
Food security in Hawaii / Neil Abercrombie’s gubernatorial campaign hosted an animated discussion at its Ward Warehouse headquarters on Monday night, one that put some of the most contentious questions in Hawaii agriculture on the table.
The event was billed as non-partisan exploration of “food security in Hawaii,” and Abercrombie stayed mostly true to his opening pledge to leave the campaigning aside and keep the focus on the question of achieving food security for the Islands.
Yet despite moderator Andrew Aoki’s early assurance that “we all share the same goal” when it comes to food security, it was evident that panelists did not.
Nearly everyone has received e-mails proclaiming that a particular food possesses magical qualities. One such e-mail espouses bananas to be a superfood. The e-mail claims that a professor of physiological psychology provided the amazing information about bananas. There are a number of urban legend websites posting this message that don’t point out what is fact and fiction. Here are some of the claims and the facts about them.
By Shigeru Sato and Yuji Okada
April 20 (Bloomberg) — As Japan’s rice fields turn fallow and its farming communities decline, a new army of workers is preparing to make the countryside fertile again. This time the crop is motor fuel and the laborers are microscopic algae.
At least 75 developers globally are studying algae, which has the potential to generate more energy per hectare than any other crop used for making fuel, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The technology has attracted the U.S. Department of Energy and big oil including Exxon Mobil Corp., which plans to spend as much as $600 million on research over five years.
Japan abandoned a $132 million algae project in the 1990s, when oil prices dropped below $10 a barrel and climate change took a back seat to reviving the economy in what became known as “the Lost Decade.” Now companies including Toyota Motor Corp. and refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co. may join a study into the microorganisms that can turn waste water into oil, scrub carbon dioxide out of the air and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Form 8-K for MAUI LAND & PINEAPPLE CO INC
19-Apr-2010
Change in Directors or Principal Officers
Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Principal Officers; Election of
Directors; Appointment of Principal Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.(e) On April 12, 2010, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. (the "Company") approved an annual salary increase to $225,000 for Ryan L. Churchill. The compensation adjustment was made in recognition of Mr. Churchill’s February 8, 2010 appointment as the Company’s President and Chief Operating Officer.
BY JIM WAYMER
FLORIDA TODAYCall it canker on steroids.
Citing ineffective quarantines and other stopgap measures, a new warning from agriculture officials tells homeowners to get rid of backyard citrus trees and stop planting them.
The goal: Stop "citrus greening," which experts say could devastate the state’s $9.3 billion citrus industry.
"It’s the enemy at the doorstep," said Bud Crisafulli of Crisafulli Enterprises, which operates groves on Merritt Island. "If you’re a citrus grower, you’ve got to be concerned about this."
The Asian citrus psyllid spreads the bacteria that causes greening to citrus stems and leaves. While growers stay on the lookout and immediately destroy infected trees, backyard trees often are left to deteriorate and continue the spread of the incurable disease.
Officials acknowledge that convincing people to abandon their orange, grapefruit, lemon and lime trees may be going out on a limb in the Sunshine State, given citrus’ deep roots in Florida culture.
"People are attached to their trees. People love their trees. But citrus greening is a disease that many people have yet faced," said Nolan Lemon, a spokesman with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "Trees that would normally thrive 50 to 100 years, you’re looking at them dying within five to 12 years of infection."
By GREG WILES, The Honolulu Advertiser
Maui Land & Pineapple Co. is seeking shareholder approval to almost double the amount of its authorized common stock as it contemplates financing alternatives to pay down debt and raise money.
The company is proposing increasing the authorized shares to 43 million from the current 23 million, according to proxy material filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The proposed increase comes after the company reported losses totaling $202.7 million during the past two years and the exit from the pineapple business on which it was built.
Maui Land had previously noted that it might have to sell shares as it looked to generate additional cash, use stock in compensation plans and make acquisitions.
"Our cash outlook for the next 12 months and ability to continue to meet our financial covenants under our credit facilities is highly dependent on generating additional capital, including the sale of equity," said the filing.
The filing said the company has no definite plans for the shares should they be authorized, but that it may need to sell shares in excess of its current authorized number.
This would be needed to facilitate meeting obligations as well as its ability to redeem $40 million of convertible notes that become redeemable in July 2011.
Maui Land’s annual shareholders meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. May 13 at the Kapalua Village Center in West Maui.