Author: bigwave

October 26, 2012 Ag Tourism, General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Morimoto is coffee fest’s top pick: Kona event changes leadership, moves forward

Kona is coffee. So it’s only appropriate there’s a 10-day festival full to the rim with more than 40 events celebrating the famous bean.

The 42nd annual Kona Coffee Cultural Festival begins Nov. 2 and runs through Nov. 11, with the theme, “Kona Coffee — 100 percent gourmet.”

“Kona’s world-famous coffee is smooth and, quite frankly, the best-tasting coffee I know of,” said Mel Morimoto, the festival’s new president and a third-generation Kona resident who lives on the coffee farm his parents sowed 57 years ago. “Each bean is hand-picked, taking only the ripe cherries, leaving others to ripen. This takes patience and lots of love. You can certainly taste it in each cup of Kona coffee.”

Appointed in March, Morimoto said it’s a privilege to take over as festival president, especially following the steadfast leadership of Norman Sakata, one of the longest-serving, most dedicated festival volunteers. Sakata’s presidency lasted 19 years, but he’s volunteered for nearly 40 years. He remains the chairman of the board and is the official spokesman for the festival, sharing his invaluable knowledge.

Morimoto has been involved in the festival since 1999, when he acted as liaison between the festival and the Kona Coffee Living History Farm. Over the years, he was elected to the board of directors and served as the first vice president, and organized the Aloha Makahiki Concert and the parade.

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October 26, 2012 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Stowaway snake found under plane seat

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UK news
Scotland

Stowaway snake found under plane seat

Mexican serpent is named Furtivo after being found by Glasgow airport staff under seats of flight from Cancún

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Associated Press
The Guardian, Friday 26 October 2012 14.49 EDT

Furtivo, the Mexican snake found on a plane at Glasgow airport
Furtivo, the Mexican snake found on a plane at Glasgow airport. Photograph: Scottish SPCA/PA

Scottish airport staff got a surprise when they stumbled on a Mexican serpent stowaway under a seat.

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says quick-thinking workers at Glasgow airport remained “remarkably calm” when they discovered the 18-inch (45-centimetre) snake on Tuesday under seats in the passenger cabin of a flight from Cancún.

The society says the young snake was taken to its Glasgow animal centre, and named Furtivo, Spanish for “sneak”.

Furtivo, a member of the Dryadophis family of snakes, is apparently not venomous but “feisty”.

The snake may have sneaked on to the plane before takeoff, or hitched a ride in a passenger’s hand luggage.

The society says Furtivo will remain in its care until an expert home can be found.

Stowaway snake found under plane seat | UK news | The Guardian

October 26, 2012 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Golfer injured in bird attack sues the county

WAILUKU – A golfer who says he was attacked by a large bird at the Waiehu Municipal Golf Course is suing Maui County, alleging the county was negligent in failing to remove the animal from the course.

According to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in 2nd Circuit Court, Wailuku resident Ray Sakamura was attacked after teeing off on the second hole Jan. 26. He suffered substantial bodily injury, including a compression fracture of his L-4 vertebrae, the lawsuit says.

The animal that attacked him is described in the suit as a “large bird that had taken up residence” at the course pond.

In a claim Sakamura filed against the county in March, he said he was golfing with five other men when a duck or goose “charged me and bit my pant leg.” He said he tried to back away and fell onto his back and side as the animal continued to attack, biting his hand hard enough to cause bleeding. He said he pulled the bird off and went to his cart to get a Band-Aid. Sakamura’s claim also says he suffered an L-4 compression fracture in his back from the attack.

Instead of removing the bird, the lawsuit alleges that the county “allowed the bird to reside on the property after it had attacked other golfers.”

The county also didn’t warn people using the golf course that there were animals on the course, the lawsuit said.

“Specifically, they failed to warn the general public of the presence of birds residing on the course,

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October 20, 2012 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Monsanto Fund Donates $20,000 for Molokai Watershed Protection

Monsanto Fund Donates $20,000 for Molokai Watershed Protection

Monsanto Molokai News Release

The Monsanto Fund awarded a $20,000 grant to The Nature Conservancy (TNC) of Hawaii for watershed protection at Kamakou Preserve on Molokai. Since 2006, the Monsanto Fund has contributed a total of $130,000 to TNC’s protection and restoration efforts of critical watershed and fragile ecosystems on Molokai.

Located high in the mountains of East Molokai, the 2,774-acre Kamakou Preserve is a rainforest like no other on the planet. This magnificent natural treasure not only shelters hundreds of native plants and animals, but also serves as an important source of water for the island and its people.

TNC’s work at Kamakou Preserve, in collaboration with the public and private landowners of the East Molokai Watershed Partnership, is focused on invasive animal and weed control.

“Molokai’s forested watersheds today are under constant assault from established and new invasive species,” said Ed Misaki, TNC’s Molokai Program Director. “Feral ungulates (hoofed animals) like wild pigs, goats and deer are steadily eroding fragile topsoil. Once this soil disturbance occurs, invasive plants that did not evolve here, like blackberry and strawberry guava, steadily displace our native forests and watersheds. Once lost, they may be impossible to fully restore at any price.”

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October 18, 2012 Ag Tourism, General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Council moves forward on ag tourism bill Measure would ban tour activity in Waipio

Council members approved several amendments to a bill that would allow agricultural tourism on ag land, including one that would prohibit such tourist activities in Waipio Valley.

“The negative impacts of allowing large-scale tourism — the detriment is huge and sets up conflict,” Waipio taro farmer Jim Kane said. “We’re just setting ourselves up for a dangerous situation.”

Taro farmers took those concerns to Council Chairman Dominic Yagong, who introduced the amendment exempting areas of the island which can only be accessed with four-wheel-drive vehicles.

That includes Waipio.

South Kona Councilwoman Brenda Ford introduced the bulk of the amendments to Bill 266, which has generated significant testimony at several recent council meetings.

Her requests that the Planning Department give plan approval and perform a site visit before a farmer, for example, can begin offering ag tourism activities, passed. Her attempts to limit the size of the building in which ag products can be sold, to set a minimum amount of sales that must come from selling ag products, not value-added ones and to limit the number of visitors to no more than 80 per day failed.

Kohala Councilman Pete Hoffmann spoke out against several of the amendments, including the one limiting visitors to 80 per day, although he said he also didn’t necessarily support allowing 30,000 visitors annually,

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October 18, 2012 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Feds want to add 15 Hawaii species to endangered list

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing protecting 13 Big Island plants, a picture-wing fly and a shrimp as endangered species.

The agency said Wednesday invasive plants, agriculture, urban development and feral animals like pigs, sheep and goats are threatening the plants and animals by destroying their habitat.

It’s accepting comments on the proposal through Dec. 17.

More than 400 species around Hawaii are already listed as endangered or threatened.

The agency says its proposal is part of a court-approved work plan to resolve a series of lawsuits over the agency’s listing of species.

The agency says the agreement aims to reduce work driven by lawsuits.

Feds want to add 15 Hawaii species to endangered list – Hawaii News – Honolulu Star-Advertiser