Category: General Ag News and Notes

August 2, 2021 Agriculture Grants, General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

DLNR News Release: Apply Now For Wildland Mitigation And Landscape Scale Restoration Funding

The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) is seeking applicants for two new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service competitive grant programs: wildland-urban interface and landscape scale restoration grants.

Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) grants provide funds to mitigate risk from wildland fire. Funds are awarded through a competitive process with emphasis on hazard fuel reduction, information and education, assessment and planning, and monitoring through community and landowner action.

DOFAW is looking for other non-federal landowners, agencies and organizations interested in collaborating on joint projects across land ownership and management boundaries for both programs.

Projects that DO NOT qualify include suppression capacity building, such as the purchase of fire department equipment. Applications must describe how the project connects with the goals of the Hawai’i Forest Action Plan and an existing Community Wildfire Protection Plan. See 2022 WUI Grant Criteria and Instructions for more information.

Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR) grants address priority landscapes and/or issues identified in the Hawai’i Forest Action Plan and encourage collaborative, science-based restoration projects that encompass a diversity of ownerships at a scale that can address the restoration objectives identified in the project.

Eligible activities following priorities outlined in the Hawaii Forest Action Plan include:

  1. Water Quality and Quantity
  2. Forest Health: Invasive Species, Insects, and Disease
  3. Wildfirev
  4. Urban and Community Forestry
  5. Climate Change and Sea Level Rise
  6. Conservation of Native Biodiversity
  7. Hunting, Nature-Based Recreation, and Tourism
  8. Forest Products and Carbon Sequestration
  9. S. Tropical Island State and Territorial Issues

Ineligible activities include but are not limited to purchasing of land, purchasing of technical equipment greater than $5,000 without prior approval by United States Forest Service (USFS), work on federal land, construction (e.g. new buildings or roads), and research-related activities.

See the FY 2022 LSR National Overview and Western Guidance document for more information.

DEADLINES

WUI and LSR grant applications for 2021 will be accepted by DOFAW via email only until 12:00 PM (HST) September 30th, 2021.

Email WUI applications* to Michael Walker (State Fire Protection Forester) using subject header “WUI Request for Interest”

Email LSR applications* to Tanya Rubenstein (Cooperative Resource Management Forester) using subject header “LSR Request for Interest”

*All submitted responses must be on the appropriate application form, linked above, and must be editable (i.e. in fillable pdf or MS Word format only). Use English only, and provide all financial information in U.S. dollars. All applications are reviewed and prioritized by DOFAW who will load selected proposals into the relevant online system for submission for the competitive western region review/scoring process.

Non-federal landowners, agencies and organizations interested in applying to either grant program are encouraged to register their organization by September 5th, 2021 providing a contact name, address, phone number, and email address to the relevant DOFAW point of contact above, otherwise you will not receive notification of any changes or addendums.

# # #

RESOURCES

Hawai’i Forest Action Plan: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/forestry/info/fap/

Community Wildfire Protection Plan: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/forestry/fire/community-risk-reduction/community-wildfire-protection-plans/

2022 WUI Grant Criteria and Instructions: https://www.westernforesters.org/sites/default/files/FY_2021%20WSFM%20WUI%20Grant%20Instructions%20to%20States_Web.pdf

FY 2022 LSR National Overview and Western Guidance:
https://www.thewflc.org/landscape-scale-restoration-competitive-grant-program/fy-2022-landscape-scale-restoration

RFI is posted at: https://hands.ehawaii.gov/hands/opportunities/opportunity-details/20443

August 2, 2021 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Golden opportunity: Beekeepers turn hobby into a honey-maker

West Hawaii Today
By Colleen Schrappen St. Louis Post-Dispatch (TNS)

DES PERES, Mo. — A vegetable garden was first on Tom Millis’ to-do list when he bought his home in the St. Louis suburb of Des Peres a decade ago. Then he and his now-wife, Elsa Stuart, added native flowers to their 2-acre property.

Bees were next. They’d help pollinate the plants and make a little honey, maybe even enough to give to friends.

Last summer, the couple harvested 1,600 pounds.

“What are we going to do with all this honey?” Stuart asked Millis.

They decided to form a bee corporation.

In October, the couple launched Millis Meadows, joining the ranks of hobbyists-turned-entrepreneurs whose fascination with the communal insects blossomed into side businesses selling hive products. In the United States, honeybees have bounced back since colony collapse disorder was identified in the mid-2000s, increasing awareness of the pollinators’ plight. Honey consumption has almost doubled over the past 50 years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, even as the use of other caloric sweeteners has dropped.

Most backyard beekeepers start small after learning about the practice from a family member or on social media. Millis and Stuart, both veterinarians, dove into research on the invertebrates and converted their garage into a workspace before they added any flying tenants to their garden. At least six apiarist organizations in the region offer mentoring and workshops to help “newbees” establish colonies, mitigate setbacks and minimize the inevitable stings.

“You can’t just master it in a year,” said John Pashia of Affton. “There’s very much an art to the science.”

Pashia joined the Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association 15 years ago after a friend got him interested in the practice. At the time, about a dozen people were regulars at meetings. Now the club claims hundreds of members.

“People are becoming more connected to nature and wanting to know where their food comes from,” Pashia said. “As a hobby, it’s extremely interesting. You’re overwhelmed by Mother Nature.”

Bee colonies are complex ecosystems, and their care requires time and money. Most backyard hives resemble a chest of drawers, with 10-inch-tall wooden boxes called “deeps” on the bottom and shallower “supers” stacked on top. Inside are eight to 10 frames into which worker bees construct honeycomb. The hexagonal wax cells can hold eggs, pollen and nectar — which the workers dehydrate by fanning it with their translucent wings until it thickens into honey.

Honey is collected from the supers — a barrier called an excluder keeps the queen from laying eggs in them — usually in the summer or fall. Extracting equipment can cost thousands of dollars. The process takes days to complete.

Jeremy Idleman of Ballwin was prodded into beekeeping a few years ago by an uncle, after Idleman returned from an Army deployment to Iraq.

“I had some anger issues,” he said.

He learned that beekeeping had been recommended for World War I veterans to help them recover from shell shock.

“I found that I was much more calm when I was working the bees,” Idleman said. “There’s a lot of therapeutic qualities to them.”

The constant hum of the hive is soothing, like white noise. Success is measurable. Every couple of days, he checks on his growing brood. He slides out the frames, each one heavy with bees, and drips of nectar glisten in the sunlight.

At harvest time, Idleman uses a hot knife to slice the caps off the comb, the wax falling away in a long curl. A centrifuge spins the honey out of the frames. It slides down the wall of the steel drum and out a spigot, like a golden ribbon.

“It all forces you to be present,” Idleman said. “I figured if it worked for me, it would work for others.”

In 2016, he formed BeeFound for veterans and first responders with post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition to the five hives he keeps, he manages a “foster apiary” for the nonprofit’s Bees for Bravery program applicants. He’s given away 20 hives this year and more than a dozen people are on the waiting list.

Idleman bottled 200 pounds of his own honey last year. He sells it online, for $13 a jar, to help fund BeeFound.

Beyond clover

Like beer and olive oil, honey varieties have proliferated in recent years amid a growing appreciation for flavor and style nuances. Clover is the most common of the more than 300 types in the United States, which vary based on local flowers.

Pat Jackson of Hazelwood, Mo., an all-day tea drinker, says she can taste the changing of the seasons when she stirs in her honey.

“In the spring, it’s a very delicate flavor,” she said. “Fall honey is a darker color. The flavor is deeper.”

Jackson gets her sweet fix from Tinker’s Bees and Pure Raw Honey, owned by Guy and Tracy Tinker of Florissant, Mo.

“What the bees are foraging on makes the honey completely different,” said Guy Tinker, a computer technician.

The Tinkers started tending bees in 2014. In their second year, they collected enough honey to give to friends. By the fourth year, they were ready to form an LLC. They sell primarily online and at a few local shops.

Rob Kravitz of south St. Louis pops a teaspoon of Tinker’s each day with his dose of vitamins. “It helps me wake up in the morning,” he said.

Honey, which contains vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, enjoys a healthy reputation that eludes many other sweeteners. Its sugars have been partly broken down by bees, making them easier for some people to digest. Honey can work as a cough suppressant or a salve for wounds.

Many consumers swear by local honey as an allergy remedy, though clinical studies have not borne that out; the Mayo Clinic refers to it as a “sweet placebo.”

For Ann Shields of Des Peres, buying local honey is more about promoting environmental health, anyway.

“Those bees live happy lives, and it feels good for me to support that,” she said.

She uses Millis Meadows’ $8 wildflower honey in marinades for her barbecue, spread on toast and as a throat-soother when she strains her voice from teaching.

It’s delicious, and it’s easy, Shields said: “I get the benefit without the buzzing.”

July 31, 2021 General Ag News and Notes, Sustainable Agriculture Post a Comment

How This Group Hopes To Change Hawaii’s Agricultural Landscape

Forbes
by Esha Chhabra

“Hawaii’s food system is broken,” says Constanze Niedermaier of Common Ground, a new platform to find regeneratively grown Hawaiian foods.

The islands export 80% of their crop, and import 90% of their food products, despite being a fertile land which has the potential to grow an abundance of its own needs.

John Parziale has been a farmer in Kauai for over 20 years, growing crops like ginger and turmeric. He’s seen the farming challenges first-hand: an emphasis on monocropping, high land costs that prevent young (and new) farmers from getting into the profession, and the emphasis on exports instead of self-sufficiency.

That’s why Niedermaier, Parziale, and others have come together, backed by a group of like-minded eco-forward investors, to create a hub for local food entrepreneurs: The Common Ground is a physical space in Kauai that serves as a base for a new food community focused on regenerative agriculture on the islands. With an accelerator and an incubator, Common Ground wants to support small and medium size food businesses who are trying to deviate from the conventional model of agriculture.

They include enterprises such as Maui Nui, which makes a venison jerky bar with wild-caught Axis deer, which have become an invasive species in Hawaii, explains Niedermaier, and yet are a nutritional meat. There’s Vintage Vinegars which produces a raw pineapple vinegar made from excess fruit and otherwise waste, at a pineapple processing unit (one of Hawaii’s most popular exports). Or ulu-based products that have provided an alternative to traditional grains and wheat-centric pastas; ulu, or breadfruit, is grown widely in the tropics and plays a pivotal role in agroforestry on the islands, says Parziale.

While the physical space set on an 83-acre agricultural campus once home to Kilauea Sugar Plantation and Guava Kai Plantation will serve as a meeting place for these entrepreneurs, allowing them to convene, share, ideas, and cross-collaborate, Common Ground has also launched an online marketplace to reach consumers beyond the islands. “We want people across America to discover these stories and products,” he says.

For Parziale who is a passionate advocate for a healthier food system and now operates a 5-acre farm which serves as a model and testing ground for those looking to convert to permaculture or regenerative practices, this is a heart-felt mission. “Agriculture has become one of the most destructive human activities on earth. Either we change, and model our agricultural systems after ecosystems, or regenerative agriculture is going to sprout from the ashes of our civilization.”

Agroforestry plays a huge role in this transformation for Hawaii. Unlike mainland farms that can rely on vast open spaces to have rows of planted crops, in Hawaii, its tree fruits, such as breadfruit, nuts, coffee, cacao, and more, can help produce a more regenerative system, Parziale says. The trees not only help keep carbon in the soils, but provide shade, help retain water, and allow for intercropping.

The last two decades, he says, have seen a massive consolidation in how we produce and consume food. “That has to change. Those destructive and extractive agricultural products have to be reckoned with.”

Common Ground’s campus will open in 2022. But till then, the online marketplace is available for consumers around the U.S. to discover some of these new innovative food companies, and get a taste of the islands, through a regenerative lens.

July 30, 2021 Employment/Jobs, Farm Labor, General Ag News and Notes, Hawaii Agricultural Employment, Hawaii Agriculture Jobs Post a Comment

How To Thank Hawaii’s Immigrant Essential Workers

Civil Beat
By Bennette E. Misalucha, Henry J. C. Aquino

Give them access to state services, because far too many have not been supported as they should be.

Perhaps it took a pandemic, but Hawaii is only just starting to recognize the contributions of its essential immigrant workers: the people who care for us when we’re sick, protect our food supply and are once again the backbone of our hospitality workforce.

They make incredible sacrifices for our state, yet far too many have not been supported the way they should be.

Immigrants make up 18% of our population. But according to a new report by New American Economy, they account for nearly 40% of agricultural workers, 33% of tourism, entertainment and hospitality employees and nearly half of nursing assistants.

Despite the outsized roles they play, the government does little to empower them. A recent study assessing how well the 100 largest U.S. cities supported and integrated immigrants ranked Honolulu 95th.

We must treat immigrants better.

As co-chairs of the first joint Filipino Caucus in the Hawaii State Legislature, we’re calling for equal access and more state-funded support of immigrant services. If we want immigrants in Hawaii to become economically self-sufficient, live healthier lives and participate more fully in society, then we need to give them the necessary tools to do so.

That means better access to health care and employment services as well as language assistance. It also means legal guidance and citizenship classes so that the 40,000 immigrants in Hawaii who are eligible to naturalize can do so.

Supporting the immigrant workers who’ve kept our state moving forward during the pandemic is simply the right thing to do.

That’s why the House and Senate recently passed a resolution urging the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to study how public-private partnerships can help fill existing gaps. We are excited to read the findings before the next legislative session begins in January.

Empowering immigrants is also in Hawaii’s economic best interest. Research shows that naturalized immigrants are more likely to buy homes, earn higher salaries, pay more taxes and start businesses that create jobs. As a group, immigrants pay $1.55 billion annually in federal taxes and $874 million in state and local taxes — and contribute more than $17.5 billion to Hawaii’s GDP.

In 2018, they accounted for over a quarter of all entrepreneurs in the state, making them 24% more likely to be business owners than their U.S.-born counterparts. If this is what they’re able to accomplish without adequate resources, think of how they can succeed with them.

We must treat immigrants better.

We, as a Filipina immigrant and a son of Filipino immigrant parents, both know how determined newcomers are to build a better future for their families and communities. Despite enduring decades of terrible ethnic stereotypes about our accents, clothing and cuisine, we’ve come so far as a group — politically, economically and culturally.

Yet we still have work to do to improve our status and representation. In one welcome move, a group of high school students is leading the charge to put Filipino history on the state curriculum.

Ours is just one immigrant community that proves every day how much we belong here in Hawaii and what we can achieve. Imagine what a handful of well-conceived and well-placed services — whether it’s a session with a job counselor or bilingual assistance — can do for other immigrants.

Our state needs to step up. We are already known as the most diverse state in the nation. We owe it to ourselves — and our future — to also be the most inclusive.

July 30, 2021 General Ag News and Notes, Hawaii Maritime Shipping, Jones Act, Shipping, Transportation Post a Comment

Barge shipment delay results in no burgers, pet food

The Garden Island
By Sabrina Bodon

Burger King ran out of burgers, and Kentucky Fried Chicken ran out of mashed potatoes.

These were just some of the effects of a barge shipment delayed due to crew members contracting COVID-19, setting off a small chain reaction on the island.

“We are frustrated because we are serving our customers, and the customers were disappointed,” Burger King Manager Marionette Cataquian said Thursday. “That’s why they come to our restaurant, to buy the stuff they like.”

The fast-food establishment remained busy at lunchtime Thursday, with customers stopping to read that their favorite meals were not for sale. Signs, like Cataquian’s, went up at various spots around the island, notifying customers of the lack of goods.

“The burgers, the Whoppers, every day, that is the one thing people want,” Cataquian said. “We try our best to serve customers. We try to explain, but some customers don’t understand.”

Burger King typically orders extra burgers in each shipment, Cataquian said, and sometimes other restaurants will stop by to pick up those extras. This week, there were no extras.

The barge was initially scheduled to depart from Honolulu for Nawiliwili Thursday, July 22, but was delayed until Saturday, July 24, after five Young Brothers crew members set to sail last week for Kaua‘i tested positive for COVID-19, forcing crew members into quarantine.

Because of temporary adjustments in the sailing schedule to maintain U.S. Coast Guard tug crew-manning requirements, another barge that was scheduled to depart for Nawiliwili this past Monday was delayed.

Natural Pet Hawai‘i in Puhi was also affected, owner Jennifer Pimsaguan reported.

“We keep a list of people to call when their stuff comes in,” Pimsaguan said.

“It’s crazy, it’s weird that one facet of it shuts down and Kaua‘i is left high and dry,” Pimsaguan said. “The outer islands definitely need to figure out something. Barges are really important here. People depend on them every day.”

Some of Pimsaguan’s inventory comes straight to Kaua‘i, others have to stop on O‘ahu, and depending on various circumstances, like one shipment not making a transfer, her items may be delayed.

Natural Pet carries a variety of specialty animal foods, many for dogs or cats with allergies.

“It’s hard for me to run out because people depend on a certain style of food for their animal,” Pimsaguan said.

Young Brothers will sail a recovery on Saturday, July 31, as noted in the customer notice.

“Young Brothers will continue to safeguard the wellbeing of our team members, customers and the communities we serve from COVID-19,” Megan Rycraft, director of health, safety, quality and environment at Young Brothers, LLC, said in a statement last week. “The health and safety of our employees is our top priority as we continue to provide our 12 weekly sailings between the islands.”

The port will have special gate hours on Sunday, Aug. 1, from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with an hour lunch closure starting at noon. These same extended hours will be in effect on Monday, Aug. 2, as well.

Following is a schedule of release of goods:

• Dry and refrigerated straight load containers: upon discharge;

• Refrigerated loose and palletized cargo: Sunday, Aug. 1 at 1 p.m.;

• Dry and mixed palletized cargo: Monday, Aug. 2;

• Automobiles and roll-on roll-off cargo: Monday, Aug. 2.

On the other hand, some weren’t affected at all.

Brandon Yoshimoto of McDonald’s Kaua‘i said it was “business as usual” at his location this past week, and he has not seen any ripple to the delayed shipment.

Yoshimoto said there have been longer delays due to treacherous surf that the barges couldn’t make it through.

“Everywhere will always have hiccups,” Yoshimoto said. “You cannot help that they’re (Young Brothers) taking precautions.”

This article was updated at 10:40 a.m., on Friday, July 30 to clarify when the recovery barge would sail.

July 30, 2021 DLNR, General Ag News and Notes, Land Use Post a Comment

Homesteaders eye dispute between Fevella, Aila

Hawaii Tribune-Herald
By JOHN BURNETT

“I understand the frustration, because there’s nothing the department has created except controversy.”

Keaukaha Community President Patrick Kahawaiolaa was referring to a letter sent Monday by state Sen. Kurt Fevella, the Senate minority leader, to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland requesting a federal investigation of the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

Fevella, the Senate’s lone Republican, believes the DHHL should be using $125 million in trust funds appropriated by the state Legislature to build homestead lots for Native Hawaiian beneficiaries who are on a lengthy wait list.

He said in a statement Wednesday the DHHL’s decision to deposit the funds into a savings account “highlights the need for reform and renewed leadership at DHHL.”

“Your assistance is needed to review and investigate the actions of DHHL and determine whether DHHL has met its fiduciary duty to the Native Hawaiians beneficiaries,” wrote Fevella, who represents Oahu’s Ewa Plain, in his letter to Garland and Haaland.

Fevella — who actively opposed an unsuccessful bill in the Legislature to build a casino on DHHL land in Kapolei, Oahu — called it “disingenuous and misleading” for the department to seek additional state and federal funds “when they already possess a large sum of monies that can be used to build homes and construct needed infrastructure for beneficiaries.”

“If Fevella is right that the Legislature gave that money for infrastructure, and (the DHHL) failed to do it, then it’s exacerbating the problems of the people on the wait list on this island. It’s statewide, but on this island, as well,” Kahawaiolaa said Thursday.

William Aila, Hawaiian Homelands Commission chairman and DHHL director, said in a statement Monday the development of over 4,000 new homestead lots since 1995 leaves the DHHL with “over a half a billion dollars in private lending contingent liability that it is responsible for,” and the deposit of the $125 million is consistent with the Legislature’s Act 14 settlement in 1995 “to establish an endowment to serve the trust.”

Act 14 required the Legislature to pay $600 million to DHHL in 20 yearly payments of $30 million.

“It is our fiduciary kuleana to be sure the trust has enough money in its reserve to mitigate this risk against the state,” said Aila. “This commission, as well as previous commissions, has acted prudently in its fiduciary responsibility of this trust to ensure that homestead lots are developed in perpetuity.”

The DHHL said it was allocated $78 million by the Legislature for capital improvement projects this past legislative session — the largest capital improvement budget appropriation in the program’s history, but less than the $460 million the department said is needed.

Kahawaiolaa called the dispute between Fevella and Aila “sad.”

“I think there’s just a misunderstanding on Fevella’s part, but he’s on the right track. Fevella does not have obligations to the Native Hawaiian. Aila does. And that’s the missing part of the equation,” Kahawaiolaa said.

“They, the Department of Hawaiian Homes, were required to create a fund by the state Legislature for risk mitigation, for people who borrowed money from private lenders,” he said. “In ’83, I got a loan from the (DHHL) to build a home. At that particular point in time, they were morphing into ‘go borrow money from the outside.’”

Kahawaiolaa said it’s difficult for homesteaders to get loans from commercial lenders because the land is on 99-year leases for $1 a year and title belongs to the DHHL.

“On that type of loan, the lender cannot foreclose,” he said.

County Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy, who lives with her husband, Ian, on a Panaewa homestead lot, also noted “the lending problem that we have on Hawaiian Home Lands.”

“A lot of conventional mortgages are not available to beneficiaries on Hawaiian Home Lands because the banks don’t want to lend on leasehold, especially DHHL,” Lee Loy said. “And so DHHL is kind of stuck by saying, ‘OK, we’ll carry the mortgage for you folks.’”

Lee Loy didn’t take sides in the Fevella-Aila dust-up, but noted Big Island DHHL projects are in need of financing.

“We have a number of opportunities right here on the Big Island, whether it’s the project out in Honomu (or the) scattered lots program in Panaewa and some other programs that could use the funding and help Native Hawaiian beneficiaries realize housing,” she said.

The Honomu project for subsistence agriculture lots is in the environmental review process, where it’s been for a number of years.

“Honomu’s been waiting. That came up four years ago and there’s nothing going on there,” Kahawaiolaa said. “You’re going to put people on there without road and water? In 2021, we’re asking people, ‘Hey, we’ve got land out here in Honomu, but we’re going to do it with gravel roads and water catchment?

“There may be people who want to live that way, but I’m not one of those, nor would I want my children to do that.”

Six bids were received in March for the Panaewa project, which involves subdividing a 10-acre parcels on Mahiai Street into 16 subsistence ag lots with a new road and infrastructure improvements.