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.
Maui shows it cares about ag
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.
Recent rainfall eases drought
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.
Kaua‘i’s newest farmers union is nation’s oldest
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.
Dems to honor ‘Ag Country Roots’ today
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.
boocoo auctions
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.
Video: Farmer on a mission rides tractor to Capitol Hill
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)