Tag: hawaii

March 19, 2007 General Ag News and Notes, Papaya, Vegtables

Hawaii Crop Weather

Here is the PDF file for the *Hawaii Crop Weather* (crop progress and condition) Report for the week ending *March 18, 2007*

current_hi031907.pdf

Please visit http://www.nass.usda.gov/hi/ for more information.USDA NASS Hawaii Field Office
1421 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96814-2512

Agricultural Highlights

Fruits

Banana
Orchards in eastern sections of Hawaii County made good growth. Showers on Wednesday and Thursday helped to keep soil moisture adequate. Regular spraying minimized disease and insect damage. Banana Bunchy Top incidences remained isolated in the Puna and Kona areas. Oahu orchards were in fair to good condition. Fields in windward Oahu made fair to good progress with light to moderate harvesting. Leeward and central fields remained in fair to good condition. Irrigation levels were at moderate levels during the week. Fruit development and ripening continued to improve during the week with the increasing day length and beneficial sunny skies. Kauai?s orchards were in fair to good condition. Crop progress remained steady and made good recovery from previous wind damage.

Papaya
Warmer temperatures and sunny periods are benefiting orchard progress in the lower Puna areas of the Big Island. Soil moisture was adequate. Regular spraying was necessary to minimize disease damage. Mature trees in the Kapoho and Opihikao area have medium sized fruits and full fruit columns. Good weather conditions were encouraging good flower and fruit set. Growers are replanting in the lower Kapoho area. Orchards on Kauai made fair to good progress during the week. Rains and overcast skies slowed crop progress during the week. Sprayings to contain insect infestation was delayed, but are expected to be stepped-up as soon as the fields dry.

Vegetables

Head Cabbage
Big Island growers were harvesting medium to large heads. Head quality was generally good. Tall weeds were observed in the Puukapu fields. New plantings made steady progress in Lalamilo. Heavy irrigation was required. Selective spraying minimized damage from disease and insects. On Oahu, new fields were in good condition. Insect infestations remained under control and head quality was good. On Maui, weather conditions hampered field activities for most operations. Some plantings were delayed due to wet ground conditions. Producers may be able to get on schedule later in the month depending on future weather conditions. The crop was in fair condition during the past couple of weeks.

Dry Onions
Maui?s crop showed some improvement in growth and development during the past month, but with the recent weather may increase the chances of loss due to rain damage and disease from wet field conditions. The effect of this week?s rains on mature fields is uncertain, and the rains could also affect production from fields in the developing stages. Currently, crop conditions range from marginally fair to fair condition depending on the location of the field.

March 15, 2007 General Ag News and Notes, Papaya

Papaya Report

FEBRUARY SALES LOWER

Hawaii fresh papaya utilization is estimated at 2.1 million pounds for February 2007, down 14 percent from January of this year and 8 percent less than February of last year. Cumulative sales for the first two months of 2007 were down 13 percent from the same period in 2006.

Weather conditions for February were generally favorable for papaya orchards. New growth and steady flowering benefited from sunny days and intermittent showers. Growers cleared fallen trees left by previous high winds. Field activities were delayed by heavy rain during the last week of February.

Papaya growers are expected to receive an estimated 41.0 cents per pound for fresh fruit in February 2007, up 8 percent (3.0 cents) from last month and 14 percent more (5.0 cents) from a year ago.?

Click Below for complete pdf report

papaya.pdf?

USDA NASS Hawaii Field Office
http://www.nass.usda.gov/hi/
1421 South King Street Honolulu, HI 96814-2512
Office: (808) 973-9588 / (800) 804-9514 Fax: (808) 973-2909 ?

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March 9, 2007 General Ag News and Notes

Hawaii Monthly Livestock Review

January Egg Production Down 17 Percent From A Year Ago

Hawaii egg production totaled 7.3 million (20,278 cases) in January 2007, down 17 percent from January 2006. The average number of layers on hand during January 2007 was estimated at 404,000, down 1 percent from December and down 15 percent from January 2006. The average rate of lay during January 2007 was 1,807 per 100 layers (58.3 percent rate of lay), down 2 percent from January 2006.

January Cattle Marketings Down 3 Percent From 2006

Total cattle marketings for January 2007 is estimated at 5,900 head, down 3 percent from January 2006.

January exports down 6 percent from year ago

Exports of steers and heifers totaled 5,000 head in January 2007, down 6 percent from a year ago. A breakdown of the exports shows that both categories experienced a decline in January. Steers accounted for 60 percent of January 2007?s export total with 3,000 head, down 3 percent from January 2006. Exports of heifers totaled 1,900 head in January 2007, down 14 percent from last January. Exports of other classes of cattle were not included.

Click the link below for the full PDF article:

030907lvstk.pdf

USDA NASS Hawaii Field Office
http://www.nass.usda.gov/hi/
1421 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96814-2512
Office: (808) 973-9588 / (800) 804-9514
Fax: (808) 973-2909

March 7, 2007 Ag Tourism, General Ag News and Notes

AgTourism Association meeting

Just a reminder, the AgTourism Association meeting will have a polycom
linkup from the Kahului Extension office.? You are all invited to attend if
you’re interested in this.? I have heard from a couple of people who are
interested.

I’m sending what I was sent via email, below.? You don’t have to respond to
Diane; I already have made the reservations.

Jan

Jan McEwen 310 Kaahumanu Ave? Bldg 214 Kahului? HI?? 96732 (808) 244-3242 Maui Cooperative Extension Service CTAHR / UH-Manoa

March 3, 2007

We hope you all are excited for the next meeting to discuss the formation of
the AgTourism Association. We anticipate a jammed-packed session and an
opportunity for the committees to report their findings and make
recommendations for the future.

COMMITTEES:

Each committee will be given the opportunity to share information and
respond to questions from the group. We would like to have the information
available to the group several days before the meeting so that everyone can
become familiar with the information in preparation for the meeting.

We’d like to have the committees send their final report to Diane Sands by
email (diane_sands@yahoo.com) by March 8th.? We’ll consolidate the reports
into one email and send another group email before March 12th. Just as a
reminder, the committees are focusing on Organization, Funding, the
Definition of AgTourism and County Bill 148. Committee members will receive
a separate email from Diane requesting this information.

NEXT MEETING
Monday, March 12 from 9:00am – Noon
CTAHR Conference Room

Facilitator: Donna Ching? donnac@hawaii.edu

Objectives: To regroup and share information gathered by committees. We also
would like to outline criteria for discussion with County Council when they
meet with Lani Weigert on March 19th.

Polycom
If you are interested in Polycom (videoconferencing) available at the
extension offices on Oahu, Maui or Kauai, please RSVP to Diane Sands
(diane_sands@yahoo.com) before March 7th. So far, we only have 1 person
reserved for the videoconferencing at the Gilmore location on Oahu. If we
don’t have attendees reserved for the other locations by March 7th, we will
cancel these locations.

We look forward to seeing you all again on March 12th and making further
progress with the AgTourism Association.

Sincerely,

Kent Fleming, Donna Ching and Diane Sands
Objectives:

To regroup and share information gathered by committees. We alsowould like to outline criteria for discussion with County Council when they meet with Lani Weigert on March 19th.Polycom

?If you are interested in Polycom (videoconferencing) available at theextension offices on Oahu, Maui or Kauai, please RSVP to Diane Sands() before March 7th.? So far, we only have 1 person reserved for the videoconferencing at the Gilmore location on Oahu.? If wedon’t have attendees reserved for the other locations by March 7th, we will cancel these locations.? We look forward to seeing you all again on March 12th and making further progress with the AgTourism Association.? Sincerely, Kent Fleming, Donna Ching and Diane Sands