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New Faces: Robert Cating

New Faces: Robert Cating 15 August 2018

New Faces: Robert Cating

New Extension agent Robert Cating is stationed in Hilo, attached to Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences and focused on floriculture, nursery and related industries statewide.

Pigs on the Big Island

Pigs on the Big Island 15 August 2018

Pigs on the Big Island

Over 40 participants attended Swine AI School, put on by Extension agent Mike DuPonte, specialist Halina Zaleski (HNFAS), and MS student Brittany Castle in Hilo, and a swine time was had by all!

The Busy Bee House

The Busy Bee House 9 August 2018

The Busy Bee House

The new Bee House at Maui County Cooperative Extension’s  Research and Education Demonstration Center provides an observational hive to augment youth and community educational projects on beekeeping and the importance of bees to Island agriculture.

A Mixed Bag of Ag

A Mixed Bag of Ag 9 August 2018

A Mixed Bag of Ag

CTAHR agents and researchers, along with other agricultural professionals, partnered to host a well-attended and well-received conference on August 1 at Leeward Community College.

Extension Bounty

Extension Bounty 9 August 2018

Extension Bounty

Cooperative Extension helps everyone, but sometimes they need some help themselves! Now they’ll be getting it: with the support of the State Legislature, HDOA, Hawaii Farm Bureau, Hawaii Farmers Union United, and many external partners and stakeholders, CTAHR is able to offer 10 new positions in four counties for immediate hire!

4-H Has Fun With Bugs

4-H Has Fun With Bugs 1 August 2018

4-H Has Fun With Bugs

State 4-H leader Jeff Goodwin has produced a short video to highlight the work of the 4-H program “Connect Kids to the Nature,” funded by a grant from the Disney Conservation Fund. It includes fun activities like learning about entomology, insect pheromones, and butterfly gardens at the O‘ahu Urban Garden Center.

What to Do About the Vog

What to Do About the Vog 1 August 2018

What to Do About the Vog

An Extension bulletin by Scot Nelson (TPSS) and Associate Dean of Extension Kelvin Sewake, “Volcanic Emissions Injury to Plant Foliage,” was quoted and recommended in a recent Big Island Now article. The bulletin is all too relevant to those living in areas of the Big Island affected by the opening of the new vents on Kīlauea Volcano.

Fishing for Knowledge..and Fertilizer

Fishing for Knowledge..and Fertilizer 25 July 2018

Fishing for Knowledge..and Fertilizer

This past weekend, associate Extension agent Andrea Kawabata dove in a spearfishing event to gather roi, ta‘ape, and to‘au for research into fish disease, age, and reproductive status, as well as the impact of these species on the reef. Over 210 pounds of fish was then donated to Big Island farmers for compost and compost-tea fertilizers. 

Extension Excellence

Extension Excellence 25 July 2018

Extension Excellence

The college’s Extension agents recently got some well-deserved props in a laudatory article in Hawai‘i Magazine. The article focuses on Andrea Kawabata, Glen Fukumoto, and Jari Sugano, painting a picture of skilled, dedicated, and enthusiastic Extension workers making a huge difference in Island agriculture—one farm visit, variety trial, or workshop at a time.

 


Project Is No Lemon

Project Is No Lemon 25 July 2018

Project Is No Lemon

CTAHR faculty and Master Gardeners helped Jefferson Elementary students with Project Lemon Tree, which established CO2-reducing trees, an arbor, and student gardens on a campus site vandalized in 2016.

Making Life Better in Maui County

Making Life Better in Maui County 19 July 2018

Making Life Better in Maui County

Congratulations to all CTAHR faculty who were successful in the recent Maui County FY19 grant competition! The projects funded included education in reproductive technologies, establishing a trial garden for ornamentals, investigating dispensing pesticides from drones, continuing breadfruit research, and more.

For the Bees

For the Bees 19 July 2018

For the Bees

Scott Nikaido and Ethel Villalobos (both PEPS) were featured in a Ka Leo article on the class on beekeeping that they teach, Beekeeping in the Tropics: Introduction to Honeybee Health and Management. It is offered through the UH Manoa Outreach College, though Scott hopes to offer classes for credit at UH in the future.

Celebrate Celery

Celebrate Celery 12 July 2018

Celebrate Celery

Joshua Silva and the rest of O‘ahu Cooperative Extension will be holding a Celery Variety Trial Field Day on July 26, from 10 a.m. to noon, at the Poamoho Research Station. Participants will be able to observe nine commercially available celery varieties and discuss production practices.

Grow With Them!

Grow With Them! 12 July 2018

Grow With Them!

All growers are invited to a day-long educational workshop: “CTAHR Ground Support: Research-Based Support for O‘ahu’s Fast-Paced Edible Crop Industry,” to learn about current agricultural research, practices, and information from CTAHR faculty and other agricultural partners on Wednesday, August 1, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Volunteer to Share Your Volunteer-Management Experiences

Volunteer to Share Your Volunteer-Management Experiences 12 July 2018

Volunteer to Share Your Volunteer-Management Experiences

The volunteer development team is interested in learning more about people’s experiences as volunteer managers and is asking those who currently manage Extension volunteers for their input via a 10- to 20-minute anonymous and voluntary online survey. Responses may be used to improve the volunteer experience for faculty, staff, and volunteers.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Looking Back, Looking Forward 12 July 2018

Looking Back, Looking Forward

The year 2018 marks a special time for Hawai‘i Cooperative Extension and the Hawai‘i 4-H Program, which are celebrating their 90-year and 100-year anniversaries. Everyone is invited to celebrate these two special events to commemorate Hawai‘i’s past while looking toward the future on Wednesday, November 7, so save the date!

CHL Gets a Cool Couple of Million

CHL Gets a Cool Couple of Million 12 July 2018

CHL Gets a Cool Couple of Million

The Children’s Healthy Living Program was designated a Center of Excellence and awarded $2.1 million in USDA funding to continue its successful efforts to decrease the prevalence of childhood obesity in the Pacific.

Dealing With Climate Change in Samoa

Dealing With Climate Change in Samoa 12 July 2018

Dealing With Climate Change in Samoa

Clay Trauernicht and Patricia Fifita (both NREM) organized the American Samoa Extension Climate Forum with partners at American Samoa Community College (ASCC), similar to the climate forum for Extension personnel that they organized last year at UH. Jonathan Deenik and Jensen Uyeda (both TPSS) also presented and attended.

How to Help Your Orchids

How to Help Your Orchids 27 June 2018

How to Help Your Orchids

Volunteers from the East Hawaiʻi Island Master Gardener program will be at the Hilo Orchid Society Annual Show and Sale to answer questions and assist home gardeners with horticultural and gardening information on Friday, July 13, between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. and Saturday, July 14, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Small Ruminants

Small Ruminants 27 June 2018

Small Ruminants

Cooperative Extension conducted four workshops for veterinarians and technicians and four open lectures covering “Small Ruminant Health,” one each on O‘ahu, Maui, the Big Island, and Kaua‘i, featuring David Pugh, a board-certified veterinary specialist in nutrition, parasitology, and theriogenology.
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8 April 2020

Pigs and Papaya

CTAHR Extension is helping two industries save each other

Pigs and Papaya

The pig farmers had no feed for their pigs. The papaya farmers had no market for their papayas. But CTAHR brought them together.

Both local industries have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some 75% of swine producers’ feed comes from food waste generated by schools, restaurants, and hotels. But this supply has dwindled radically since Hawai‘i residents began sheltering in place. Papaya growers have found their markets slashed since US Mainland distributors stopped buying papaya during the crisis, as consumers focus on canned and other long-keeping items they can stockpile.

Faced with the shortage, pig farmers quickly switched to purchasing Mainland grain. But this caused a shortage of pig pellets at local feed stores, leaving the Islands without feed until the next boat. It’s not a sustainable solution, either. Pig pellets are more costly and require more fossil fuel to transport, and local farmers have to rely on a supply chain that may break down at any stage. Transporting large amounts of feed might also strain a shipping industry struggling to keep Hawai‘i supplied with essentials for humans.

At the same time, papaya growers were in danger of going under. Approximately 50 families, independent growers and members of the non-profit Hawaii Papaya Industry Association (HIPA) are in desperate need of immediate assistance. They have no other income than selling papayas, and their market has crashed, yet they do not qualify for unemployment. 

CTAHR’s Role

CTAHR Extension livestock agent Mike DuPonte, a member of the Hawaii Island Pork Association, began coordinating with HIPA president Eric Weinert of the large Hilo packing plant and exporter Calavo Growers.

Together, they’ve created a short-term means to protect both industries and Hawai‘i’s precious food supply. Pigs readily eat papaya, and there’s plenty to be had. Mike is coordinating with the animal farmers needing a food source by providing an estimate of need. Papaya farmers will pick and supply the papaya to be used as feed. Eric Weinert will open the packing plant as a marshalling yard to receive and distribute the papaya. HPIA will provide forklifts, scales, and recordkeeping.

It’s not a complete solution—papaya doesn’t provide all the nutrients that pigs need over the long term, and swine producers can’t afford to pay the prices that papaya farmers usually command from human consumers. So CTAHR agents are also helping members of both organizations get financial funding and other emergency aid from the federal government and large corporations like Land O’ Lakes, which runs a feed and shipping program and will work with farmers to subsidize them.

But for now, this locally grown partnership is keeping both industries afloat while they explore other solutions, ensuring that essential elements of our Islands’ food sufficiency can survive.