Providing science-based information to serve Hawaii's Farming Community
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June | July | August 2013
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From the Agribusiness Incubator
Cost of Production
By Steven Chiang
Director, UH Agribusiness Incubator Program
In our Agribusiness Incubator Program, we have provided a variety of business consulting services to over 300 client agribusinesses over the past eight years. In our experience, finding out their Cost of Production (CoP) is an eye-opening exercise for our clients that often provides them with the confidence to raise prices and adjust their product mix, and is a key contributor to our record of almost tripling our clients’ average profitability. Read here.
FMI: Steve Chiang, email: schiang@hawaii.edu
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Sustainable & Organic Research &
Outreach News
News from Hawai'i's Researchers and Extension
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The Nutrition Benefits of Eating Locally
Corilee Watters, UH-CTAHR
The verdict is in: local is mo'bettah! Evidence shows that locally grown produce can have a higher nutritional value than produce transported long distances. In Hawaiʻi this is especially important since imported food travels a minimum of 2,500 miles. In this article Dr. Corilee Watters highlights several compelling reasons for buying locally produced food. Read here.
FMI: Corilee Watters, email: WattersC@ctahr.hawaii.edu
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Investigating the probable cause of crop decline in central Oʻahu
A.P. Pant, N.V. Hue, J. Uyeda, J. Sugano, and T. Radovich, UH-CTAHR
Vegetable growers in the central district of Oʻahu have recently faced a problem of foliage yellowing on their crops. Was it insects? Disease? Nutrients? A research and extension team from CTAHR set out to address the problem. Eliminating pests and disease as the culprit, a series of nutritional studies were conducted to solve the mystery. Want to know what they found? Read here.
FMI: Archana Pant, email: apant@hawaii.edu
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West Maui Coral Reef Initiative
Adam Reed and Ranae Ganske-Cerizo, USDA NRCS
The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has dedicated funding specifically to West Maui for the implementation of water quality related conservation practices. NRCS is actively looking for agricultural producers who would be interested in improving their fertilizer management. Read here.
FMI: Adam Reed, email: adam.reed@hi.usda.gov; Ranae Ganske-Cerizo,
email ranae.ganske-cerizo@hi.usda.gov
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Rapid Carbon Assessment comes to Hawai‘i
Cynthia Stiles, USDA NRCS
Hawai‘i and Alaska are the last two states in the US to collect soil carbon data for USDA-NRCS sponsored Rapid Carbon Assessment (RaCA). Soil scientists Mike Kolman and Amy Koch from the USDA-NRCS Kealakekua Soil Survey Office, along with Michelle Lazaro and Susan Crow from the University of Hawaii-Mānoa, are the primary team members working this summer on soil sampling. Read here.
FMI: Cynthia Styles, email: cynthia.stiles@hi.usda.gov
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Publications & Programs
for sustainable and organic production systems
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Organic Industry Advisory Group
Organic agricultural producers operating in the state of Hawai‘i currently do not have a local agency or organization where they can obtain information on infrastructure, production, processing, marketing, certification, and business development. Hawai‘i’s existing, beginning, and transitioning organic farmers thus have limited local support. At the behest of Hawai‘i’s organic industry, The Kohala Center applied for USDA Specialty Crops Block Development Grant funding, through the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture, to conduct a Hawai‘i Organic Industry Analysis and generate a final report.
Vilsack: Vision for U.S. Organic Agriculture
USDA will be providing new guidance on organic production to all USDA agencies in support of organic agriculture and markets. USDA is now asking each agency to address the needs of the organic sector in their programs and services. "Organic agriculture is one of the fastest growing segments of American agriculture and helps farmers receive a higher price for their product as they strive to meet growing consumer demand," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Read here.
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AgCurious?
Are you thinking of becoming a farmer? GoFarm Hawaii is launching the second round of their new farmer training program this July 9th with their AgCurious seminar. Visit their Facebook page and Website for more information.
Molokaʻi Native Hawaiian Beginning Farmer Program – Lessons Learned
The Molokaʻi Native Hawaiian Beginning Farmer Program was a three-year program whose grant period ended in August 2012. Funded by the USDA-National Institute for Food and Agriculture Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP), the program focused on native-Hawaiian homesteaders in Hoʻolehua, Molokaʻi. Read here.
Hawaiʻi Guide for New Farmers (Oʻahu RC&D + GoFarm Hawaii)
New Farmer Programs
New Farmer Resources at SOAP
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SoilWeb App available [CA Soil Resource Lab]
SoilWeb provides GPS based, real-time access to USDA-NRCS soil survey data (including Hawaii) formatted for iPhone and AndroidOs smartphones. This application retrieves the soil series (local names such as Molokai, Wahiawa, Hilo) associated with the phoneʻs current geographic location. The SoilWeb app is a portable version of the UC Davis California Soil Resource Lab’s Web-based interface to identify your soil based on USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) soil surveys. It provides on-site soil series identification, soil depth, and a color picture of the soil. This app will help identify your series so you can compare broad temperature, rainfall, geology, and soils with that of other growers or locations. Interestingly, it gives the changing soil series information while riding in a car or bus.
Use this app or the Web Soil Survey to identify your soil series when submitting soil samples for analysis to CTAHR ADSC.
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Hilo Grown Ag Tours
The Hawai’i Agri-Tourism Association (HATA) has announced a new website to book their “Hilo Grown Ag Tours”. The new website (www.hawaiiagtours.com) will allow visitors and local residents to learn more about the tours and book them well in advance of their visit to Hilo. Read here.
Horticulture Applications (Apps) for Mobile Devices (Dr. Kent Kobayashi)
The Leaflet, news from the Kohala Center
Dig Deeper: SARE Cover Crop Topic Room
SARE has funded hundreds of research and education projects related to cover crops since 1988. This topic room features only a glimpse into SARE's entire portfolio of cover crop research.
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VIDEOS
Hundreds Learn about Taro in Waimanalo (KITV News)
Over 250 people attended the Taro Field Day held on June 21st at The Waimanalo Research Center, which showcased CTAHR’s Taro Germplasm Collection and raised awareness of the statewide Taro Security and Purity Task Force. See the agenda here. For a beautiful list of CTAHR taro pubs click here.
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Under Cover Farmers [USDA NRCS ENTSC]
To conserve moisture and reduce fertilizer inputs, farmers have turned to mixes of 5 to 25 species of covercrops to produce healthy stands. Follow farmers from Stanly County, NC in Under Cover Farmers to learn how three successful agri-entrepreneurs used multispecies cover crops to "drought-proof" their soil and realize economic returns on their investment in the first year (~28 min).
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Western Region Sustainable Agriculture and Education Program (WSARE)
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The Winter 2012 issue of Simply Sustainable contains articles about the Keynote presentations from the WSARE Infrastructure Conference, funded grad student projects, a successful regional distribution project, and a no-till and cover crops workshop.
Since 1988, the WSARE program has been supporting agricultural profitability, environmental integrity and community strength through grants that enable cutting-edge research and education to open windows on sustainability across the West, including Hawai'i.
The goals of WSARE are:
- Promote good stewardship of our natural resources.
- Enhance the quality of life of farmers and ranchers and ensure the viability of rural communities.
- Protect the health and safety of those involved in food and farm systems.
- Promote crop, livestock and enterprise diversification.
- Examine the regional, economic, social and environmental implications of adopting sustainable agriculture practices and systems.
For more information, please see: http://www.westernsare.org/ or contact Hawai'i WSARE co-coordinators Dr. Ted Radovich (theodore@hawaii.edu) and Jari Sugano (suganoj@ctahr.hawaii.edu).
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This e-publication has been prepared by CTAHR research scientists and extension staff to deliver science-based information about sustainable and organic production systems to serve Hawaii's farming community.
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Mahalo nui loa,
Eric Collier, Education Specialist and Managing Editor
Dr. Linda Cox and Dr. Ted Radovich
Jody Smith, e-Extension Manager
Sustainable and Organic Agriculture Program
Cooperative Extension Service
College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources
The University of Hawai‘i is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution.
Jody Smith | Web Manager | smithjos@hawaii.edu
Copyright ©2013 University of Hawai‘i - College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. Updated 4 Nov, 2021
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