Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Environment

Hello, and good afternoon. For joining today's AEN hearing. It's Monday, March 16, and we're convened in Room 224 and also video conferencing, which includes the audio and video of remote participants that's being streamed live on YouTube. So in the unlikely event that this hearing is cut short, the committee will reconvene to discuss any outstanding business on Wednesday, March 18 at 03:01pm here in Room 224 during AEN's time slot, and a public notice will be posted on the legislature's website. And because of our ninety minute time limit for hearings, there'll be a two minute time limit for all testifiers.

And we'll start off with GM510 submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Molokai Irrigation System Water Users Advisory Board gubernatorial nominee, Faith Tuipulotu, for a term to expire 06/30/2030. First up to testify is DAB.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair. Sharon Hurd, Department of Agriculture Biosecurity.

Good afternoon.

DAB stands in strong support of the nomination of Faith Tui Poloti for to serve on the Molokai board. She is she has vast knowledge. Whenever we have a question about Molokai, I have no hesitation to call Faith and ask her for opinion. She is passionate. She is engaged, and she would be a great representative on that board for agriculture. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Sharon. Next is Department of Hawaiian Homelands. Aloha.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. The Department of Hawaiian Homelands stands on in its written testimony in strong support of this measure. Available for questions. Mahalo.

Thank you. Next is Brian Miyamoto from Hawaii Farm Bureau.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair, Senator McCoy. Brian Miyamoto here on behalf of the Hawaii Farm Bureau. What's down on the written testimony in support?

Okay. And then, we have Don Picoy and Jill Coombs also in support. Anyone else wishing to testify on this GM? And do we have Faith online?

Not present on Zoom, chair.

Okay. Alright. We'll go ahead and move on to the next. And if she shows up, then we'll, we'll go back and, take care of that. We'll move on to the next. GM at 06:14. Submitting for consideration and confirmation to the Environmental Advisory Council, gubernatorial nominee Mark Gordon for a term to expire June 30th, 2029.

And first up is State Hawaii Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, ESD.

Good afternoon, Chair, Members. Tom Eisen with the Office of Planning. At the Environmental Review Program, the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development. We stand on our submitted testimony and strong support of Mark Gordon as a member of the Environment Advisory Council available for questions. And not sure if Mark was able to, but he's in Kona, and he's kind of under the weather, so to speak. So he may or may not be able to.

Okay. Alright. Thank you very much. Next is Dawn Hegger-Nordblom from the Environmental Advisory Council. Hey, Dawn. Aloha.

Aloha and good afternoon. Thank you, vice chair, chair, and members of the Senate. We strongly support Mark Gordon as a member of the Environmental Advisory Committee and stand on our testimony. Thank you so much for your attention to this matter.

Thank you. Anyone else wishing to testify on GM 614? We also have, Jimmy Tokioka from DBEDD and Alfred Leung from Pacific Biodiesel and Brian Layton also in support. And Mark, are you online?

He is present online, chair.

Okay.

Mark, there you are. Hey, Mark. Aloha. Turn on your mic.

Ah, let me see.

There we go. I can- There he is. Okay.

Okay, Mark. We've taken the testimony. Would you like to make a statement about your appointment here?

Yes, senator. I do appreciate the appointment by the governor. Just wanted to tell the committee, and I've talked to some of you, you know, yourself in person and senator Richards and some others, that I feel that I'd be a good person for the committee. I've my experience over probably fifteen plus years environmental health and safety field. I'm concerned for the environment as well as for the islands.

Feel that any project that does come into the island needs to be looked at from an environmental health and safety standpoint, which I believe the the council tries to do. Also, I'd like to provide as part of the committee more awareness to not only the state, but to the public to ensure our concern for the, island environment and as well as the land and water of the states.

Okay. So some questions. I'll start off. Mark, what you know, Hawaii faces a number of environmental challenges. What do you think is should be at the the council's highest priority?

I'd probably say, senator, probably the highest one from an environmental standpoint would be things to make sure that we preserve our land as well as our waters, not only get the people more involved, you know, the people of this the island itself, but also getting more of the visitors and tourists more aware of preserving the land and the islands and not just coming here what should we say? I don't wanna say coming here just for, like, a Disneyland or a vacation, but appreciating the islands, the culture, and the land, that type of thing.

Okay. Alright. Members, any- any questions? Just one question. Senator DeCoite.

Hi, Mark. I I just wanted to ask you. You know the annual reports on file from the Environmental Advisory Council? Are you aware of okay. So for- for the years of 2022 to 2025 that range from two to five pages in length, what value do you see in serving on the Environmental Council and do you think it serves any real purpose?

The Environmental Council, you're saying, does it serve any purpose?

Yeah. Based on the Environmental Advisory Council that was done in the years of 2022 to 2025.

Yeah. I do believe it does do a service. For instance, also any projects that may be coming on board for the state as well as the counties, The council should make aware more of the environmental health and safety issues that the states that the state is experiencing at this time. I think also that the council that needed also not only needs to talk to the state as well as the county officials, but also if there's a way through public relations or whatever, get more in awareness. I don't know if the council could do this, but via through the state and county, more awareness of our the rest the tourists coming here and more appreciation of our land.

So, yeah, I do agree that it it does serve as a function mainly from the point of looking at projects proposed as well as even maybe modified ones that could have environmental health and safety effects. And also keeping the environmental goals of the the state for in the forefront.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, chair.

Thank you.

Any other yes. Representative Richards?

Thank you. Thanks, Mark. And then full disclosure, I've known Mark for quite a few years. And Mark, my question for you is, do you have the time to commit to this? I think I know the answer given your track record. But do you have the time to commit to this appointment?

Yes. Yeah. I do. Don and I talked about that in a who's chair now, and I do have other commitments as you know. I still do environmental health and safety counseling. I mean, consulting and, you know, other issues. But I would say that for at least the meetings and most of the time, I can easily, you know, accommodate the meetings and, you know, easily get into my schedule.

Okay. Thank you, Mark. And just as a comment, I've worked with Mark for quite a few years and he is very, community minded when he gets involved. He goes all in. So, thanks, Mark. Thank you.

Thanks, chair.

Okay. Thank you. Okay. So, for, GM614, there were five in support, none opposed, and no comments. We'll go ahead and move on to governor's message 696 submitting for consideration and confirmation to the advisory board on pesticides, gubernatorial nominee, James Falconer, returned to expire 06/30/2030. And first up is Daph to testify.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. I'm Esther Recker, the pesticides branch manager for Hawaii Department of Agriculture and Bio Security. We strongly support the nomination of James Kimo Falconer to the committee. As based on our written testimony, we wanna reiterate that he has such a great wealth of knowledge and of the coffee industry would provide quite the insight that, our committee would require. And, also, he has also supported the department in the past on, pesticide requests when the coffee leaf rust first came out.

So, like I said, we strongly recommend his nomination, and I'll be here for questions.

Thank you. Hawaii Farm Bureau, Brian Miyamoto.

Thank you, Chair. The Hawaii Farm Bureau is down. It's written testimony in support.

Thank you. Anyone else wishing to testify on this measure? Okay. We have 16 in support, zero opposed, and zero comments. Mr. Falconer, would you like to make a statement? Please.

Chair. Richard. I just before you to say, I appreciate the opportunity and the nomination for this pretty important position. I have a lot of experience pesticides in my career over forty years, twenty in sugar and about the same in coffee. I understand that this slot is set up for particularly for coffee, which is what I've got a lot of experience.

We just registered through Section 18, so a really important tool for coffee leaf for us. So I feel like I got a lot of experience in the agronomy field, you know, background chemistry, everything. So the last I can say that, you know, just the opportunity to do this is something I I would really look forward to.

Okay.

So based on your experience managing coffee leaf rust, what worked well and what could be improved when responding to new ag pests in Hawaii?

You know, coffee leaf rust is like the mother of all bad things as you guys guys know, in the

world of coffee. And we weren't sure. We knew someday it was going to hit us, and it did catch us a little bit off guard.

When did it actually happen? When did it actually hit here?

Right around 2019. Mhmm. Right around COVID. I mean, it'd

be a double whammy. 2018. I mean, we're also dealing with coffee berry borer at the same time, so there's all kinds of stuff that was thrown in there. But it's farm management, really. I was saying one thing about leaf rust, you know, you can't use one pesticide.

It's a whole balancing thing that you gotta do, and it takes real understanding of what's on the label. And it's a good thing for all farmers to learn how you know, just some one little tool like that is not gonna fix everything. You gotta keep working yourself into your your, cultural practices is really important. So anyway, so I think, you know, we've we really got a foothold on it. Several other tools came up, you know, other, you know, material showed up that we're able to use into a wide spectrum of different uses.

And so it's we're happy to say, like, where I'm at on Maui, I don't really have the problem because I'm in a drier condition versus, you know, in Kona where it's really bad. They have the rainfall every night in summer, creates a really bad humid condition. But I'm hearing from our our members at the Growers Association and HCA that, you know, there are you know, there, you know, there's a good outlook as we move forward. So I think we've we've kind of at least learned what we can do to just the one who knew what's popping up. Right.

Okay. Members, any other questions?

Yeah. Just one question. Chair McCoy? Thank you for being here and wanting to serve. So do you think that the DOA does an adequate job of regulating pesticides in the state of Hawaii, or do we need to do more?

Well, you know, personally, I don't you know, I was in sugar for a long time. So I use I was involved with a lot more pesticides in the sugar industry. But I would say yes. I think, you know, the rules are in place. The labels are in place. You have to follow the labels. If you don't, you know, you're you're doing everybody a disservice. So I believe so. I mean, I've never really had a complaint or heard anybody say that they're not doing their job.

Thank you. Thank you, chair.

Okay. Sure. Yes.

Pesticides can always be controversial. One of our challenges, and talk about the coffee borer. Quick response. In your opinion, do we have the structure in place to implement pesticides if we need to for a new invasive specie that we may not have the appropriate pesticide for? I know I'm pushing.

I think we can always get better. If we needed to get this section 18 for Priaxor, like, it was yesterday we needed that thing. And it still took close to a year before we got it. Everybody just, you know, smaller coffee growers really, really having a hard time as you know. But it took all hands on deck, all agencies.

The cooperation was fantastic. I think that's the thing that really helped everything. But I just don't know how you go quicker. You know, another one of the problems too is getting the manufacturers to agree. It took a long time.

It took a couple months just to get the the manufacturers to say, well, yeah, we're gonna spend the money to get that label, that special use label in there. So there's there's just things that are in place that you can't really sidestep. And I think we got there quick as really did, you know, with with.

Because that's been one of the concerns we all have had, that we get some sort of invasive whatever disease or bug, and we can't respond quick enough to stamp it out before it starts getting entrenched. And do you foresee anything else that we, legislatively, might be able to do to help streamline that?

You know, I think it seems like, when I started shipping coffee, I'd go to the DOA to get my stamp before I ship it out in Ireland, you know? And I look on the board and I see two or three pamphlets, right, of, like, this this pest and that pest. I was there the other day. Finally, I was able to start shipping coffee again. And there's like 30 of them.

And I'm like, you know, these things are popping in all the time. Yeah. And I mean, it doesn't matter if you're just a small farmer, if you're a rancher, whatever. I don't think there

currently is an answer. The biggest holdback, I think, is to get the manufacturers. They wanna they don't you know, Hawaii is a small market. We gotta get them to get in here and spend the money to do it. But when they see that the inner industry and the legislation, you know, those people are behind it, I think they'll support it better. That'd be the best way to do it.

Okay. Thank you. And just comment, your list of supporters, it's the who's who of agriculture in the state. So alright. Thank you. Thank you, chair.

Okay. Any other questions? Okay. Sorry. With the committee, we'll just move right into decision making.

Sure. Yes. GM5100. Is she not online?

We have technical difficulties. We have yeah.

Checking in. Just a few words about the individual. Sure. So has lived on Molokai practically almost all of her life. She's been in the ag industry. Her father was also a farmer prior to herself. She is a organic papaya grower. She's worked for, Cooperative Extension. She's volunteered in many different capacities as well as is the president of the Molokai Homestead Farmers Alliance. She comes with a huge support from that island as well as, from many of her colleagues across the state.

I've known this individual for a long, long time, and I am a huge supporter of her, as she continues to farm, to teach the next generation about farming and farming practices. Like I said, she also is a certified organic farmer, and I strongly recommend, the support behind it. Thank you, chair.

Thank you, Senator Curry. Okay, so we'll move right into decision making. First up is GM510 on Faith two Piloto to the Molokai Irrigation System Water Users Advisory Board. The recommendation will be to advise and consent. Any discussion? Vice chair. Chair votes aye.

On g m 510 the recommendation is to advise and consent. Chair Gabbard says aye. Vice chair says aye. Senator DeCoite?

Aye.

Senator Rhodes? Aye. And senator Awa is excused. Chair, you have four in favor. Motion is adopted.

Thank you, members. On GM 614 for the consideration confirmation to the Environmental Advisory Council of

Humanitarian Nominee Mark Gordon. The chair's recommendation would be to advise and consent. Any, discussion? Chair votes aye. Vice Chair.

On GM 614 recommendation advice and consent of the four members in attendance. Any voting with reservations? Any no votes? Chair, you have four in favor, motion adopted.

Thank you, members. And then on GM696, on confirmation of advisory board on pesticides, given a gubernatorial nominee, James Falconer. Chair's recommendation, we can advise and consent. Any comments or questions? Chair votes aye. Vice Chair?

On GM696, recommendation advise and consent of the four members in attendance. Any voting with reservations? Any no votes? Chair, you have four in favor. Motion adopted.

Thank you very much. And that concludes the 03:00AM agenda. Thank you very much. And that concludes the 03:00AM agenda.

Okay, calling to order the AEN 03:05 agenda here in Room 224. Starting off with HB sixteen oh three HD1, we peels the requirement for land covered by an Ag Park lease with the remaining term of fifteen years or less to be located in a county having a population of less than 500,000 in order for the Department of Ag and Biosecurity to extend the lease. Okay. First up is DAPH.

Chair like chair of the Department of Agriculture and Law Security.

Okay. Thank you. Next is Brian Miyamoto from Hawaii Farm Bureau.

Good afternoon, Chair Gabbard, Vice Chair Richards, Members of the Committee. Brian Miyamoto here on behalf of the Hawaii Farm Bureau. You have our testimony in strong support. The the title of the bill description is pretty misleading. This is just a bill about equity and fairness. All the other islands allow the other counties allow lease extensions. Oahu doesn't. We do have a friendly amendment that we are requesting. Right now, the law says 25 acres or less. We're asking for all of the Ag Park leases.

There are about 31 of them. Roughly, I think, 10% are 25 acres or less. Again, if we're talking about fairness, it should be all. Again, this is discretionary. It's not a the department has to or shall.

The department may extend the leases. Again, we wanna encourage our farmers to continue farming, to continue producing the food, feed, fiber, fuel, and floriculture that we need. And this gives the department the ability to not extend a lease if it's not a farmer producing what we would like to see as far as bonafide agricultural products. So we are asking that not only to include all counties in Hawaii, but also all Ag Park leases in Hawaii. The argument on new farmers and needing land for new farmers, we absolutely support.

And in fact, I believe the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity has a request for $17,500,000 for the Kamiya AG Park to develop it so that we can have more parcels for for new farmers. And also, we should continue to identify more land that is potential for agriculture or is agriculture land, but may not be used for agriculture, private land, and include that in the department's inventory so that we can preserve ag land and ensure that farmers and ranchers that are on that land are actually farming and ranching. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

farming and ranching. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. Thank you. Ailey McKinnon from Ahiki Acres.

Aloha, Chair Gabbard, Vice Chair Richards, and Members of the Committee. My name is Haley McKinnon, and I am a farmer and co-owner of Ahiki Acres, a six acre diversified vegetable farm in Waimanalo. I'm here to testify in strong support of HB 16 o three. Access to secure land tenure is one of the most important factors that allows farmers like us to invest in soil health, conservation practices, and long term stewardship of agricultural lands. I'd also like to briefly address a point raised in the Department of Agriculture's testimony regarding making lands available through a competitive process for farmers on the wait list.

In practice, many agricultural leases are awarded through sealed bidding processes where the lease goes to the highest bidder regardless of farming experience or stewardship capacity. This can make it extremely difficult for farmers, specifically small local farms like us, to compete with well capitalized bidders. Bills like HB 16 o three help ensure that farmers who are actively cultivating and caring for the land can continue to do so, rather than creating unnecessary turnover that can disrupt food production and long term stewardship. For farms like ours that are investing in Hawaii's food security and the health of our agricultural lands, the ability to extend existing leases provides stability that allows us to continue improving the land and feeding our community. Mahalo for your time and consideration.

Thank you, Hailey. Next up is Shannon Alivado from Waimanalo Ag Association.

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. Shannon, be before you for Waimanalo Ag Association's Deputy in strong support.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. And Hunter Hevelin from Hawaii Farmers Union on Zoom.

Committee members, Hunter Hevelin, advocacy director with Hawaii Farmers Union, will stand on our written testimony in support of this measure, and would like to echo the comments of the prior testifiers. We view this as a move towards equity and would definitely highlight the need for additional economically accessible lands for beginning and new and small farmers across the islands. Happy to answer any questions. Mahalo for the opportunity to testify.

Okay. Anyone else wishing to testify on this measure? Either online or in person? We have a total of 14 in support, zero opposed, and one with comments. Members, any questions? Senator Richard.

Miss Hailey still here? Yes. Hailey, didn't we come visit you? Were you at the Wawa Farm? Yes.

At the Waimanalo Research Station.

Okay. Your testimony kinda keyed in on that because you highlight one of the concerns that if you're not well capitalized trying to compete against this, Do you see a way of solving that problem?

I think changing the bidding process, but that would require, I think, a lot more work.

We're not gonna accomplish it here.

But

Or also creating I think this has come up in other hearings, like creating a way to evaluate how farmers are doing on the land rather than giving assignments based on how much they can pay for the lease.

So different metrics than just who can write the biggest check?

Yes.

Okay. Yeah. I learned a lot from you when we were out there. Okay. Thank you. And I do wanna catch up to you later about this. Thank you, chair.

Thank you. Anyone else? Chair.

Senator. Deck, please. Hi, director. Just one quick question. So the bill will allow the department to extend Agriculture park leases on Oahu. How many leases would be eligible for extension on Oahu if the bill passes?

Defer to Kevin Moore, subject matter expert. Thank you.

Good afternoon. Thank you for the question, senator. That's a good question. I don't have the number in my head. It would be quite a few. Statewide. I know the number of AG Park leases is about 220. And as one of the testifiers mentioned before the acreage size over 25 is about 31 of those. On Oahu, we have three AG Parks, and I would I would need to go back to the account.

If you can get back to us, to the chair. Thank you. Thank you, chair. Okay. That's it. Anyone else?

Thank you.

Okay. Moving on to the next measure, HB 1707 HD one, establishing a local ag transportation cost reimbursement program within the Department of Ag and Biosecurity to reimburse eligible ranchers and farmers a portion of their cost to transport livestock, livestock products, ag commodities, and certain supplies under certain conditions. And let's see here. First up is DAB. Thank you. Hawaii Farm Bureau, Brian. Thank you.

Promise I'll stand on the others, chair. Chair, vice chair, members of the committee, Brian Miyamoto on behalf of the Hawaii Farm Bureau. Oh, you have a written testimony in support. That actually is incorrect. It should be strong support.

I think this is a program, a measure that all in agriculture could support. Again, transportation is another cost that results in high cost of production for farmers and ranchers, which makes our food, feed, fuel, floriculture all, sometimes not as competitive as our imports. The beauty of this program is this is ground, air, ocean, even mail. Says parcels. It includes crops, livestock, supplies.

This is a great program. It can complement the USDA RTCP, the the federal program that I think offers about $8,000 to to certain producers by providing some relief to farmers and ranchers for their transportation costs can also help with expansion. Some may be hesitant to expand because of the cost of transportation. The cost of of transporting goods to the markets here on Oahu from the neighbor island. So, again, overall, great program.

We know it's gonna cost money, but it's something that if we really wanna support the growth of agriculture expansion of ag, we need to address some of the core production cost challenges that our farmers and ranchers have. Thank you for the opportunity to touch on mine.

Thank you, Brian. Sherry Menor from Chamber of Commerce.

Aloha. Chamber of Commerce, stand on the written testimony in support of the help.

Thank you. Hunter Hevelin from Hawaii Farmers Union.

Thank you, chair. Aloha, chair, vice chair, members. Hunter Hevelin on behalf of Hawaii Farmers Union. We'll stand on our written testimony in support of this measure, strong support, really, but would like to highlight a couple of amendments that we'd requested. One is to add the definition of necessary supplies as currently written.

It, is open to say solely the the department's discretion. And we thought that inclusion of the language that comes from the reimbursement transportation cost payment program, would be helpful for determining, some clarity, at least. And, additionally, we are requesting the addition of the words and honey to the definition of agricultural commodity as currently defined in HRS 145 dash 21. It focuses on a variety of agricultural products, but a close read could determine that honey would not be applicable. So we're in strong support of this measure and would like to see it pass and are happy to answer any questions. Mahalo for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you, Hunter. Next is Nicole Galase from Hawaii Cattlemen's Council on Zoom.

Not present on Zoom, chair.

In support. Thank you. Next is Lauren Zirbel from Hawaii Food Industry Association.

Good afternoon, chair chair and members of the committee. I'm Alexis Chapman for HFIA. We send out our testimony and support and just also support in future this to be expanded, to include reimbursement for all of local food producers. And happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Anyone else wishing to testify on this measure?

Yes. I've been made aware that Nicole Galassa may not be able to get due to technical problems. Yeah. We had quite a bit of rain this week. Okay.

All right. And we had 20 in support of this measure, zero opposed and zero comments. Members, any questions?

Question.

Senator DeCoite.

, please. Afternoon. So so since the number of farmers that could be held by this program depends on how much is appropriated, do you have a recommendation on how much should be appropriated for this program And what the limits performance should

be. The number is Kind of difficult to give you. But if you gave us let's say $500,000 It would be a good measure. And the reason I choose that number is the compost reimbursement program was at about 500 and, was appropriated at 4. And we, actually ran out of money in January.

So it would be a good gauge to say, if we do first come, first serve, like we did with the compost reimbursement, it gets everybody to turn in their applications quickly, gives us several good gauge as to how much. So let's say half 1,000,000. And then if there's we can tell you next year if if, what to do, and the limit per $8,000 is what the feds do, but we it's generally dollars 8,000 is the Max. The disbursement runs around 2,000 or 3,000 because they can't they don't have enough money to meet the the Maximum. So if we start with 8,000 again, we can then determine, prorate the 500 and, help at least we help somebody.

And may I, I think livestock under livestock is where honey is covered because honey is, you know, bees and everything. So, if, Hunter is looking to cover honey, that's great, but I think it's already covered under livestock.

Do you have a mechanism to, make sure there's no overlap? So in other words, if if they're already getting on cost reimbursement via USDA so as to not double dip? Is there a mechanism within the Department of Act to

I think that's the that's ... Good question. The mechanism would be that the USDA program is for to the state. And this program, from what I understand, is interesting. So it's within the island and then between the islands, so the mechanism that we would do on that one is to say you we would not be reimbursed for things that are coming into the state from the coast. But it would be intra the cost of transportation within the island.

We can look at it. We don't have the H E R s yet. But that would be one mechanism and certainly using invoices. There used to be a program where you could only send in the original invoice. We might go with that so that you couldn't reuse it. Mhmm. But nowadays, yeah, you can copy and do things like that. So we're not sure what the mechanism would be.

Because you might be able to take the original invoice, but I know USDA, they'll take the copy.

That's right.

So yeah.

They might. Yeah.

But let's hope we do it, and we can figure all this out.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah? Thank you. Thank you.

Hang on, chair. Based upon your number, 8,000 and 500,000 that addresses 62 producers. Is that a good number?

Well, that number would be applied maybe it's not a good model, senator. But the what the USDA does is they take the pot and they take all the applications and they divide it up. So very few people would hit the eight because there's not enough money to serve everyone. So then we would then divide up among the people, unlike the compost reimbursement program, which first come first serve, we we we pay you what you, apply for.

May I ask a question? What do you think the number is? You're the farmer.

Well, that's what I was trying to get to because we have a lot of people. Yeah. And we have a lot of needs, and we're trying to cut down the cost of production to keep the cost of living relatively.

It it could be it could be, like, only only interisland shipping, only interisland air. You know, something like that would then purely that's the biggest cost, I think, of shipping interisland air and sea.

I I think to support agriculture, we need to cut down the cost that the producer is paying. This is a swing at it. But I think we have to have some guardrails around how we administer that.

Here. Here.

Thank you. Thank you, chair.

Okay. Any other questions?

Same question.

6,500 farms at $8,000 is about 52,000,000. 6,500 farms at $3,000 is about 19,500,000.0. I think when we first were thinking of this bill or a version of this bill, working with Department of Transportation, I think the number that we landed on was 25,000,000. It's a lot of money, but we have a lot of farmers and ranchers, as you stated, vice chair. The RTCP program, Chair Hurd is correct.

It is primarily for incoming, 30 miles or greater for shipping. So again, this we don't we do want to prevent overlap and double dipping. But as an island state, especially our neighbor island producers, which is at an unfair competitive disadvantage, Any assistance will help, especially times like now, where we're gonna be looking to you folks for assistance because we're hoping that we're not talking about millions of dollars in losses from the floods, the winds, and the par loss. Hunter is leading the charge on getting someone survey. I know I'm going a little bit off, but again, we need to reduce the cost of production if we're going to meet our doubling food production, our farm to school, our regional kitchen, our institutional purchasing, farm to food bank.

We've got to cut the cost of the farmers' ranchers.

Okay. Alright. Thank you. Thank you, chair.

Okay. Alright. Thank you. Moving on to the next member.

Senator DCoite?

I again, sorry. I got a question for Brian. I'm was thinking about the flooded farms right now, but I'm same question I gave to department of I I'll give to you. Is there a mechanism so that the overlap on farm service agency, USDA's cost reimbursement mechanism. Is there a mechanism, you believe, with the Department of Ag that we could look at?

Thank you, Senator DeCoite, for honoring the Hawaii Farm Bureau. I think Chair Hurd may have alluded to it. Maybe, and then we haven't talked to our members, is if we limit this to only interisland transportation cost reductions. And if that's the case, and as we believe the RTCP, the USDA program, would not include well, it it could be because 250 miles between. So I don't know if there is a mechanism.

I'm not sure what data, USDA is able to share with the Department of Agriculture. Maybe some cooperative compliance or MOU where they can share the insurers so that there can be some auditing done to ensure that there is no double dipping. But I'm sure that between our DAG and USDA, we can come up with some type of program where we don't see any any abuse. As vice chair said, make sure that there are guardrails in place.

So I just wanted to share what you guys said. I do know that even when every year that RTCP would come out, as easy as that is to fill out over half of, I would say, just the farmers and ranchers in Maui County have not even applied for it. So so I think there is, you know, opportunity there and and a mechanism that could help us.

Absolutely, senator. Underutilized, and I think this is somewhat in line with the the grant writer position and and some of the, capacity that we're trying to build up in the department of the agriculture, biosecurity, where we can have some of that, connections. You see the dean in here. We're talking about expanding or or building up, our extension services. Again, those agents that work directly with our producers.

So I I think we have some optimism. But, yes, absolutely. I don't think we take advantage of many of these federal programs that are available for our producers here in Hawaii.

Thank you. Thank you, chair. Okay.

I got a question for Hunter Hevelin, is he on? Yes, chair. Hunter, you've heard the discussion. What any thoughts on how we could lower the cost?

Sure. So I I would add that the RCTP program at the federal level, does actually have a cost cap on eligible producers. It's something that not all of our reimbursement type programs have done. And so that that could be a mechanism to ensure that we're subsidizing the operations that are not already well capitalized and and, you could say, thriving in the current industry.

Okay. Thank you.

Yeah. I believe they set the limit at $900,000, which we may Wanna leak a little bit to matches our our current state state of conditions, but one way to potentially lower costs.

Okay. Thanks. Okay. Thank you. Let's move on to the next measure. It's, HB 2155. Statutorily establishes the agricultural statistics program within the Department of Ag and Biosecurity to collect data on local ag interests. First up is DAB.

DAB. DAB. I'm gonna go to the next.

Thank you. Next is, Parvinder Grewal from,

Chair, Vice Chair, the Committee Members, we are really happy that you are hearing this bill and we stood I support the intent of the bill. All I want to say is that we do we have hired a number of agriculture economists. Now at CTAHR, we would be, very willing to collaborate and engage students in this kind of work. These data are absolutely necessary, and to make any sound decisions, these data would help us a lot. So that's all. Thank you.

Thank you, Dean. Next up is Brian Niemoto, Hawaii Farm Bureau.

Thank you. Chair as promised, the Hawaii Farm Bureau will stand on its written testimony.

Thank you very much, Brian. Next is Sherry Menor from Chamber of Commerce. What?

The Chamber of Commerce Hawaii stand on its written testimony and support.

Thank you. Hunter Hevlin, Hawaii Farmers Union.

Thank you, Chair. Hawaii Farmers Union stands on its written testimony in support of this measure. I would I would add, as Brian noted, didn't make it down today. Still in the throes of my office trying to get a survey out to assess impact to producers, in light of the recent recent storms and ongoing rainfall. The the value of data about our agricultural sector cannot be overstated.

It is easier for me to tell you about interisland transport of eggs in '19 May 1953 than it is for me to tell you what happened in 2015. That opacity into the ability for producers and planners to understand our agricultural markets continues to hinder our planning and our ability to grow the sector. So we view this as a a critical measure and, look forward to it moving forward. Happy to answer any questions.

Anyone else wishing to testify on this measure? Members, any questions? We have 10 in support, zero opposed, and one comment. Let's move on to the next measure. HB 2594 HD1 directs the Department of Ag and Biosecurity to conduct a study on insurance coverage for small ag producers. And first step on that is DAD.

DAD stands on it's written testimony in support.

Thank you. Next is Brian Miyamoto, Hawaii Farm Bureau.

Hey. Hey.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the committee. I would've- I would've stood on this. I absolutely would've stood, but- but the relevancy of this particular bill, we're going to see the impacts of those that don't have insurance, our small producers, those that couldn't afford insurance, or those insurance programs that are not tailored around specialty crops. It- It's been a world where we can talk in with Hunter, talking to chair her, talking to congressional delegation, talking with USDA, FSA in preparation. We'll find out.

As I said, Hunter is is leading an effort to get a survey out to find out what the true extent is of the damage from floods, loss of crops, loss of other things, animals from the- the power outages. So you had cold storage. You may have lost some of that, and the wind. Our greenhouses, our shade cloths, fencing, other things. I mean, it was literally hurricane forces that we were dealing with.

And and just talked to, Randy Coburg on the Big Island this morning. He's still dealing with it. Nicole Galase is not able to- to come on because of the- the issues with the power. So, yes, we need to figure it out, and we're gonna find out how many of our producers do not have insurance. And what's the option without insurance?

It's getting another loan. They're already in debt. They can't afford another loan. We saw it in 2018 with the Kauai floods and it hit- hit Oahu. We saw some farmers that shut down quietly.

That's the last thing we wanna see. Natural disasters will happen. We need to address, again another challenge for our farmers and ranchers, especially, and this is what the deal addresses to small producers. So thank you for the opportunity to testify, and we are holding our breath, hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. Thank you.

Thank you. Hunter Hevelin, Hawaii Farmers Union.

Thank you, Chair, Committee Members. Hunter Hevelin, still on behalf of Hawaii Farmers Union. We'll stand on our written testimony in strong support as as Brian commented in our survey, which is which is now live, produced in partnership with Ag Stewardship Hawaii, does ask respondents about whether or not they have crop insurance. I think all of us that have been in the sector for some time have a a guess that- that number will not be very high. Farmers in the islands, you know, have to weather these storms, and they do it without a safety net.

And talking with producers on the North Shore this morning, some are already in discussion about diversifying away from agriculture as part of their livelihood as they have seen their fields washed away. And the absence of well tailored insurance products that can help derisk production continues to make agriculture for many be a labor of love, not- not a livelihood as many would like to see. So we strongly support this measure. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else? We have four in support on this measure. Zero opposed and zero comments. Any other questions?

Yeah.

Senator DeCoite.

Maybe Brian can answer this question. Brian, do you know of any other states that have insurance programs for farmers run by the state?

Brian Miyamoto here on behalf of the Hawaii Farm Bureau. I I do not know. Specifically, I'm sure that data can or that information can be gotten pretty quickly, or maybe somebody in the audience, but I don't know.

They have no.

Maybe on insurance.

Yeah. I would mimic what the client said that it's great need and the base has to be I can check the NASDAQ.

Yeah. You can. Just try to look if there's a template already there that we could use. Thank you, chair.

Okay. All right. Moving on to the final measure is HB 2,595 of HT1, establishes the regional agricultural feasibility and food systems production studies working group within the Department of Ag and Biosecurity to provide coordinated region specific ag production and crop feasibility analysis across the state. First up is DAB.

DAB. That's my agreement. That's my only input.

Thank you. CTAHR, Dean Grewal.

Yeah. Vice chair, thank you again. And, Parvinda Grewal, CTA, Dean, appreciate, this opportunity again. We are all for getting the analysis done, and we have already created maps for crop suitability maps, and we will contribute to this particular initiative as the need would be. Thank you. Thank you.

Brian from Hawaii Farm Bureau.

Thank you, sir. The Hawaii Farm Bureau was down on its written testimony and support.

Thank you. Sherry Menor from Chamber of Commerce Hawaii.

The Chamber of Commerce Hawaii stands on its written testimony and support.

Thank you. Hunter Hevelin, Hawaii Farmers Union.

Thank you, chair. Hunter Hevelin, Hawaii Farmers Union. We'll stand on our written testimony in support of this measure, but we'd like to add that I think it's of critical importance that the market be a consideration in these planning efforts. I, as a planner and geographer, love me a good map. I actually had a position within, NRAM at CTAHR doing crop suitability mapping and assessing climate change effects on how that might shift our production.

But I would add that the notion of understanding where crops can be grown is very different than understanding the marketplace that they must participate in. So I think robust participation of the agricultural sector and distributors and others along the value chain is critical to ensuring that we're not just producing some pretty map tools, which again is a passion of mine. But I think really understanding how these planning processes interface with our state land use, our state land acquisition, and market opportunities for producers is where, we can turn this from being an exercise and understanding to one that helps actually grow the agricultural sector. Happy to answer any questions and mahalo for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you. Lauren Zirbel from Hawaii Food Industry Association.

Good afternoon again, chair, vice chair, and members of the committee. Alexis Chapman for Hawaii Food Industry Association. I'll just highlight one thing from our testimony and to kind of expand on the testimony from Hunter. We hope that as the working group moves forward that they do reach out to us to connect them with the larger food industry and to provide any expertise our members might have about the markets for these products. And I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to testify on this measure? We have nine in support, zero opposed, and one comment. Any questions, members?

Yeah. Sure.

Senator Richards. Department

DAB, Sharon. Mhmm.

Sharon or Department of Agriculture and Public Security.

Thank you. One of the things that we collectively as the legislature has been pushing for is more local production going into our food our our schools. In your thought process, will I've I've repeatedly asked for a menu that then farmers could say, okay, a year and a half from now, we're gonna need however many thousand pounds of whatever. Would this analysis help identify what we have and thereby dictate to the farmers what we should be raising if we wanna access?

I'm gonna say yes. How my my input on that would be at the county level. Every county has strengths, and they produce they have strengths in producing poi, green vegetables, fruits. Right? The and I would I would approach that question on a county level and say, What can this county do?

What is your strength in meeting this menu? And I'd like to put I'd like to replace every apple on a school lunch menu with banana. I think we can do that quite easily. And that would be my response. It would be that we can do it, but it would be at a county level. You can't expect every every farmer in every county to Yeah.

Right. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Follow-up, sir. Okay. Brian? Sort of same question, but following up what Chair just talked about. Our farmers if we got the analysis, do you think we could line our farmers up to accommodate a DOE

Thank you.

need? Thank you, vice chair. Brian Miyamoto here on behalf of the Hawaii Farm Bureau. I think it could help. I don't know if it's the end all.

Again, we can't really tell the farmer or rancher what to grow. However, we can incentivize them to grow things. And I think there's been some bills. One specifically of talking about farm to school where I think there's a preference for state leases if you are gonna participate in farm to school or FPINs. So, again, the legislature has the ability to incentivize for production of certain crops that we would like.

I think I think when we visit Japan, I think they did that. They they offer some subsidies for certain crops because the country would like that. So I think there's an opportunity there now. This can help identify what we could grow, what could grow regionally in different areas. I mean, if you look at it, it's such a robust bill, right?

Talking about crop feasibility, infrastructure, talking about labor, controlled agriculture environment, some of the twenty first century technologies. So really good, but, again, it's data. As Hunter said, it's data. I think your question may speak to what Hunter said about markets. It may assist, but I don't think it's going to be the end all.

No. I my expectation is not the end all, but it's another step towards

It is. What we're trying to get done.

Okay, thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Okay. All right, we'll just, sorry, members, we'll just go into decision making. Starting off with HB 1603 HD1 relating to agricultural park cases. Chair's recommendation will be to pass with amendment to defect defective date to July 1st, 2050. Any discussion? Chair votes aye. Vice chair?

Just catch you on a hang on chair. On House Bill 1603 House Draft one, passing with amendments, chair votes aye. Vice chair votes aye. [roll call]. Chair, you have four in favor. Motion is adopted.

Thank you, members. On HB 1707, relating to Ag and the local Ag transportation cost reimbursement program. Chair's recommendation will be, to pass with the Hawaii Farmers Union suggested amendments to define necessary supplies since the current bill draft leaves the term un- undefined. And then we're gonna go ahead and add honey. It wasn't just to make sure, in case it's not included to the definition of agriculture commodity to make sure honey producers are included in the program.

We can always take it out in the next committee if needed, and we will also defer the effective date to July 1st, 2050. Any discussion? Chair votes aye, vice chair.

On House Bill 1707 House Draft one, passing with amendments of the four members in attendance. Anybody voting with reservations? No vote. Chair, you have four in favor. Motion is adopted.

Thank you, members. On HB 2155 relating to ag statistics, the Chair's recommendation would be to pass with technical amendments including defecting the date to 07/01/2050. Any discussion? Chair votes aye.

[Roll Call]

Okay, thank you. And moving on to HB 2,594, on the directing the Department of Ag and Biosecurity to conduct a study on insurance coverage. The chair's recommendation, I'd like to continue the conversation on this to pass with an amendment to defect the effective date to 07/01/2050. Any discussion? Chair votes aye.

On House Bill 2,594, House Draft one, of the four members in attendance passing with amendments. Anybody voting with reservations? Any no votes? Chair yet, four in favor. Motion adopted.

Thank you, members. And on HB 2595, HD 1, relating to regional ag and food production, the Chair's recommendation will be to pass with an amendment to defect the effective date to 07/01/2050. Any discussion? Chair votes aye.

[Roll Call]

Thank you very members—thank you, members. And that concludes the 3:05 AEN agenda.