Sustainable Agriculture

Vegetable Gardening at the Oahu Urban Garden Center -- July 11, 2009

Vegetable Gardening

Second Saturday at the Urban Garden Center - UH Vegetable Seeds

New Farmer's Market in Honolulu, Grand Opening, June 3, 2009

Honolulu Farmers’ Market
Blaisdell Center Kapiolani-Ward Parking Lot
Every Wednesday OPENING JUNE 3, 4:00 - 7:00 pm

Join us for the newest HFBF Farmer's Market!  

Don't go to the supermarket for your produce!  Head to the SUPER Farmer's Market for your produce and local products.

Hawaii Island Homegrown: Food Self Reliance Workshop - June 6, 2009

A workshop on improving Hawaii Island's local food culture and agriculture will be held on Saturday, June 6, 2009 at the Ocean View Community Center in Ocean View.  From the brochure:

With more than 85% of our food imported from off-island, many Hawai‘i Island residents are concerned about our community’s food security. This workshop will empower you to reduce your food budget, increase consumption of fresher, more nutritious food, decrease the impact of spiraling fuel costs, and help create an abundance of food for sharing or sale. This workshop is for gardeners, farmers, homeowners, landscapers, teachers, extension professionals—anyone interested in growing Hawai’i community food self-reliance.

Download the brochure. 

New USDA Organic Initiative

USDA announces new initiative in support of organic agriculture via the USDA NRCS EQIP program.   The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has additional information about this program.  Contact your the Pacific Islands NRCS Office for more information.  For organic certification information in Hawaii, contact Hawaii Organic Farmers Association.  See previous post in Sustainable Agriculture regarding organic certification.

From the Organic Farming Research Foundation:

USDA Announces $50 million in Funding for Organic and Transitioning Producers Applying to EQIP – Initial Application Period Starts May 11, 2009 In an historic move to support organic farmers and ranchers and those transitioning to organic, the USDA is allocating $50 million of funds through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to be set aside for a new Organic Initiative. Current organic producers and those transitioning to organic will be eligible to receive contracts for implementing conservation practices and conservation planning under the program, but they’ll have to act fast. Applications will be accepted beginning Monday, May 11, 2009. To ensure consideration for assistance from this pool of funds, producers must file an EQIP Organic Initiative application no later than May 29. Core practices include: conservation crop rotation; cover cropping; nutrient management; pest management; prescribed grazing; and forage harvest management. States may also decide to add other practices in addition to these six core practices. Organic and transitioning farmers can also still apply to EQIP for other EQIP conservation practices that are not part of the Organic Initiative. Farmers who want to apply for EQIP should call or visit their local USDA service center. A resource page listing organizations that can help producers apply for the EQIP program is available on the OFRF website. This page will be updated as needed, so please check it frequently. If your organization has experience providing assistance to farmers applying for EQIP and wants to be listed on our resource page, please email Tracy Lerman, OFRF Policy Organizer as soon as possible: tracy@ofrf.org. Here are several useful links for more information: The USDA press release announcing the Organic Initiative OFRF’s press release on the EQIP Organic Initiative The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition webpage on the EQIP Organic Initiative The USDA Service Center Locator OFRF's resource page for farmers applying to EQIP

Western SARE Sub Regional Stakeholder Input - now online / New RFAs released

Back in September 2008, the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) held a "subregional" conference in Kailua-Kona.  The results of the meeting was first reported in an earlier edition of Sustainable Agriculture blog.  To celebrate the 20th year of the SARE program, the Western SARE have held or will hold a series of Subregional conferences to gather stakeholder input to help set the direction for the next 20 years of WSARE.  All of the subregional conferences have now been held, except one which will be held in August 2009 in California.  Each of the conferences followed the same format and was led by Dr. Jerry DeWitt, Director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.  Summaries and actual stakeholder input can be found for the following conferences:  Pacific (held in Guam); Southwest (held in Albuquerque, NM); Hawaii (held in Kailua-Kona); Mountains-High Plains (held in Cheyenne, WY); and the Pacific Northwest (held in Spokane, WA).  The last subregional conference, in California, is scheduled to be in August, 2009.

The Hawaii Subregional Conference page contains links to the keynote speakers:  Andrew Hashimoto, CTAHR Dean; Jerry DeWitt; Leopold Center; Richard Ha; Hamakua Springs Country Farm; Ed Boteilho, Cloverleaf Dairy; and Gary Maunakea-Forth, MA'O Organic Farms.  The Conference Overview and the Table Top Reports are also available on-line. 

Western SARE has just announced the RFAs for the 2009-2010 funding cycle.  This information is extremely important to grant seekers because these issues define the priorities that the WSARE will fund toward.  See the Western SARE Grants page.  Of immediate importance are the Research and Education Grant Pre-applications due June 12, 2009.  You can download the Request for Pre-applications.   On May 29, 2009, application for Graduate Student Grants are due.  Professional Development Program Grants are due November 3, 2009 and the Farmer-Rancher and Professional-Producer Grants are due December 4, 2009.

2009 Stockman's Spring Field Day

Dr. Mark Thorne, CTAHR's Range Extension Specialist announces his 2009 Stockman's Spring Field Day.  The program will be held on three islands, starting on Kauai (Kauai Community College) on April 20-21, 2009; on Maui (Kula Community Center) on April 22-23, 2009 and the Island of Hawaii (Waimea Civic Center) on April 24-25, 2009.  The program includes an evening workshop (4:00 pm - 8:30 pm) on the first and producer/pasture visits on the second day.  This year the program will feature Dr. Scott Dalzell of the University of Queensland, in Australia, who will be discussing methods of establishing and managing leucaena pastures in Hawaii.  For more information download the registration form.  Or contact Dr. Mark Thorne at the Kamuela Extension Office.

White House plants a vegetable garden

After President Obama was elected, and even before, the magnitude of the recession became apparent, there was a push from community food activists to plant a "Victory Garden" on the South Lawn of the White House.  Led by Roger Doiron, founder of the Kitchen Gardeners International, a Maine non-profit to encourage home gardening, a petition drive was started, through the "Eat the View" campaign that gathered over 100,000 signatures using Facebook and other social networks to encourage the Obama's to plant a garden.  Today, the Michele Obama, along with 23 fifth graders from the Bancroft Elementary School in Washington, DC broke ground on an 1100 square foot plot.  This will be the first garden on the lawn since Eleanor Roosevelt had a garden at the White House during the second world war.  For more information see the New York Times or the USA Today.   

Michele Obama getting her hands dirty (from USA Today).

Map of the W.H. garden and a map of the approximate location.  From the White House via the N.Y. Times. 

Tomorrow's Table presentation at CTAHR Web Site

You may have missed the lecture by Raoul Adamchak and Pamela Ronald, the authors of Tomorrow's Table on UH-Manoa on February 5, 2009.  The presentation was recorded and is now available on streaming video.  Go to the CTAHR Web Site, on the right hand column - look for "What's New" - and click on the top link "Feb. 5, 2009 Tomorrow's Table".  If you have Real Player (R) on your computer, it will start automatically.  If you don't have Real Player (R) on your computer, you have to download it from the Real web site.     

New USDA Funding Opportunities - Beginning Farmer Grants and Farmers Market Promotion Program

USDA CSREES has released the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program competitive grants program.   Proposals are due May 13, 2009.  Download the request for applications.  There is a 25% cost share required for this program.
 

From the RFA:

CSREES announces the availability of funds and requests applications for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) for fiscal year (FY) 2009.  The BFRDP provides resources to support the development of education, outreach, curricula, workshops, educational teams, training, and technical assistance programs to assist beginning farmers and ranchers in the United States and its territories in entering, establishing, building and managing successful farm and ranch enterprises.  This program will also provide a cooperative agreement to an on line electronic and library clearinghouse to provide associated support to individually funded projects, educational enhancement projects and the overall BFRDP program. The estimated amount available for support of this program in FY 2009 is $17,280,000.  

The legislation requires the Secretary to establish a competitive grants program for the purpose of providing education, outreach, training and technical assistance to benefit beginning farmers and ranchers in the United States, including programs and services (as appropriate) relating to: 

(a) Mentoring, apprenticeships, and internships;
(b) Resources and referral;
(c) Assisting beginning farmers or ranchers in understanding how to acquire land from retiring farmers and ranchers;
(d) Innovative farm and ranch transfer strategies;
(e) Entrepreneurship and business training;
(f) Model land leasing contracts;
(g) Financial management training;
(h) Whole farm planning;
(i) Conservation assistance;
(j) Risk management education;
(k) Diversification and marketing strategies;
(l) Curriculum development;
(m) Understanding the impact of concentration and globalization;
(n) Basic livestock and crop farming practices, forestry and range management;
(o) The acquisition and management of agricultural credit;
(p) Environmental compliance;
(q) Information processing; and
(r) Other similar subject areas of use to beginning farmers or ranchers.

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service has released its request for applications for its Farmers Market Promotion Grants.    Proposals are due April 27, 2009.  Additional important information can be found at the USDA AMS FMPP website.

From the press release: 

The primary objective of FMPP grants is to help eligible entities improve and expand domestic farmers markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture programs, agritourism activities, and other direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities. Eligible entities include: agricultural cooperatives, producer networks, producer associations, local governments, non-profit corporations, public benefit corporations, economic development corporations, regional farmers' market authorities and Tribal Governments.
 
About $5 million is allocated for the FMPP program. The minimum award per grant is $2,500, with a maximum of $100,000 for any one proposal. Matching funds are not required.

For more information about the program, download the 2009 Farmers Market Promotion Guidelines.  To read about successful past proposals:  Download 2008 funded projects.

CTAHR releases Taro Background Paper

The College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources has released a March, 2009 working paper entitled "Taro and CTAHR."  Available on-line, it covers the role of CTAHR in support of Hawaii's taro growers  Quoting from the overview:

Over the past century, personnel associated with the UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) and its predecessor institutions have done many types of research with taro (Colocasia esculenta). Efforts have included work on

• disease avoidance through good agricultural practices
• yield improvement through better soil and plant nutrient management
• control of pests including weeds, insects, nematodes, and plant disease pathogens
• mechanization of planting, harvesting, and processing
• postharvest handling practices
• food product processing methods
• genetic studies and breeding to develop new varieties.

Publications resulting from these many and diverse efforts are listed in a bibliography at the end of this report. Most of this work has been welcomed and accepted by those engaged in taro growing, processing, and marketing in Hawai‘i. In recent years, however, there has been discomfit in some sectors of the populace about some aspects of the last research area listed, genetic studies and breeding.

Work on the taro genome in Hawai‘i has not always been a target of criticism. The collection, characterization, and preservation of the taros introduced by early colonizers, over the centuries when humans first populated the Hawaiian archipelago, before the arrival of Europeans, has been a goal of the college’s agricultural scientists for the past century. A concerted program on this in the 1930s by L.D. Whitney and colleagues became a foundation for subsequent efforts. Since the early 1970s, college scientists including Jill Wilson, Ramon de la Peña, Vincent Lebot, Eduardo Trujillo, John Cho, Susan Miyasaka, and Xiaoling He have studied taro genetics and the taro breeding system.

Three general areas of concern for recent critics of CTAHR taro work are (1) the introductions of Colocasia genetic materials from elsewhere, and their use in breeding, (2) patenting of plants developed through breeding, and (3) genetic engineering.

The paper also includes an extensive bibliography to scientific and extension publications about CTAHR's efforts working with taro growers to help improve upon the cultural practices of taro.  The working paper is published by the CTAHR Office of Communication Services and will be available from their office or on-line.. 

Integrated Pest Management at Home??? What a Concept!!

Certified Master Gardeners, Brian and Imelda Cyr, will demonstrate practical environmentally sound pest control options for the home gardener.  Join us at the Oahu Urban Garden Center on Saturday, March 14, 2009 from 9:00 am until 12:00 noon.  For more information see the Oahu Urban Garden Center.

Coming Soon - Sunday Farmer's Market in Hale'iwa town.

Save the date - Sunday, April 5, 2009 - a new Farmer's Market begins in historic Hale'iwa town.  

Come and get farm fresh produce and other locally products. 

Governor Linda Lingle Proposes Initiatives to Improve Food Self-Sufficiency.

Governor Linda Linda speaking at the 5th Anniversary of the KCC Saturday Farmer's Market.

Hawaii's Governor Linda Lingle in her 2009 State of the State address to the people of Hawaii shared her Administration's plan to achieve greater food self-sufficiency.  Among the concerns raised (from a December 16, 2008 Hawaii Department of Agriculture White Paper entitled "Food Self-Sufficiency in Hawaii":

"There can be no local food without local farms. Increased food self-sufficiency in Hawai‘i requires a sustainable agricultural industry. Requirements for a viable agricultural industry include:"

• Land: Protect good agricultural land and provide long term leases and reasonable lease rents for farmers.
• Water: Maintain aging irrigation systems and plan and develop new systems. Ensure access to reliable, consistent and affordable water for agriculture.
• Energy: Address rising transportation, fertilizer, fuel, electricity, feed and other input costs.
• Labor: Develop programs to ensure agricultural labor availability and agricultural worker housing.
• Research: Support ongoing research to improve production, processing, and post-harvest handling; increase efficiency and yield; decrease inputs; and manage diseases and pests.
• Distribution: Encourage efficient distribution systems to move food to the marketplace including cost-effective transportation.
• Food Safety: Assist adoption of food safety practices throughout the food chain.

Another part of equation is increasing demand - Richard Ha, of the Big Island's Hamakua Springs Country Farms - "If the farmers make money, farmers will farm."   In order for farmers to make money, we need to increase the demand for local products.  Quoting the white paper "People need to understand agriculture and care about it to support it in the marketplace, at the legislature and in the choices they make everyday."  The Food Self-Sufficiency White Paper proposes public awareness programs and marketing campaigns to promote locally grown products and encourage the public to seek and purchase local produce.  By making connections between the farmers and the consumers, there will be an increase in demand, greater visibility, more consumption and a more familiarity with locally grown products.  There are healthful benefits.  Eating more fresh fruits and vegetables supports healthier lifestyles and better nutrition.  The economic impacts are also important because buying local goods keeps the money here in Hawaii and supports our economy as opposed to agribusinesses in other states and countries.  Greater demand for local products will result in greater production of local products and reduces the need for importation of our food, thus increasing our food security and reducing the risk of importing alien pest species along with our food stuffs.  In an economic analysis "Economic Impacts of Increasing Hawai'i Food Self-Sufficiency" done by Dr. Ping Sun Leung of CTAHR's Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering and Dr. Matthew Loke of the Hawaii Department of Agriculture Agricultural Development Division, they recognize that it will not be practical to be 100% food self sufficient.   But small changes can amount to significant economic improvements.  Their study found that by reducing our importation of food by just 10% and replacing it with local food would amount to an increase directly to farmers by $94 M; an increase in sales by $188 M, additional $47 M in earnings, $6 M in tax revenues and an additional 2,300 jobs.  To accomplish these goals, several steps need to happen.  Without land, water and infrastructure, farmers can't be successful.  There needs to be an equitable process for land and water allocation that acknowledges the importance of food production.  We must also preserve good agricultural lands, through purchase, designation of Important Agricultural Lands, through agricultural easements, and making long term leases available to farmers.  We need to encourage new farmers and those willing to work in the agricultural industry.  We need to raise public awareness and with it, increase public demand for local foods.  By in large most people don't know nor care where their food comes from.  We need to make the connection between farming and farmers to consumers - to teach them about local food production and what it takes to grow it.  To make that connection - we need to expand the "Buy Fresh Buy Local" campaign to increase the demand for local products.    Another way to connect consumers to farmers is through farmers markets and other direct marketing mechanisms, such as CSA's.  Incentives for local institutional food buyers to buy local product will also help create demand.  We must help farmers be successful through educational programs for risk management, costs of production, and on farm food safety.  Finally, continued research and outreach efforts to help develop new varieties, products, and practices to improve efficiency and food quality both before and after harvest is important to ensure that we are best positioned to address incoming challenges. 

It's been estimated that we have less than 5 days worth of food on our shelves and warehouses locally.  What do you expect in a state that imports over 85% of its food supply.  We are at risk to interruptions either through disruptions in our transportation system or our through natural disaster.  It's time that we reduce the "food miles" Hawaii's food travels by expanding our food self-sufficiency and replacing those imports with healthy, fresh, local products.  Buy Fresh Buy Local - Island Fresh is definitely "Mo bettah!" 

President Obama's Rural Agenda

Tom Vilsack was unanimously approved to serve as the new Secretary of Agriculture.  He along with other cabinet members will be tasked to implement the President's agenda.  If you go to Whitehouse.gov, you can read the various agendas for different parts of the country/government.  Here is President Obama's  Rural Agenda.  Some of the highlights are:

• Strong Safety Net for Family Farmers: Fight for farm programs that provide family farmers with stability and predictability. Implement a $250,000 payment limitation so we help family farmers -- not large corporate agribusiness. Close the loopholes that allow mega farms to get around payment limits.
• Prevent Anticompetitive Behavior Against Family Farms: Pass a packer ban. When meatpackers own livestock they can manipulate prices and discriminate against independent farmers. Strengthen anti-monopoly laws and strengthen producer protections to ensure independent farmers have fair access to markets, control over their production decisions, and transparency in prices.
• Regulate CAFOs: Strictly regulate pollution from large factory livestock farms, with fines for those that violate tough standards. Support meaningful local control.
• Establish Country of Origin Labeling: Implement Country of Origin Labeling so that American producers can distinguish their products from imported ones.
• Encourage Organic and Local Agriculture: Help organic farmers afford to certify their crops and reform crop insurance to not penalize organic farmers. Promote regional food systems.
• Encourage Young People to Become Farmers: Establish a new program to identify and train the next generation of farmers. Provide tax incentives to make it easier for new farmers to afford their first farm.
• Partner with Landowners to Conserve Private Lands: Increase incentives for farmers and private landowners to conduct sustainable agriculture and protect wetlands, grasslands, and forests.

In terms of rural economic development:

• Support Small Business Development: Provide capital for farmers to create value-added enterprises, like cooperative marketing initiatives and farmer-owned processing plants. Establish a small business and micro-enterprise initiative for rural America.
• Connect Rural America: Modernize an FCC program that supports rural phone service so that it promotes affordable broadband coverage across rural America as well.
• Promote Leadership in Renewable Energy: Ensure that our rural areas continue their leadership in the renewable fuels movement.

 For improving the rural quality of life, President Obama proposes:

• Combat Methamphetamine: Continue the fight to rid our communities of meth and offer support to help addicts heal.
• Improve Healthcare: Work to ensure a more equitable Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement structure that often gives rural healthcare providers less money for the very same procedure performed in urban areas. Attract providers to rural America by creating a loan forgiveness program for doctors and nurses who work in underserved rural areas. Promote health information technologies like telemedicine.
• Improve Rural Education: Provide incentives for talented individuals to enter the teaching profession, including increased pay for teachers who work in rural areas. Create a Rural Revitalization Program to attract young people to rural America and retain them. Increase research and educational funding for Land Grant colleges.
• Upgrade Rural Infrastructure: Invest in the core infrastructure -- roads, bridges, locks, dams, water systems and essential air service -- that rural communities need.

The President has shown his commitment to helping the poor both in word and in deed.  On the Thankgiving day holiday the new President and his family braved the cold weather in Chicago to give out food to the needy.