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Fewer residents, yes; But the ones missing will be the Hilo commuters.
You may be condescending enough to believe that those staying here are all cheats, scoundrels, and Lay abouts, but entrepreneurs and yes, opportunists, will see the potential for new products, services, and projects.
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Ted says "South Puna hasn't been a big volume agricultural producer for export in a long time"
Really ? These are the figures.
Hawaii papaya production 90 % is grown in Puna !
2010 harvest: 30.1 million pounds
2012 Papaya Exports in value Total: $8,637,162
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It's going to be OK ted! I hope you are on the South side. Your intellect and leadership skills will help.
People have lived here with the Lava happily for a thousand years and will continue to do so. No GMO papaya? Woe is us ]
Markets will fluctuate, supply will meet demand. We Humans are a hardy and adaptable creature.
Don't you be that Mr. Doom and Gloom guy ted. There were uncrowded and glassy waves today at Bowls. Life is good.
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I for one am glad the Russell will be chairing Ag. He is a grocer after all, and knows quite a bit about marketing, specialty products, produce, and what real people want (and don't want) in their food supply.
Big Island used to feed all the other islands so what is the problem now? cheap imports make Ag less profitable here, and Hawaii's regressive Excise tax system doesn't help at all.
Solutions? #1) eliminate all excise taxes on all locally grown and sold Ag products every step of the way. Most states do not tax food but the least we can do for our agricultural safety is to keep this regressive tax out of our local food supply.
#2) locally produced value-added products made with somewhere close to 100% locally sourced products also tax free every step of the way.
100% kona, Puna, Kau coffees fully tax exempt. That 10% stuff bagged on Oahu NOT exempt but the locally grown coffee portion is exempt until the step where it is mixed with 90% something else. Grass fed beef from Waimea no tax.
#3 Low interest loans and grants to small farmers, particularly to organically grown crops which don't harm the aina, workers, and consumers of locally grown produce. Also loans and grants to help find solutions for all the non-native pests (like little fireants and the honey bee mites).
# 4 (maybe) tax on GMO foods to help defray costs for people trying to preserve and protect our local agricultural markets, our ohana, and our aina.
Any other ideas?
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eliminate all excise taxes on all locally grown and sold Ag products
I would go further: tax all imported ag products, and at a higher rate for those which can be grown locally.
Ironically, the State Ag people have grants to help local farmers differentiate their product on the global market. Encouraging export of local ag only makes the problem worse.
Also loans and grants to help find solutions for all the non-native pests
State Ag is currently responsible for these -- but as they're only allocated 0.4% of the State budget, there's not much they can do, especially after all the other programs (which includes the grants mentioned above).
It's pretty clear that State doesn't put much priority on food self-sufficency or invasive species mitigation -- but they do pay plenty of lip service.
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Funny how Ruderman's the bad guy now that Tiff is no longer in the hunt! One complains about him getting "only 38% of the vote" in the primary. That was more than anyone else in his 4 way race... So he won - (that's how it works - it's called democracy) time to get over it. Then he got 75% in the general.
"Spent too much political capital on county GMO bill" Really - seems to me he spent one hour on it. And he advocated for exemption of papaya, so what's with all this B.S. about being anti-papaya?
"No Ag" in Puna? Which Puna do you live in? There's lots of ag in the Puna that I see, in fact it's the biggest industry around.
Whiners throwing stones... that's PW politics these days.
Edited for typos.
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That doom and gloom!
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PT - thank you for being so constructive and full of aloha. We can always rely on you for that. I rest my case.
[8D] pahoated.
How can it be doom and gloom to predict jugglers and other figures of amusement increasing their profile? Doesn't everyone love clowns, mimes, and puppets? [:o)]
Kathy
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Obie writes;
"...Ted says "South Puna hasn't been a big volume agricultural producer for export in a long time"
Really ? These are the figures.
Hawaii papaya production 90 % is grown in Puna !
2010 harvest: 30.1 million pounds
2012 Papaya Exports in value Total: $8,637,162..."
So, you might think Obie has his facts straight and has made a valid point against Teds generalization ....wrong !
Ted was making a (valid) historical point and Obie was providing a data point with no references to gauge it by. According to USDA for Hawaii ( Puna) papaya production:
1995 2,435 acres produced 50,800,000 lbs with $18.5 m farm value
2005 1,480 acres produce 32,900,000 lbs valued at $11,242,000
2015 How's that trend looking?
There are NO other crops that come close to papaya currently grown in Puna. Back 10 years ago the foliage industry was better than $10m in export sales but that's gone, Florida and Mexico/Central America forced Puna Certified and the other major growers out of the market. Orchids might have made $10m in sales combining cuts and potted sales, again 10 years ago. Now? Probably half that. Why the lack of stats?
Because the State stopped paying for the gathering and reporting years ago when Ag had become less important to the states economy. The Feds don't reach down to detail out ornamentals like foliage and orchids within districts like the State used to.
Sen. Russell is a good businessman. He should know tthat you concentrate your efforts and resources where you'll get or deliver the most benefit. Profits in his business come from high margin, non perishable, low volume products like pills and cosmetics. He sells a lot of them.
As a Senator he needs to focus his scant resources as a junior Senator where it will help his district the most. A Chair of Transportation, Economic Development, or even Vice Chair Tourism would benefit his constituents to a much more likely benefit than Agriculture.
I've filed a Schedule F for 38 years, my entire adult life. I'm a farmer. You know what I've learned? You can't bull**** plants. The crop speaks for itself and markets won't tolerate bad product, or inconsistent deliveries. Profits follow hard work done in a smart way.
Ag has been declining in Puna for the last 25 years. The proof is all the thousands of acres of Shipman land left fallow and all the unused or underutilized state AG lots on both sides of Kahakai. It's a fact, there's plenty of land, just not many farmers.
I think If you're not filing a Sched F you're not a farmer. You're a Gardner or you're a hobbiest or an alt economy lifestylist. With all due respect, that's not what or who you are serving when you're Chair of Agriculture at the state Senate. Its Ag with a capital A and its farmers dealing with livelihoods, not retirees or lifestylists trying to impose their point of view on others who are actually farming.
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