Climate change is a big problem for farmers in Hawaii

https://thecounter.org/climate-change-big-problem-farmers-hawaii/

by rblion • 5 years ago

15 8 5 years ago

It’s not just Hawaii, the heatwave/drought in the west has reduced wheat yields by as much as a third.

The real killer was the drought but the fact that temperatures were not dropping enough at night to provide relief to the crop was the final straw

https://www.postregister.com/farmandranch/crops/grain/idaho-...

joehewitt3• 5 years ago

I'm a farmer in Hawaii and I'm happy to tell you the climate here (Hilo, Big Island) is fucking great. I can't speak for the rest of the islands, but here in Hilo the weather is spectacular for farming. Consistent year round rainfall, mild temperature ranges (for the tropics), trade winds keeping it breezy during the day, high soil water retention and strong immunity to hurricanes. I'm not trying to shoot down any climate change fears, I just want to tell you that right now, where I am, I see nothing to give me pause about making a long term commitment to this place. Since I am planting thousands of trees that take decades to mature, my money is firmly where my mouth is.

I would hate for articles like this to discourage people from coming here to farm. We need more farmers in Hawaii! There is so much abandoned farmland from the sugarcane era, and meanwhile everyone's eating food that arrives by plane and boat. It's a bizarre situation.

rblion2• 5 years ago

Aloha, I live on Maui and am happy to hear that. I notice some things changing here with the water and land usage but that has more to do with development than it does with climate.

I am working on a project/startup out here around regenerative agriculture. I would love to talk story if you are open. Have you ever been to Maui? I've never been to the Big Island.

I see no reason to ever leave Maui either, I'm just getting more and more established as time goes on.

joehewitt3• 5 years ago

No, I've never been to Maui. You can reach me at joe@joehewitt.com

HonestOp001• 5 years ago

Could you talk more about what you are farming? Why are there abandoned farmlands?

joehewitt3• 5 years ago

Vast acreage was planted in sugarcane until the mid 90's when the industry completely left Hawaii. That land was sold off cheaply and many new owners bought it to hold and have not put it back into agriculture. Just sitting there growing weeds. Also many parcels are 20 acres and people build one little house on it and ignore the rest of the land. There is a tax break given to any residential land used for agriculture which in practice means people lease their land to contract farmers who grow sweet potatoes or ginger for one year then leave it fallow for years after that due to pests. All in all a huge waste.

justshowpost• 5 years ago

The Counter is commie paper, they are for so called "collective farming".

Climate change is a big problem for farmers in Hawaii

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