Bill Text: HI HB2158 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Agriculture.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-30 - Re-referred to LHE, FIN, referral sheet 9 [HB2158 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2020-HB2158-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2158 |
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THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to agriculture.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that attracting farmers to agriculture in Hawaii is challenging due to a number of factors including the lack of experience of potential farmers, cost of land and equipment, and regulatory environment. The regulatory environment for agriculture, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture Good Agricultural Practices and Good Handling Practices audits; and the Food Safety Modernization Act, increases expenses for small farmers that minimizes their economic success. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture 2017 Census of Agriculture (Census), of the 7,328 farms in Hawaii, the greatest increase in the number of farms came in small farms from one to nine acres. A successful commercial farm is dependent on the scale of the operation, and scale is a function of the value of the crop and the cost of production. The long-term success of small farms in Hawaii depends on their economic viability, and Hawaii agriculture is dominated by small farms.
The legislature further finds that one way to overcome these economic and demographic challenges facing Hawaii's agricultural community is through the development and success of agricultural cooperatives. Agricultural cooperatives benefit from the often-required economy of scale by lowering the costs of inputs such as fertilizer and seeds. These cooperatives can lower the individual farm cost for services such as transportation, storage, distribution, and marketing. Equipment can be shared, thus lowering the cost per farm, and allowing availability of equipment that might otherwise not be economically possible for a small farm. According to the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, agricultural cooperatives currently support about two thousand five hundred jobs nationwide with a total payroll of over $8,000,000,000. According to the Census, the average age of Hawaii farmers is 60.1 years, indicating that the future of farming in Hawaii is dependent on attracting younger people to the field.
The legislature also finds that there are four general types of agricultural cooperatives. Type 1 is the farmer's cooperative where individual farmers come together for common objectives such as contract farming, marketing, distribution, and buying power. Type 2 cooperatives are consumer cooperatives where customers own and govern the farm such as community supported agriculture production systems. Type 3 cooperatives are workers' cooperatives, or worker owned farms, which is of particular interest for beginning farmers. The individuals in these cooperatives, while interested in the prospect of farming, lack land, the skills that experience brings, and the capital to start a farm of their own. Costs are shared among the joint owners (renters), and by working as a group, experiences are gained and shared, and the individuals become prepared to eventually go out on their own, if desired. The Type 4 cooperative is the supply cooperative that tends to be general store based and supplies materials to member farmers at a better price than farmers can get on their own. The number of successful cooperatives that exist in Hawaii is limited, and cooperatives have a storied history of success and failure. Failure is often attributed to how the cooperative is organized and operated.
The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds to establish a full-time extension agent in the University of Hawaii college of tropical agriculture and human resources to provide expertise to the Hawaii agriculture community for the education, development and operation of agricultural cooperatives with the goals of:
(1) Developing successful cooperatives in Hawaii;
(2) Providing a better environment to attract young farmers into agriculture, and
(3) Making small farms in Hawaii commercially competitive and economically solvent.
SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the following sums or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2020-2021 to carry out the purpose of this Act as follows:
(1) $90,000 for the establishment of one full-time equivalent (1.00 FTE) permanent extension agent position within the University of Hawaii college of tropical agriculture to assist with the development and operation of agricultural cooperatives; and
(2) $50,000 for startup costs for the development and operation of agricultural cooperatives;
provided that in developing the agricultural cooperatives, the extension agent shall take into account the four general types of cooperatives; provided further that the extension agent shall work and collaborate with existing agencies and interested stakeholders statewide to increase the number of small farms in the State.
The sums appropriated shall be expended by the University of Hawaii college of tropical agriculture and human resources for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2020.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Agricultural Cooperatives; UH Manoa; Extension Agent; Appropriation
Description:
Appropriates funds to establish 1 permanent FTE extension agent at the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
