Waimea's Got it Going in Ag!

Our first site visit in Waimea was at WOW Farms, just a few minutes outside of the center of town. There we had the pleasure of meeting Mike Hudson and his family who live on Hawaiian Homestead land. Mike told us how he got started in agriculture -- a form of pressure release from a high-stress job -- and grew a business for his wife, Trisha.

From one greenhouse there are now more than 40. And from knowing nothing about growing tomatoes, is perhaps, a world-expert in growing some of the sweetest tomatoes Hawai`i has to offer. Make no mistake about it, it's not by chance, but rather from years of research, trial, error, and success.

Mike is working with many others in his community and from other agencies to build a bigger dream of a 30 acre farming community for 300 small farmers, right in Waimea. It's quite a vision and we are all rooting for him and everyone involved, as it would make a huge impact on agriculture not only on Hawai'i island but throughout the state as a model of what can be done. Wow!

We then went to Saffron restaurant to hear our next speaker, Corey Gillins from Big Island Dairy.  He spoke to us about the business he and his partners have revived. There were once more than 40 dairies in Hawai'i and now there are only two, both on Hawai'i Island. While the dairies produce more than 95% of the milk for the island, there is not much left for other islands. Therefore Hawai'i as a state imports more than 95% of our milk. Big Island Dairy will, hopefully, help change that.

Corey talked about the innovations their company is making to be sustainable for the long haul, including growing much of their own feed, producing energy, conserving water, and giving their cows a good life.  Perhaps in the future we'll be able to visit the dairy in Ookala and see the happy cows on their waterbeds. Seriously!

Our final stop was Ponoholo Ranch in the Kohala Mountains, just 30 minutes outside of Waimea. We met Pono Von Holt, who gave us some history on the ranch and landscape. He has such a wealth of information and shares it freely. We were so fortunate to hear from him.

And we realized how fortunate Chris English, one of our classmates, is!  Look at his office, for crying out loud!  Like Pono, Chris' family goes back generations, too, in ranching on Hawai'i Island. Chris talked about how Ponoholo Ranch is using innovative techniques to manage their resources and produce high quality beef.  It's a huge challenge as though the grass looks green, it is only because of the recent rains. This part of the island is still going through one of the worst droughts in history, which means that no stone can be left unturned in finding ways to keep ranching and this tradition alive and well.

Aloha, Hawai'i!

Our First Field Day



Today we left chilly Volcanoes National Park and ended at Waimea with just about the same temperature, which is a nice change for those of us from much warmer areas. Our first stop was at Richard Ha's farm in Honoka'a called Hamakua Springs Country Farm. Richard gave us a great "101" on the economics of farming focused on driving energy costs down to become more competitive and sustainable.

 

He also showed us the riches of his farm, including beautiful beefsteak and grape tomatoes. Aren't they gorgeous?!



 

 

 

We then saw his latest experiment -- raising tilapia. The tilapia looked really good and ready to eat! The gravity- and rain-fed tanks and pond show much promise.

 

 

 

 

Our next stop was at the Hawaiian Vanilla Company in Pa'auilo. Jim Reddekopp, alumnus of this program a few years back, was our host along with his sons. Young Ian even cooked part of our meal, which featured vanilla in every dish. And every dish was so 'ono!

 

Jim taught us so much about the realm of agriculture + tourism, value-added marketing, and the value of having strong communication skills while pursuing a dream.

Finally, we visited Richard Spiegel in Ahualoa at the Volcano Island Honey Company. Richard's passion for what he has done as a bee-keeper and honey-maker, along with his steadfast commitment to living his values gave us much food for thought. How are we living our values and incorporating them in our workplace?

His product, the white, creamy honey, was out of this world!  No wonder it is in high demand all over the world!

Richard had so many stories to tell that choosing even one is hard, but suffice to say we were mesmerized with what he had to say and wished him very well as he moves on to the next chapter of his life.

Perhaps with honey, there is a chance for world peace. (See the peace signs in each honeycomb.)

Learning About Leadership and Ourselves

We headed up to Volcanoes National Park to stay at the historic Kilauea Military Camp. We were so lucky that we almost had the place to ourselves!  It was a great place to focus on what it means to be a leader and how we see ourselves as leaders. Peter Adler led us through some great exercises that helped us learn about each other and ourselves as we tackle challenging issues in our respective fields of work.

 

We even got to practice some facilitation and recording skills, which we'll keep doing throughout the course.

It all Began Here . . . in Hilo

What a fantastic first day we had!  We have a wonderful team of class members and the speakers who generously shared their time with us were fantastic!  Special thanks to Stevie Whalen of Hawai'i Agriculture Research Center, Jeff Melrose of Island Planning, Barry Taniguchi and Derek Kurisu of KTA Superstores, JB Friday of University of Hawai`i, and Pat Tummons of Environment Hawai'i for sharing their in-depth and well-informed mana'o about agriculture and natural resources management in Hawai'i. Wow, we learned so much from their years of experience. Our brains are full! 

One piece of information that made some of us rethink the meaning of and path toward food sustainability in Hawai'i is that we must not use a cookie-cutter approach for solutions. Every island, every region, every community, and every type of agriculture is different so the solutions must be designed to meet the needs of every unique situation.

Mahalo also to Sharon Ziegler Chong and her team at PIPES (Pacific Internship Program for Exploring Science) at the University of Hawai'i for hosting us today.

Pauline