OverTime with Mike Adams
Overtime - February 8, 2010
Feb. 07, 2010
Once in Hawaii it didn't take long to forget about winter but it also didn't take long after getting back to remember. Hours after watching whales in the ocean I was looking at snow plows clearing an aiport runway. Of course it is all a matter of perspective. On the local news last week people in Maui were being advised to put on an extra layer of clothing including gloves because it was going to get cold at night. All the way down to 65! I must admit it was a little cooler in Hawaii than I had expected but I was never tempted to buy gloves. A sweatshirt yes but not gloves!Our group of AgriTalk listeners had a great experience in our 50th state. ( Our tour guides often mentioned how a TV show called Hawaii 4 9 just would not have sounded right) From a moving visit to Pearl Harbor, to the beauty of mountains and beaches, we enjoyed the sights, sounds and food of the islands. We started in Oahu, moved to the Big Island and finished on Maui and saw Hawaiian agriculture and history. We learned paradise is expensive with gas at 3.79 a gallon and milk at $9.00! Less than impressive homes cost up to $500,000 and an acre of lava covered ground could cost from 1-2 MILLION dollars!
Tourism is Hawaii's number one industry and it has felt the impact of the down economy. Several businesses reported their traffic was down as much as 50%. Agriculture is still an important part of their economy but it is changing. Sugar cane and pineapple, once staples of Hawaii agriculture, are disappearing due to high labor costs. Farming in paradise isn't without its problems. Despite being surrounded by water, lack of fresh water is a real challenge for producers who face competition from other users for the water that is available. (sound familiar?) High input costs, state budget problems and a shortage of willing workers add to the challenge. (sound familiar?) I guess some problems are the same no matter where you farm. Beef producers raise grass fed beef due to the high cost of shipping in feed and trying to store it in the tropical climate. Imagine shipping your cattle by boat or plane all the way to Canada. Talk about a hit to your bottom line! We visited the 25th largest cattle ranch in the U.S. and passed by parts of the famous Parker ranch(3rd largest although going through some downsizing). We stopped in at Monsanto's research farm on Maui, visited a dairy goat farm, a lavender farm and a coffee plantation. Hawaii is going through a drought so they were glad when it rained during our visit. Visiting Monsanto Hawaii you get a new perspective of the term "continuous corn" as planting, growing and harvesting go on year round there.
I was surprised to see so much unused ground in Hawaii. Being land locked certainly places real estate at a premium but there are miles of lava fields and dry mountain regions that sit idle. No doubt the cost to develop would be very high. As expensive as flood plain insurance is here, I'd hate to think how much volcano insurance would cost! The Hawaiian people are very friendly(more than I can say for some of the foreign visitors we experienced). I learned a lot, ate a lot and can't wait to go back some day. My thanks to Holiday Vacations for putting together a great tour and to our group of listeners from 8 states who made the trip a lot of fun.
Last week a couple of key decisions were announced that have resulted in mixed reactions from the ag community. While better acknowledging biofuels' contribution to reducing greenhouse gases, EPA's continued acceptance of flawed indirect land use theories, are still a great concern for producers. It will be hard for our domestic biodiesel and ethanol industries to grow if they are punished for irresponsible decisions made by those in other countries around the world.
Meanwhile, USDA's decision to pull the plug on the controvesial national animal identification system is welcome news for the many who opposed it. However until the rules are known on the new state based program being developed, it is hard to say whether it will be an improvement or not. A lot of time and money were spent on NAIS without a whole lot to show for it. Let's hope this new program doesn't suffer the same fate.
No doubt both of these decisions will be discussed this week at the National Biodiesel Conference(along with the need for the reinstatement of the tax credit) in Grapevine, Texas , the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville and next week at the National Ethanol Conference in Orlando. I hope you'll join us on AgriTalk for our coverage of all three events.
Aloha!
Those are my thoughts, what are yours? Email me at host@agritalk.com