Ka`u News Briefs Monday, Sept. 28, 2015

      County Council member Maile David said she grew up on a coffee farm and understands land security challenges. She applauded the open dialogue between the farmers and real estate investors. She pointed to the “human element” and the difference between the corporate bottom line of investors needing to make a profit and everyday families needing to make a living.

      In addition to the possibility of the lands being subdivided, Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative spokesperson Joan Obra said coffee growers face a proposal of higher land rents from the prospective new corporate owner at a time when costs are climbing to fight the coffee borer and possibly other pests. Should rents go up at the same time as the cost of fighting the coffee berry borer, some farmers could quit, the land left unattended with borers spreading. The Ka`u Coffee industry could go into a tailspin, she said.

      Another concern is a proposal that would make the new landowner the owner of the coffee trees. Obra said the farmers may not be able to have crop insurance if ownership of the trees is taken away from them. She pointed to natural events in the last 15 years, including flooding, fire and volcanic emissions.

      Listening to these challenges were county and state officials who all promised to help, including state Chair of the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee, Rep. Clift Tusji, deputy chair Onishi, Ka`u state Rep. Richard Creagan and Scott Enright, Chair of the state Department of Agriculture. County economic development staff members were also on hand, as well as University of Hawai`i and state agriculture workers who all regularly help Ka`u Coffee farmers. 

      Ka`u Coffee Grower Cooperative President Gloria Camba said, “Ka`u Coffee is a positive influence in our community. It brings pride, economic independence and jobs. It provides unprecedented economic growth in the form of small, independent, locally owned businesses. Ka`u Coffee has also brought good publicity and esteem to our community with many of our Ka`u Coffees winning state, national and international awards. We have international markets from Europe to Japan and buyers across the U.S.

      “Most importantly, Ka`u Coffee has led to a new confidence and a new entrepreneur spirit among displaced sugar workers who lost their jobs 20 years ago when the sugar industry shut down and our community faced low morale and despair. It is these displaced sugar workers who did not give up. They transferred their hard work ethic and agricultural skills to a new agricultural industry for Ka`u. They built the famous brand – Ka`u Coffee.”

Miguel Meza presented a break-even analysis based on coffee berry borer infestation, land rent and coffee prices.

      One of the original Ka`u Coffee farmers, Trini Marques, gave a history of the plantation workers setting out to create the new economy and to build a coffee co-op, develop a market and start the Ka`u Coffee Festival. She talked about assistance that first farmers gave newer farmers and how the industry helped the community come out of the sociological and financial crisis of losing the sugar industry. She referred to help provided through the late Sen. Daniel Inouye and federal, state and county programs, as well as education and agricultural consulting by numerous agencies.
      She talked about the success of the Miss Ka`u Coffee Pageant which raises scholarship money for young women and provides a Ka`u Coffee ambassador.
      Miss Ka`u Coffee 2015 Maria Miranda spoke about her family’s journey from El Salvador to the mainland and to Hawai`i where they first worked on Kona coffee farms until they joined the Ka`u Coffee movement by establishing their own farm. She said how much it means to her family to be in the U.S. and to have the opportunity to successfully create their own business, “the American dream.”
      Hawai`i Farm Bureau President Chris Manfredi committed his organization to helping coffee farmers and reviewed his own involvement in helping to market Ka`u Coffee and organize the Ka`u Coffee Festival.
      Coffee broker Malian Lahey, who has her own farm in Wood Valley, said the Ka`u situation is the intersection between agriculture and the real estate business. “Real estate is famous for killing off agriculture.”