Richard Ha writes:
They are not yet accepting testimony supporting my renomination to the State Department of Agriculture board. Once it is on the agenda, which should be early next week, they will be accepting notes of support.
I’ll let you know when. Please wait on those notes, and thank you!
I’m up for reappointment to the state Department of Agriculture board.
If you’d like to send testimony in support of my reappointment to the nominating committee and the state senators, here’s how.
It can be brief. You would just say who you are, what you do, and why you support this to two places:
The nominating committee:
AGL@capitol.hawaii.gov
All state senators:
SENS@capitol.hawaii.gov
Thank you very much.
Here’s information about my qualifications:
Richard Ha
Confirmation Hearing for the Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture Board
Richard Ha has successfully represented Hawaii’s agriculture on the Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture Board, this is his second term promoting and protecting Hawaii agriculture and the people of Hawaii.
He proudly served his Country as US Army Captain Viet Nam; majored in accounting at UH Manoa and he brings 35 years of farming experience to the table. He has farmed in 4 distinct growing regions on Hawaii Island and understands farming and its impacts from field to fork.
As President of Hamakua Springs Country Farms a Six hundred acre fee simple banana and hydroponic tomato farm Richard understands beginning farming and the importance of protecting Hawaii’s Food security. His farm is operated by 70 workers together with 5 family members, this growth did not occur overnight nor has it all been easy. He watched as his banana operation was decimated by bunchy top virus despite using all available tools. He is a positive member of our community and a true agVocate, he understands all levels of agriculture and how important it is for Hawaii’s future generation to be sustainable.
His priorities include.
Food security—Agriculture and Energy is inextricably intertwined. Keeping production costs low is of vital importance to farmers and their customers.
Richard is a strong supporter of small farmers and the rubbah slippah folks, providing healthy, affordable food is important for Hawaii.
Scientific Method- Self adjusting and gives a solid foundation for future planning. I.e. less chance of fooling ourselves or making ourselves vulnerable; to unforeseen consequences.
He is a current and active Board member for the following Boards; The Hawaii Board of Agriculture, Kohala Center, Hawaii Island Economic Development Board (HIEDB), Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI) steering committee, Chair- Big Island Community Coalition and a Founding member of Hawaii Farmers & Ranchers United (HFRU).
Farming and Agriculture Milestones.
• Traded chicken manure for banana keiki to start banana farm
• Operated own tissue culture lab
• First banana farm in the world to be certified Eco OK
• Purchased 600 acres of land at Pepeekeo
• Top six in the country for the Patrick Madden, Sustainable Ag Research & Education (SARE) award.
• Started hydroponic tomato operation
• Food Safety certified
• Attended first of five Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) conferences.
• Installed 100KW hydroelectric generator
• Unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor banana crop
Richard Ha writes:
I was on Hawaii Public Radio this morning. Beth-Ann Koslovich invited me onto her radio program “The Conversation.” Here’s how she introduced it, and you can listen to the audio below:
“It might be an understatement to call the battle over GMOs contentious. Given the vitriol from both sides and now the Kauai lawsuit to defend the ordinance calling for disclosure of pesticide use and genetically modified crops …plus the ongoing question about what consumers have a right to know about their food…well….the conversation often gets ugly and sometimes, violent…. Which is why non GMO farmer Richard Ha says he’s glad a judge temporarily stopped GMO crop registration in Hawaii County last Friday Richard Ha joined the show from his farm on the Big Island.”
Richard Ha writes:
Before I left for Washington, D.C. last week, I picked up some assorted macadamia nuts to take with me. As I met different people, I passed out the mac nuts. It’s not Washington style to bring gifts like that, but they were very well received.
I was in Washington as a CARET delegate representing Hawai‘i. CARET is the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching. Maria Gallo, dean of the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa’s College of Tropical Agricultural & Human Resources (CTAHR) asked me to be a delegate, and I spent my time in Washington learning more about CARET and meeting with our Congress people and members of their staff.
CARET has an interesting history dating back to before the Civil War, when the federal government gave states land to develop educational opportunities for regular people. Before that, there were only private schools. But the new land-grant colleges were a place where the rubbah slippah folk could learn trades. The 1862 Act establishing them was signed by President Abraham Lincoln, and it’s how America became so good at agriculture.
WHAT: A land-grant college or university is an institution that has been designated by its state legislature or Congress to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. The original mission of these institutions, as set forth in the first Morrill Act, was to teach agriculture, military tactics, and the mechanic arts as well as classical studies so members of the working classes could obtain a liberal, practical education.
Over the years, land-grant status has implied several types of federal support. The first Morrill Act provided grants in the form of federal lands to each state for the establishment of a public institution to fulfill the act’s provisions. At different times money was appropriated through legislation such as the second Morrill Act and the Bankhead-Jones Act, although the funding provisions of these acts are no longer in effect.
A key component of the land-grant system is the agricultural experiment station program created by the Hatch Act of 1887. The Hatch Act authorized direct payment of federal grant funds to each state to establish an agricultural experiment station in connection with the land-grant institution there. The amount of this appropriation varies from year to year and is determined for each state through a formula based on the number of small farmers there. A major portion of the federal funds must be matched by the state…. Read the rest
What CARET does now is act as a grass roots organization and advocates for national agricultural policy in the federal budget. There are also smaller sectors within the whole; I will meet as part of the group representing the West this summer, and we will try to fit whatever we are advocating for into the bigger picture. It is very collaborative.
Maria Gallo, Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa and me
Previous CARET delegates, industry members and our Congressional delegation helped get federal funding to deal with the coffee berry borer that threatens our coffee industry here.
I put out there that what we need help with in Hawai‘i now corresponds exactly with the mission of CARET: we need research, education and outreach–straight information so that people can make good and informed decisions about the challenges we are facing now.
Maria Gallo, Congresswoman Mazie Hirono and me
There has been a suggestion by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) which provides federal funding, that we look into setting up “Centers for Excellence” in different sections of the country. We’re thinking that it would be great to have a Center for Excellence in Hawai‘i that focuses on invasive and endangered species.
I enjoyed working with Dean Gallo on this trip. She is open and collaborative and easy to talk with, and her compass points in the same direct as mine: she too is looking down the road to future generations. She is inclusive of everybody and doesn’t pit farmers against other farmers. We are both concerned about how we ensure more food security for everybody here. I am glad to be working with her and as a CARET delegate.
First time I saw snow falling. The view from my hotel balcony
I wore long pants on this trip, and I had a jacket with me but the first time I walked out of the hotel to go walk in the snow, I said, “Holy smokes!” I think it was 14 degrees on my coldest day there, and that cold goes right through your clothes. It was the first time I experienced that.
Dr. Gallo's friend from Alaska asked her if I would like to borrow his coat. It was heavy and warm. I guess he knows how to buy a good coat, living in Alaska.
Before I returned it to him, I filled up the pockets with the same macadamia nuts I was giving to the Congress people and their staffers. There were some chili peppah-flavored mac nuts, and spam flavored and wasabi ones. And I stuffed a bunch of those little blue triangular packages of regular mac nuts in there, too. He said he made out better on the deal than I did.
Richard Ha writes:
Will you write a quick email in support of Big Island farmers and ranchers?
We have formed a group Hawaii Farmers & Ranchers United, which is made up of the people who produce 93 percent of the agricultural products grown and raised on the Big Island. We came together in order to support House Bill 2506 and Senate Bill 3508, which amends Hawai‘i’s Right-To-Farm Act “to ensure that counties cannot enact laws, ordinances, or resolutions to limit the rights of farmers and ranchers to engage in modern farming and ranching practices.” This is in response to Hawai‘i County recently passing the anti-GMO bill.
Our Hawai‘i state lawmakers are being bombarded with emails, from the mainland and elsewhere in the world, urging them to defeat the Right-To-Farm Bill. Would you consider writing an email in support of the Right-To-Farm Bill?
Hawai‘i County’s recently passed anti-GMO bill prohibits Big Island producers from using any new biotech solutions to their farming challenges. Our competitors, elsewhere in Hawai‘i and on the mainland, will continue to have the benefit of advancing science and technology. Taking advantage of biotech solutions on the Big Island is about to become, literally, a criminal act.
If you can write a quick email in support, just say who you are, where you are from, and add a short note saying you supporting our local Big Island farmers and you support both HB2506 and SB3508.
Use this email to reach all Senators.
Use this email to reach all Representatives.
We appreciate your support.
Richard Ha writes:
Thirty members of the Hawai‘i State House of Representatives just introduced the Right-To-Farm bill, which the Big Island Farmers and Ranchers United support. Farmers just want to go back to farming already.
From Civil Beat:
Hawaii Rep. Richard Onishi from the Big Island has introduced a bill that would give Hawaii’s 2001 Right to Farm Act more teeth.
The law currently protects farmers from nuisance lawsuits, stating: “No court, official, public servant, or public employee shall declare any farming operation a nuisance for any reason if the farming operation has been conducted in a manner consistent with generally accepted agricultural and management practices.”
Onishi’s bill would take the protections a step further and declare that the counties can’t pass laws that limit the rights of farmers and ranchers….
The anti-GMO bill that recently passed on the Big Island would prevent only Big Island farmers – and not their competition – from using biotech options and solutions to agriculture situations. It’s a disastrous bill that threatens our island’s food security, rather than strengthens it, which is where our focus should be.
Everybody is happy that this new bill came up, and really pleased so many legislators signed on. We feel that they recognize that we really just need to get back to our farming.
If the Right-To-Farm bill passes, then finally we can have the very important discussion about food security that we have not been able to. Agriculture and energy are inextricably tied together, and the question is:
How will our current and future energy situation affect our food security? And what can we do about it?
Richard Ha writes:
Where are our local newspapers?
Why does it take the Honolulu Star-Advertiser to back up our island’s local farmers and ranchers, and to point out that agricultural policy should never be set without the participation of the people producing our food?
This is what appears to be happening in Hawai‘i at the moment.
An excerpt from yesterday’s Star-Advertiser editorial, which talks about the Big Island’s recent passage of the “anti-GMO” bill 113:
“The state Legislature may be able to undo this wrong, but it will take true leadership and real political courage. Lawmakers should assert the state government’s authority over agricultural rules and enforcement, rather than standing by as the counties continue to impose undue burdens on local farmers.”
The article also asserts: “It’s time for elected officials and policymakers throughout the state to stand up and be counted. Let’s have an ‘Eat GMO Papaya Day.’ This food is safe, it’s affordable and it’s grown right here at home.”
And why does it take the Star-Advertiser to point out that our policies are exhibiting an unwarranted distrust of University of Hawai‘i specialists in tropical agriculture?
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jan 12, 2014
That a Big Island councilwoman would seek to revive a bill banning all genetically modified crops on Hawaii island, even though strict limits on such agriculture were approved only a month ago under another bill, indicates just how emboldened biotechnology foes have become in their quest to control Hawaii farmers.
The measure is not expected to pass, and should be rejected. It should not, however, be ignored, especially on Oahu. Councilwoman Brenda Ford’s proposal signals that rather than taking responsible action to assess the impact on local agriculture of the newly approved Bill 113, some elected officials are willing to put productive local farmers flat out of business. Login for more…
WHY does it take reporter Amy Harmon from the New York Times to tell us what is happening on our own island?
By AMY HARMON
JAN. 4, 2014
KONA, Hawaii — From the moment the bill to ban genetically engineered crops on the island of Hawaii was introduced in May 2013, it garnered more vocal support than any the County Council here had ever considered, even the perennially popular bids to decriminalize marijuana.
Public hearings were dominated by recitations of the ills often attributed to genetically modified organisms, or G.M.O.s: cancer in rats, a rise in childhood allergies, out-of-control superweeds, genetic contamination, overuse of pesticides, the disappearance of butterflies and bees.
Like some others on the nine-member Council, Greggor Ilagan was not even sure at the outset of the debate exactly what genetically modified organisms were: living things whose DNA has been altered, often with the addition of a gene from a distant species, to produce a desired trait. But he could see why almost all of his colleagues had been persuaded of the virtue of turning the island into what the bill’s proponents called a “G.M.O.-free oasis.”
“You just type ‘G.M.O.’ and everything you see is negative,” he told his staff. Opposing the ban also seemed likely to ruin anyone’s re-election prospects.
Yet doubts nagged at the councilman, who was serving his first two-year term. The island’s papaya farmers said that an engineered variety had saved their fruit from a devastating disease. A study reporting that a diet of G.M.O. corn caused tumors in rats, mentioned often by the ban’s supporters, turned out to have been thoroughly debunked.
And University of Hawaii biologists urged the Council to consider the global scientific consensus, which holds that existing genetically engineered crops are no riskier than others, and have provided some tangible benefits.
“Are we going to just ignore them?” Mr. Ilagan wondered. Read the rest
Enough is enough.
Our newspapers need to report the news.
Richard Ha writes:
State Senator Russell Ruderman used his own company’s letterhead when he submitted anti-GMO testimony recently to the Hawai‘i County Council. He owns Island Naturals, the natural foods markets.
It certainly seems to be a conflict of interest for him to be supporting the Big Island’s anti-GMO movement, and he should recuse himself from all discussions and votes regarding GMOs. Submitting testimony on his company’s letterhead does not help lessen this impression of his having a serious conflict of interest.
He also wrote an article for Big Island Weekly recently, titled GMO Facts and Fictions, which he says is the first in a series of installments.
I applaud State Senator Ruderman's desire to clear up confusion about genetically engineered crops, but in this opinion piece, he has made a great number of outright falsehoods that further confuse the topic and muddy the waters. I am a plant geneticist who studies this topic very closely and is building a database of all peer-reviewed scientific studies on genetically engineered crops, so I am very familiar with this field. I will attempt to correct the most egregious of Ruderman's errors.
He goes on to correct many of what he calls Ruderman’s "outright falsehoods" in detail. It's a very long comment.
Ruderman responded with this:
As mentioned in my column, I will be addressing these studies in more detail in future columns. I look forward to discussing the Seralini study, which, in addition to showing serious effects from GMOs, illuminates the aggressive tactics of biotec companies in suppressing science it doesn't like. These studies point to the need for long-term follow-up studies, which have not been done. I will also clear up the confusion of how Bt affects humans by disrupting our essential gut bacteria, which is not understood by some of the previous commenters.
And then von Mogel, who is highly educated on the science of biotechnology, responded with this:
Mr. Ruderman, you have made a series of very outlandish and false claims about Bt that you did not support with any evidence. This comment of yours would have been the time to at least give us links to the studies that you say exist, or to correct the record. Saying that you are putting off supporting these claims with evidence until some future column suggests that you don't have such evidence. Indeed, I was very direct in saying that for some of the claims you made, there is not a single study that even remotely suggests anything like that – such as your claim that the genes have transferred to our gut bacteria. By bringing up the Seralini study, you are changing the subject. Seralini's (now retracted) study did not involve Bt at all, so it does not support any of the arguments you have made. Indeed, there have been long-term feeding studies with Bt. There have been feeding studies that look at effects on gut bacteria and conclude that there are none. As I said, I am intimately familiar with the scientific literature on this topic, and I can help you find answers to your questions. As a State Senator, it is your duty to consult with scientific experts – especially those in Hawaii who work for the state that you represent – so that you can make decisions based on established scientific facts. Hawaii needs leaders who can represent both the concerns of the population and duly weigh the evidence to make informed decisions. Will you be that leader?
We need to hold Senator Ruderman to a higher standard than he's holding himself to, because he's our elected official and making decisions on behalf of all of us.
There are other interesting comments there, as well. They’re by far the most interesting thing about that article, in my opinion. Read them all here.
I have asked Senator Ruderman many times how his stance, which does not even seem to be supported by science, will help the Big Island and its food security status. How will it help the rubbah slippah folk in his district? I have never received an answer.
Richard Ha writes:
There’s a farming emergency in Costa Rica. Scale insects and mealybugs there are threatening more than 100,000 acres of export bananas. This is brand new information that’s just hit the news.
It’s the stuff farmers deal with, day in and day out. Could this hit us here? Could this take out the Big Island’s banana industry? Are we in danger?
The Big Island Banana Growers has sprung into action. We’ve already sent word about this to the University of Hawai‘i plant experts, as well as the state Department of Agriculture. We already have reports back, and everyone is watching this closely. All the right wheels are turning.
Note that it’s not our Hawai‘i County Council that we alerted for help. They have no idea things like this happen in farming, and wouldn’t know what to do about it if they did know.
From ThinkProgress.org:
Banana Emergency Strikes Costa Rica
by Joanna M. Foster on December 12, 2013
In 2012, Costa Rica exported more than 1.2 million tons of fresh bananas worth $815 million according to the Foreign Trade Promotion office.
This year’s crop could be substantially less thanks to an outbreak of scale insects and mealybugs. Currently the pests have spread across 24,000 hectares of plantations in the country’s Atlantic region.
…Costa Rica’s immediate response to the outbreak has been to import more plastic bags impregnated with the pesticides buprofezin and bifenthrin. The bags are wrapped around individual banana bunches to protect the fruit from the destructive pests…. Read the rest
Note, too, that unlike Costa Rica banana farmers, we don’t use any chemicals in the bags we wrap around the banana bunches while they are on the plant. Farmers in Costa Rica use heavy chemicals in their bags in order to keep their bananas blemish-free.
We have always kept our bags completely chemical-free and are willing to accept the blemishes that result. We do this in the interest of worker safety.
I’ve seen what’s happening in Costa Rica several times before. Chemicals kill off the good insects as well as the bad, they become immune and you get a spike in their population. We don’t allow any of that to happen. Our philosophy with bugs is: Don’t hurt the good guys, and give the bad guys a hard time.
