Promoting a Resilient Economy for Hawaii Farm Businesses
Summary
The printed record of S. Hrg. 118-115, a field hearing of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship on Hawaii farm businesses, on August 18, 2023 at the University of Hawaii at Hilo with Senator Mazie Hirono presiding and Representative Jill Tokuda present. Hirono's opening statement addresses the wildfires on Maui and Hawaii Island and cites SBA figures of more than 140,000 small businesses in Hawaii. SBA Deputy Administrator Dilawar Syed testifies that the agency is providing low interest disaster loans in Maui and that in 2023 it has approved 115 small businesses for 7(a) loans worth $41 million. Other witnesses included the USDA Rural Development State Director for Hawaii, the chairperson of the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, and the heads of the Hawaii Farm Bureau and Ulupono Initiative. The record includes responses to questions for the record.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
Full text
[Senate Hearing 118-115]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 118-115
PROMOTING A RESILIENT ECONOMY
FOR HAWAII FARM BUSINESSES
FIELD HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
OF THE
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
AUGUST 18, 2023
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
53-542 WASHINGTON : 2024
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COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
----------
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland, Chairman
JONI ERNST, Iowa, Ranking Member
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington MARCO RUBIO, Florida
JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts RAND PAUL, Kentucky
CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey TIM SCOTT, South Carolina
CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware TODD YOUNG, Indiana
MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada TED BUDD, North Carolina
JOHN W. HICKENLOOPER, Colorado
Sean Moore, Democratic Staff Director
Meredith West, Republican Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
----------
AUGUST 18, 2023
Opening Statements
Page
Mazie Hirono, U.S. Senator from Hawaii........................... 1
Jill Tokuda, Congresswoman from Hawaii........................... 2
Witnesses
Mr. Dilawar Syed, Deputy Administrator, U.S. Small Business
Administration, Washington, DC................................. 3
Prepared Statement........................................... 6
Mr. Chris Kanazawa, State Director for Hawaii and Western Pacific
Rural Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Honolulu, HI 11
Prepared Statement........................................... 13
Ms. Sharon Hurd, Chairperson, Hawaii Department of Agriculture,
Honolulu, HI................................................... 17
Prepared Statement........................................... 19
Dr. Mark Wright, Professor and Extension Entomologist, College of
Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii
at Manoa, Honolulu, HI (on behalf of Dr. Ania Wieczorek,
Interim Dean and Director, College of Tropical Agriculture and
Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI).. 26
Prepared Statement of Dr. Ania Wieczorek..................... 29
Mr. Joseph Burns, Interim State Director, Hawaii Small Business
Development Center, Honolulu, HI............................... 35
Prepared Statement........................................... 38
Mr. Randy Cabral, President, Hawaii Farm Bureau, Volcano, HI..... 41
Prepared Statement........................................... 43
Mr. Murray Clay, President, Ulupono Initiative, Honoulu, HI...... 52
Prepared Statement........................................... 54
Questions for the Record
Mr. Murray Clay
Responses to questions submitted by Senator Hirono........... 68
Clay Addendum 1, Maui Wildfire and Water Resources Map........... 73
Clay Addendum 2, Wildlife and Surface Water Imagery Map, Map
dated August 16, 2023.......................................... 74
Clay Addendum 3, Wildlife Surface Water and Recycled Water Map,
Map dated August 16, 2023...................................... 75
Mr. Chris Kanazawa
Responses to questions submitted by Senator Hirono........... 76
Additional Letters/Statements for the Record
Ms. Alejandra Castillo, U.S. Economic Development Administration
Statement dated August 18, 2023................................ 79
PROMOTING A RESILIENT ECONOMY FOR HAWAII FARM BUSINESSES
----------
Friday, August 18, 2023
United States Senate,
Committee on Small Business
and Entrepreneurship,
Hilo, HI.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m. HST, in
University of Hawaii at Hilo, Haleolelo Lumi Pahiahia, 113
Nowelo Street, Hilo, Hawaii, Hon. Mazie Hirono presiding.
Present: Senator Hirono [presiding], and Representative
Tokuda.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HIRONO
Senator Hirono. This hearing of the Senate Small Business
committee will come to order. Good morning and thank you for
joining us at today's field hearing, as I mentioned, of the
Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
I thank our witnesses for being here today, and everyone
who made this hearing possible, including the University of
Hawaii at Hilo College of Hawaiian Language, which is hosting
us here.
I would like to begin by acknowledging the tragedy that
continues to unfold on Maui, as well as the fires here on
Hawaii Island. In the last week, we have all witnessed
wildfires tear through our communities on these islands,
devastating businesses and homes, displacing residents and
visitors, causing injury, and claiming lives.
Those who have lost their lives remain in our thoughts, as
do their loved ones. While the devastation is on an
unimaginable scale, these communities are resilient, and we
will rebuild together. That rebuilding will take time. As we
begin this long process, we must do so with an eye toward
resiliency and sustainability.
We need to make sure other communities in Hawaii and across
our country are taking steps to mitigate the risks of fires and
other natural disasters. And we are seeing many more natural
disasters--the frequency and the harm of these natural
disasters or events that we are seeing, as I said, more and
more.
One of the most important lessons we can learn from the
tragedy that we are experiencing is the importance of active
management of our lands and agriculture. Farms and Ag producers
have long played a vital role in our State, not only feeding
our communities, but also managing and caring for our land. It
is critical that they have the support they need to prosper
across our State.
During today's hearing, we will hear about Federal programs
that are available to support Hawaii's communities and
businesses, including farm businesses recover from the
devastation we have witnessed over the past week. Already, the
Small Business Administration has unlocked financial assistance
for businesses and individuals impacted by these fires.
Additionally, Federal agencies from FEMA to the USDA have
provided human, financial, and other assistance to support our
recovery efforts. And just days ago, I welcomed SBA
Administrator Guzman to Maui to witness firsthand the
destruction, and I am grateful for her support and the support
of the SBA.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, the
SBA, there are more than 140,000 small businesses in Hawaii.
And Administrator Guzman mentioned to me there are some 700
small businesses in Lahaina. These small businesses employ over
270,000 workers and make up more than 99 percent of all small
businesses in our State.
Of these, more than 2,000 small businesses are in
agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting. Many of these
businesses have been significantly impacted in the past days.
As Congress prepares to consider the once every five years Farm
Bill, I want to ensure we are considering the needs of these
businesses.
Supporting farm businesses is critical to our economy, our
land, and the sustainability of our communities moving forward.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today about what
the Federal Government and other organizations on the ground
are doing to support our communities, and what more we can do
in the months and years ahead.
And now I am glad that we are joined today by
Representative Jill Tokuda. And for her opening remarks,
Congresswoman Tokuda.
STATEMENT OF CONGRESSWOMAN TOKUDA
Ms. Tokuda. Thank you, Senator. First of all, I would just
like to express my sincere gratitude to Senator Hirono and the
Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship committee for
hosting today's field hearing.
I appreciate this opportunity to also sit side by side,
listen to the testimony, ask questions, and engage and
participate in what will be a very important discussion on
promoting resiliency among Hawaii's farm business and our
agriculture industry.
As a member of the House Agriculture committee in Congress,
I am advocating for policies in this year's Farm Bill that
reflect the needs of our farmers, ranchers, and producers, the
struggles they have, but more importantly, the hope and the
opportunity that they see, as agriculture is a thriving part of
an economy going forward here in our islands.
You know, there is a lot I wanted to say before this
hearing started. When we were thinking about this weeks ago,
and as Senator Hirono so eloquently said, so much has happened
in the last week that really shifted all of our thoughts and
our minds, and where our hearts are at this very moment.
What I can say is, though, we have experienced devastation
here in Hawaii before. Agriculture is no stranger to this as
well. If you think of the way of sugar and pine, we know that
at the end of the day we must stick together, pull together to
be resilient, to overcome, and provide for our families and for
our communities.
Right now, going through the State, talking about the Farm
Bill over the last so many months, I have heard from farmers,
ranchers, and producers of the struggles they have had to be
able to manage what is a small business--but big business to
them.
But what their hopes are is that we can continue to have
agriculture thriving here for generations and generations to
come. Focusing on this resiliency that we have had historically
with agriculture----
[Technical problems.]
Ms. Tokuda. Even the mic agrees. This is a very important
topic, worthy of amplification. But knowing the struggles that
we have been through, through agriculture, I think there is
much that we can learn together in terms of where we must go
heading into the future.
To all of the members of the panel today, thank you for
being here to express your--both your support, your guidance,
and your insight in terms of where we can go. You know, Ag must
continue to be part of the equation when it comes to a
resilient economy for Hawaii.
And while most of our agriculture farmers, and ranchers,
and producers are small, it is, as I said, big business for us
here in Hawaii.
So, mahalo, again for being here today, and I look forward
to the engagement and discussion.
Senator Hirono. Thank you, Congresswoman Tokuda. Today's
hearing will feature two panels of witnesses. Panel one will
feature Federal and State witnesses who have experience working
on programs that support businesses, including farm businesses.
These witnesses have a detailed knowledge of these programs
and will be able to answer questions about how the programs
work, and the impact they have on businesses. Our panels
include Chris Kanazawa from USDA, Sharon Hurd from the Hawaii
Department of Agriculture, and Dilawar Syed, Deputy
Administrator of the Small Business Administration.
Thank you all for being here. I should also note that Mr.
Syed, our recently confirmed Deputy Administrator of the SBA,
traveled all the way from Washington, D.C. to be here with us
today, so a special mahalo to you, Administrator Syed.
And with that, we will now hear from our witnesses,
starting from you, Mr. Syed.
STATEMENT OF DILAWAR SYED, DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. SMALL
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, WASHINGTON, D.C.
Mr. Syed. Aloha. Thank you, Senator Hirono, for holding
this hearing. Let me start by offering my deepest--my deepest
condolences to all those who have lost loved ones. You know, so
many precious lives lost. It is unimaginable.
The pictures just keep getting worse and worse. Our hearts
are heavy, but I want you to know, Senator and Congresswoman,
and members of the community, that we are absolutely committed,
committed to supporting the people of Maui for as long as it
takes, because we know, as you mentioned, this is going to be a
long, long, sustained recovery. SBA Administrator Guzman was on
the ground last weekend with FEMA Administrator Criswell to
survey the damage, and they joined you.
And since my arrival in the State early this week, I have
spent time with their teams to ensure that our plans, SBA's
plans, are adequate to meet this daunting challenge, and I will
continue to do so.
As a frontline disaster relief agency, SBA is providing low
interest loans to affected residents, businesses, and non-
profits in Maui. We have already accepted hundreds of
applications, loan applications, and approved--I am happy to
report, that we have approved the first set of home loans over
the last couple of days.
SBA staff is on the ground. As of last night, we had 34
folks fully focused and dedicated to the disaster recovery. 29
are actually in Maui, but 4 of them are in Honolulu helping
coordinate the effort. And we opened a business recovery center
in Maui on Wednesday.
If you are watching or later on if you see this, if you are
affected and you want to apply for an assistance, the fastest
way to do that is to register through disasterassistance.gov.
You can also apply through FEMA's mobile app for assistance or
by calling FEMA hotline at 1-800-621-3362.
Now turning to the subject of today's hearing, it is an
honor to be here as the Deputy Administrator of the SBA.
Because of supporters like yourself and your leadership,
Senator Hirono, I am honored to have been confirmed by the U.S.
Senate in a bipartisan word, and very proud to be serving our
nation's 33 million small businesses.
And let me say this, the tragedies that we have seen here
that have befallen on this State is one of the reasons why this
is such a privilege to serve and help these communities
recover. I want to thank you for inviting me to talk about our
work to support small businesses in Hawaii and help them
realize their entrepreneur dream.
Now, the SBA district office in Hawaii serves the largest
geographic region of any district in the nation, Senator. They
not only serve Hawaii, but also Guam, the Northern Mariana
Islands, and other U.S. territories. Hawaii, just like the rest
of the United States, is experiencing a record boom in new
small businesses applications.
From 2021 to 2022, nearly 38,000 Hawaiians filed
applications to start a small business. That is, for context,
63 percent higher than the rate we saw before the pandemic.
Last year, when it comes to capital access at core programs,
SBA approved more than $19 million in 7(a) loans and almost
similar amount, $19 plus million in 504 loans to Hawaiian owned
businesses. In 2023 so far, we are actually tracking higher
when it comes to loan volume.
And to date, we have approved 115 small businesses for 7(a)
loans worth $41 million. Another very important way we help
small businesses is by plugging them into SBA services through
our resource partner network.
In Hilo, we have our Hawaii Small Business Drop in Center
that provides in-person services to business owners on the Big
Island. Last year, the overall SBDC network in Hawaii served
more than 1,250 clients, helped 67 new businesses get started,
and supported more than 3,300 local jobs.
I want to highlight one of these success stories in Hilo.
Emily Taaroa was born in the Big Island and studied agriculture
at the University of Hawaii. She and her husband started
Punachicks. Many of you may be familiar with the business. It
is an organic chicken farm. Today, their operation encompasses
more than 25 acres, and their chicken is sold all across the
State.
And this business benefited from resources available
through SBA resource partner. But we also want to acknowledge
that there are many agriculture businesses that don't have
access to those resources, that we have got to reach to them.
And yesterday we met a number of coffee growers in Kona
Center who clearly could use our assistance as well, especially
when it comes to exporting. We know that only 11 percent of
agri-businesses in Hawaii export internationally, and we want
to change that.
SBA Office of International Trade helps businesses access
the capital necessary to enter foreign markets. We also provide
grants to State organizations to help small businesses export
through the State trade expansion program, or STEP.
Since 2018, Hawaii has received $2.6 million in STEP
grants, which has led to $5.8 million in exports. As the
Administrator and I travel across the country, the number one
challenge we hear from small businesses is about access to
capital. And especially when it comes to small dollar lending,
Senator, especially under $150,000, that has dried out and it
has gone down significantly over the past decade.
So, to address this gap, SBA has unveiled two very
important new rules this year to reduce the unnecessary burden
that prevents some lenders from participating in our programs.
Based on feedback we see from our lending partners, we have
simplified the process for lenders to make an SBA loan.
We also are working to drive more competition in the
marketplace so that business owners in Hawaii have more options
to secure financing that is backed by SBA. We removed an
outdated moratorium on small business lending companies, SBLCs,
which will expand access to capital in the underserved market.
And let me underscore that point, that moratorium on SBLCs had
been in place since President Reagan's Administration.
For 41 years, we could only support 14 SBLCs in our entire
union. And now, thanks to the lifting of the moratorium, we
have the opportunity to open three more SBLCs that will serve
communities such as Hawaii. Again, Senator, thank you so much
for the opportunity to be here and look forward to your
questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Syed follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Hirono. Thank you very much. Now we are going to
hear from Chris Kanazawa, who is the State Director for Hawaii
and Western Pacific Rural Development, USDA. And this is your
second iteration, right, in this position.
So, I am really glad that we have someone who is already
familiar with many of the issues that come to you, and I have
known Chris for a long time, and he is a can-do guy, and that
is the kind of person--as is Administrator Syed, by the way.
We want only can do people to come and talk with us about
how we can support our businesses, especially in the Ag sector.
So, Chris, please.
STATEMENT OF CHRIS KANAZAWA, STATE DIRECTOR FOR HAWAII AND
WESTERN PACIFIC RURAL DEVELOPMENT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE, HONOLULU, HAWAII
Mr. Kanazawa. Aloha. Thank you, Senator Hirono,
Congresswoman Tokuda for the opportunity to speak before the
Senate committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship to
share the role of the United States Department of Agriculture's
role--mission area, how it plays in advancing prosperity for
farmers and ranchers, as well as always, rural communities. I
am Chris Kanazawa, Hawaii State Director for USDA Rural
Development.
My area of responsibility covers the State of Hawaii, the
U.S. territories of Guam and American Samoa, the U.S.
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and three freely
associate States of the Republic of Marshall Islands, the
Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.
Hawaii Rural Development has five offices in the Hawaiian
Islands of Maui, Kauai, Molokai, and here on the Big Island of
Hawaii.
On behalf of the USDA Rural Development, I would like to
offer my heartfelt condolences to those who have lost loved
ones in the wildfires in Maui. My mother was from Maui, and so
I have much aloha for the island and the community. It is
impossible to measure the devastation that these wildfires have
brought to Hawaii and Maui when you consider all the lives that
have been lost and upended.
For as long as it takes, the Biden-Harris Administration
and USDA will deploy every resource at our disposal to help the
families and communities rebuild their lives and homes. We are
thankful that all of our employees and families are safe.
However, Maui is a small community, and we all know someone
who has been affected by the wildfire. Our employees grieve for
the community of Lahaina, just as all of Hawaii grieves. The
loss of a historic community with rich culture, while tragic,
cannot compare to the devastating emotion felt by our employees
and all the people of Hawaii.
Rule development continues to be strong and is already
working to utilize resources at our disposal to help displaced
communities. Rural development programs, while not designed as
emergency response programs, will help rebuild the quality of
life and increase economic opportunities for the community with
financial assistance for housing, small businesses, farms and
ranches, health, education, and social community facilities,
infrastructure, and utilities.
I have submitted written testimony that provides more
detail on Rural Development's ongoing programs that support
small businesses and agriculture producers, and I am happy to
follow up on any questions you may have. But I would like to
spend my time with you today to talk about the Rural
Development is doing--what Rural Development is doing as it
relates to the current disaster efforts.
We are reaching out to all of our housing borrowers
affected by the wildfires with we care letters, offering claims
and payment assistance packages. Rural Development has
increased its housing repair grants from $30,000 to $40,000,
and waiving age requirements.
We are taking inventory of vacancies in Rural Development's
multifamily housing projects that may be used to offer
temporary housing for displaced residents. Rural Development
also has emergency and intermittent--and imminent community
water assistance grants that are available to help communities
prepare and recover from an emergency that threatens the
availability of safe, reliable drinking water. Rule Development
is the long term rebuilding partner.
We are here for the duration and standby ready to support
our rural communities. Rural Development programs will play a
key role in rebuilding the devastated communities from the
ground up. Rural Development's rural housing services will
provide financial assistance for affordable housing and
community facilities, for medical, education, social, and
public service needs.
The Rural Business and Cooperative Services will assist
small rural businesses for facilities and equipment, technical
assistance, energy efficiency systems and improvements, and
working capital. And the Rural Utilities will finance basic
water and wastewater infrastructure, telecommunication, high
speed internet, broadband, and electrical infrastructure.
This committee, and the agencies on this panel, have the
greatest opportunity to support these businesses to rebuild and
reopen, and Rural Development and USDA are prepared to stand by
and help.
Mahalo, Senator Hirono, Congresswoman Tokuda for this
opportunity to share with the committee, USDA Rural
Development's activities in supporting small businesses,
agriculture, and rural communities.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Kanazawa follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Hirono. Thank you very much, Mr. Kanazawa. Sharon
Hurd is the Director of the State Department of Agriculture.
I know you have a lot of experience in supporting
agriculture, but it remains a very challenging for us to really
support Ag in the way that will contribute much more to our
food sustainability.
So, please go ahead with your testimony, Ms. Hurd.
STATEMENT OF SHARON HURD, CHAIRPERSON, HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE, HONOLULU, HAWAII
Ms. Hurd. Thank you, Senator Hirono, Representative Tokuda.
With Maui at top of mind, with Hawaii Island top of mind, I am
going to--I am honored and privileged to have this opportunity
to speak on behalf of the Department of Agriculture.
On my testimony, on behalf of the topic, promoting a
resilient economy for Hawaii businesses, is basically going to
be ways to improve and expand on the Federal programs that
support Hawaii businesses in the agricultural sector.
Our Congressional delegation does a fabulous job bringing
us the kinds of grants that we need. They really do. If you--
grants.gov, you can see all the grants that they bring. But I
am here to testify that the main challenges that Hawaii small
farmers face in seeking Federal grants are, the first thing is
that applying and administering the grants is really tough.
It is very complex. You really need a simplicity HR, or
some kind of a back room to help you with it, because it is
complicated. The second thing that is difficult for small
farmers to attach themselves to a Federal grant is that
sometimes the concepts that the Federal grant supports, it is
pretty, I am going to say, ivory tower and kind of a
theoretical type concept.
Sustainability, climate change, climate resiliency,
cooperative interactions, all really important concepts, but to
a small farmer, they don't find a way to attach themselves to
that to secure the funding that they need.
And the third thing that I am going to see is a challenge
to the small farmers in accessing Federal grants, is that while
they are doing that, there is actually a loss of productivity
while executing the grant. In the 2017 Census of Agriculture,
of the 7,328 farms in Hawaii, 78 percent of the farmers
reported farm value sales of less than $25,000.
So, 78 percent reports less than $25,000. Those are
subsistence farmers or farmers that do farming on the side. We
have to help these farmers scale up, provide them some sort of
resources because they are ready. They are ready to bust out.
They just need to know how to do that. 62 percent reported farm
value sales of less than $10,000.
And small family farms make up 91 percent of all the Hawaii
farms. Many of the new farmers are immigrants from Southeast
Asia or new farmers from the local population. So, while there
are various solutions to these three barriers that I just
mentioned--for instance, include funding in the grant to--for a
service provider to help them actually administer the grant.
Develop grant programs that focus on the farmer, how to
support their operations, provide what they need, and meet the
conceptual goals that the nation needs to meet. And then the
third is to create outcomes and indicators that the small
farmer find--sorry, create outcomes and indicators that the
small farmer finds value, he can benefit from that, and
continue to benefit from that.
The outcomes and indicators need to be relevant to them.
Okay, so what I want to say is those are good challenges, but
what is going on today is really helpful. And what it is, is
that recent Federal programs such as the Regional Food Business
Center Program, Hawaii was awarded $30 million, UH. The
Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program was a $3.2
million award block grant. Partnerships for Climate Smart
Commodities was $40 million.
The reason I highlight these grants is because they are top
down grants. They are large amounts of money, but they make--
they force the community to collaborate. Department is not
competing with UH, is not competing with groups who are working
together to come up with a program that is rich and robust,
then we were able to help the farmer with their programs. If
their farmers are not writing it, we are.
These really robust grants are really good for the
direction that we are going. I think it is wonderful. Programs,
however--programs such as the specialty crop block grant
program or micro grants for food security, they also are
wonderful and really make a difference, are game changers for
the small individual type farmers.
So, the programs you are providing, excellent. I like to
focus on the regional type partnerships as well as the
individual farmers. And I think the pandemic has really focused
this on resilience. And I think a lot of our programs today are
focused on resilience.
So, thank you for the opportunity. Waiting for the
questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Hurd follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Hirono. Thank you. We will now move to
approximately 20 minutes of questions from me and Congresswoman
Tokuda.
So, Ms. Hurd, since we heard from you last, you talked
about a lot of Federal grants that are available. Are they--
first of all, are the grants applicable enough in terms of the
criteria for small businesses, particularly farmers, to apply
for these grants, or are there aspects to these grants that
make it hard for our people to qualify?
And also, if there is enough in grant funds that go to our
farmers. And I think I heard you say that the 75 percent of our
people in Ag what, make less than $25,000? So, are those some
of the limitations in applying for Federal grants in the Ag
sector?
Ms. Hurd. I think what you are doing today is really----
Senator Hirono. Can you get closer to your mic, please.
Ms. Hurd. Yes, sure. I think what you are doing today is
really good. You are actually targeting that group of people
that are reporting income of less than--sales of less than
$25,000, with grants like the current Resilient Food Systems
Infrastructure grant.
The one component in that grant that was really insightful
was the equipment piece. You awarded between $10,000 and
$100,000 to small businesses for equipment with no match.
Now, that is a really impactful piece because if you are a
food hub and all you need is additional refrigeration to take
in food from an additional 20 farmers--refrigeration is
expensive for a food hub, but with this $100,000 limit, they
can go out and buy four different freezers and start really
scaling up, and helping the farmer then, passing it on to the
farmer to grow more and make more.
So that is--that was good. As far as what you said earlier,
do we need more money? Senator, the micro grants for food
security was a wonderful grant. It was difficult to administer,
but the amount of money, $5,000 made such a difference to the
individual homeowner.
Senator Hirono. And are those grants from USDA?
Ms. Hurd. Yes, USDA AMS.
Senator Hirono. So, I think that we need to recognize how
important it is for flexibility for USDA. And Mr. Kanazawa, I
visited with the largest food bank in Hawaii. And one of the
most desirable things that their clients need are fresh fruits
produce.
They cannot use, as far as I understand, USDA money for
those items that they--our food banks have to use private
sources of funds to acquire the fresh produce. And we don't get
enough of it, and this is something that I want to very much
follow up with you that we don't get, I think, our share,
Hawaii, our share of the kinds of this kind of produce that
goes to other food banks in the rest of the country because of
just distance, because of other limitations.
And for Ms. Hurd, we would like our food banks to purchase
food from our farmers, and right now they can't use Federal
resources to do that. So somewhere along the way, we need to
have these things come to, you know, a cooperation and to
identify that this is an issue, and to work on it because this
is another way that we can support Ag in Hawaii. And Ag in
Hawaii needs a lot of support.
And even the food banks being able to purchase our farmers
produce, that would be, I think, a very positive step. So. Mr.
Kanazawa, I would really like your assistance in figuring out
this part of USDA's limitations.
Mr. Syed, I know that SBA is one of the agencies in what we
refer to as the, all of the family of State--Federal agencies
that are present on Maui, and SBA is going to be a long term
partner in our recovery.
So how long will SBA be on Maui, can you tell us, in terms
of helping the recovery efforts there, because there are some
700 businesses, small businesses. I don't know whether they
have already signed up. I mean, they are still going through a
huge time of loss.
So can you just talk a little bit about how your presence
will continue on Maui, which is my hope and expectation.
Mr. Syed. Absolutely, Senator. So, we were on the ground
literally as soon as the disaster hit. And what I can assure
you is that we will stay on the ground as long as it takes to
support those who need us. Small business owners, as well as
residents, because we also process home loans, as well as folks
who have lost personal property, including cars.
And you can see in pictures, virtually everyone lost their
vehicle as well. So, in short, we are going to stay there, as
the President said, follow the response, and SBA, I can speak
on behalf of the SBA Administrator, that we will be on the
ground for as long as it takes.
Let me also share with you that when you look at what has
happened in the country when it comes to fire disasters,
Paradise, California, my home State, it was big news about a
year ago, two years ago, devastation that we had never seen in
the State. The city has yet to recover. This takes a long
time----
Senator Hirono. Yes.
Mr. Syed. And this is even frankly, more challenging here.
You know, we were talking with the disaster teams and normally
they have been--experience with flooding and tornadoes, and
often that, you know, folks that are stranded, they are helping
them. And they go door to door, and there are no doors here,
Senator. Like there is nothing in this community.
So, the playbook is different. It is going to have to take
us to stay there for a long haul, talk to resource partners,
build relationships in the community. The community is
dispersed all over the place.
They have gone to the families. They have obviously, some
of them are in shelters. So, we are going to have to put this
for a very, very long time, and we are committed to doing that.
Senator Hirono. Thank you. And when I mentioned the Federal
family of agencies, I am talking about not only SBA, and I
think the SBA has been there at every disaster and their long
term commitment is very much appreciated. But the Federal
family includes the Department of Defense, Energy, of course,
USDA, EPA, DOT, Army Corps.
So, this is what we refer to as a Federal family of
agencies. And the continuity of effort will be very much
required because the recovery of Maui, as well as on the Big
Island, will take time and resources, and we need to have a
continuing commitment.
As we focus on the support for Ag, with especially as
Congresswoman Tokuda is on the Ag committee and we are working
on the five year new Farm Bill, it is going to be really
important that that bill reflects a lot of support for the kind
of agriculture that we have in Hawaii.
We are not the commodity crops. We are specialty crops.
Everything in Hawaii is considered specialty crops. And for too
long, in my view, our Ag programs have supported the commodity
crops. That would be cotton, soybeans, you know those are the
big commodity crops and we do not have any of those.
So, I want to make sure, working with Congresswoman Tokuda,
that the next Farm Bill very much reflects the commitment to
the small farmers that we have. Mr. Syed, you also referred to
the coffee growers yesterday at Kona, and I think they said
that they don't have that much familiarity with SBA and what
programs SBA offers.
So, what is the thing that you mention to them that you
would be committed to doing in working with them?
Mr. Syed. Absolutely. And well, actually, let me echo what
you said. Hawaii is the only State in the union that produces
coffee. And I think many of us are coffee drinkers and we
should appreciate that. So, I hear you that there should be
greater awareness of SBA resources to our agriculture
businesses here, including coffee growers.
So, what I proposed was that I want to lead a session, a
virtual session, where we can expose our breadth of our
services and programs to Kona based coffee growers so they know
what are the various loan programs, other entrepreneurial
programs, so they can benefit from. We have welcomed the new
head of Rural Affairs.
You know, Ania is here with me, and so she will help lead--
and I will personally be involved in that as well, to make sure
that folks know what programs we have to support them.
Senator Hirono. I am really glad that you heard from the
coffee brewers directly, because one of the challenges that we
always face is really the awareness of the people here, and I
would say especially in the rural communities, awareness of the
support they can get from Federal programs. So, they need to
know about it. Outreach is really important and follow through.
So, it was really great that you were there. Congresswoman
Tokuda.
Ms. Tokuda. Thank you. And I just wanted to reiterate as
well, Senator Hirono did mention our desire to be able to
purchase more food for our food banks from our local producers.
She and I are actually leading up the effort to really make
sure in the 2023 Farm Bill that we have the TEFAP direct
purchase go through, so noncontiguous States like ourselves can
really make sure we can do direct purchasing and we can
purchase right from our farmers and get nutritious food into--
to our people, onto their tables. So really appreciate her
leadership on this particular effort and working with me on
this.
Mr. Syed, you know, I want to take it from two approaches,
one, the lender's perspective, and one, the applicant's
perspective. So, I wanted to start with the applicant's
perspective, which I think is important. You mentioned a
decline in small dollar lending that we have seen likely
primarily among the 7(a) small loan programs, so $150,000 or
less.
Is SBA able to offer technical assistance, and for us here
in Hawaii, language access for those individuals that really
need it to make these loans more accessible for people? Can we
look at even more streamlining and simplicity because of the
disastrous situation that we are in?
And I know collateral requirements are still in existence
for loans of $50,000 to $150,000. Is there some consideration
to maybe removing some of those collateral requirements? And as
you look at Lahaina, going up to $500,000, we are going to see
significant loans needed given the scale of the damage.
Can we also consider some additional easing back of the
collateral requirements, given the kind of money that is going
to be required of people who right now have nothing?
Mr. Syed. Absolutely. So, it is two very important points
that while we are on the ground, we want to make sure we assist
applicants who, by the way, are traumatized right now as we
speak, assessing what all they have lost, which is virtually
everything and what their decisions are about rebuilding their
lives and businesses.
And when I was looking at the data, there is a significant,
you know, minority population, obviously, the Vietnamese
communities, the Filipino community, native Hawaiian
population, and we are looking at what language assistance we
can provide.
I was talking to our Lieutenant Governor Luke the other day
when we were at the food bank, and she made a very good point,
and she said, while some of the folks may be language wise
okay, but when it comes to filling an application of this
nature, it gets pretty technical, and you want to provide that
support.
So, we will bring in language resources to that and to make
sure that there is no friction in the process of them filling
out forms. With respect to collateral, my understanding is that
collateral is not a requirement, but we do ask folks, in the
current process to actually, if the ability to have collateral
in there.
We will explore what is possible here, again, to take those
burdens off, given that folks have lost everything. There is
no--in many cases, perhaps there is no collateral to be even
provided, and we have to see that. We have to be empathetic to
that. So, we will look what we can do there, what the rules
there are, and if we need to also make some changes----
Ms. Tokuda. Very much appreciate that. Yes, and maybe
looking now at the lenders portion, you mentioned in your
testimony that earlier this year, you took steps to simplify
and streamline the process, so we have more lenders, more
competitions.
Just given where we are right now in a disaster situation,
we need to increase the amount of lenders and competition. Is
there anything more we can do to remove additional complexities
to the program so we can get people timely access to the funds
that they need?
Mr. Syed. So, I think the pandemic, you know, taught us
this lesson that you had--it was really community banks and
CDFIs, local banks that actually reached underserved, that
reached black owned businesses, brown owned businesses. The big
banks did not do that. And here again, we have a similar
situation.
And that is precisely why, Congresswoman, we have been
making these steps, realizing that we are going to see more
instances of these disasters in the face of climate change, and
we want to make lending more available at folks' doorstep.
So, what we are hoping is that when it comes to Community
Advantage Program that we do have, which we didn't talk about
in my testimony, that there are--my understanding is there are
lenders from Hawaii who are applying. I hope it will encourage
more lenders to apply.
And if they of course, if they go through the process, that
they could be one of the--one of the sources of capital that is
backed by--supported by SBA that can be made available in the
community.
What we have to recognize is, I think you all have said
this, this is not a one-week, two-weeks, one-month, two-month,
six-month, one-year problem. This is a multi-year problem. Even
if some of those banks are not, let's say, available today, and
even if they come online, let's say, in a year from now, they
would still add a ton of value because there is so much that
has to be built. We are literally in a war zone like situation,
and everything has been raised to ground.
So, the good news is that we are--our reforms have created
an environment where we are welcoming these local banks now,
learning from the pandemic lessons, and thanks to the
Administrator's very strong leadership.
And we want to invite non-local banks institution to apply
so they can be in the communities offering these loan products
backed by SBA.
Ms. Tokuda. We definitely would love to see more local
participation----
Mr. Syed. Absolutely.
Ms. Tokuda. They understand our community and are very
sensitive to where everyone is at right now. I would also
encourage--I am heartened to hear that you will be leading a
virtual session for more of our producers.
I would encourage as well, if it is possible to do some in-
person throughout our islands. Broadband access is sometimes
difficult for, you know, some of our communities, and even
having the time to log on to a virtual session can be
difficult. So, I am sure working with our offices, if we can
take it to the people, I think that would be outstanding as
well. And language truly is an issue.
This county is the most populated with non-English speakers
in the entire State. So, it is not just Tagalog or Spanish, it
is Ilocano, it is many of our, you know, different languages as
well. So, you know, please top us to assist in this particular
process. Mr. Kanazawa, I just have one quick question.
You really covered a lot of good things. Now, in terms of
the Value Added Producers Grant, this is long term really that
we are looking at--in order for people to rebuild and to
continue to sustain and build their operations throughout our
State, we know that they need processing facilities, they need
access to things that will allow them to create value added
products.
Now, it is hard for a producer to do one by one. Have you
been looking at funding, perhaps co-op type of opportunities
for a number of different growers or producers in a region
line?
Lahaina could actually be one of these particular areas
where, whether it is commercial kitchens or processing
facilities, being able to access this is something they can
afford to do on their own, but as a group it might really
propel an industry forward and support numbers of different
applicants.
Mr. Kanazawa. Yes. I totally agree. Given the size of our
farms, our small farms, it is important to ensure that there is
some industry infrastructure that is available. And so Rural
Development does have funding for food hubs, innovation centers
that will provide for centralized processing.
So, we do provide that broad regional infrastructure. In
addition to that, though, specific to, as you mentioned, the
Value Added Producers Grant, we are--Rural Development provides
funding to help the profitability of our farmers, whether it be
through our Value Added Producers Grant, whether it be even our
Rural Energy for America Program that lowers costs.
As an example, here on the Big Island, there is a Hawaii
Oulu producers cooperative that has used our Rural Energy for
America Program Grant, and they have been in--and this
cooperative is made up of over 100 small farms across four
islands.
They have been able to generate over 65--67 percent of
their energy through a solar photovoltaic system, and they have
been able to save over 84,000 kilowatt hours through this. So,
all of this, what we look at in supporting our Ag community, is
how do we find ways to improve their profitability.
And so, through individual programs that help individual
farms, as well as the regional infrastructure, Rural
Development is prepared to support.
Ms. Tokuda. Thank you. And Mr. Kanazawa, I would just ask,
I know you eloquently stated the ways that you are supporting
our community now, but if you can help provide our office with
information how immediately you are providing relief to folks
in Maui on housing, access to drinking water, and broadband.
These are three critical areas to keep people safe and
connected, which we are prioritizing right now. But we would
love to go to continue to put that out towards the community,
to let them know what you are doing. And we know in the long
term, you are going to be a valuable asset to providing in
these areas.
Mr. Kanazawa. Yes.
Ms. Tokuda. And Ms. Hurd, I would just state that I do
know--I appreciate the comments of all the things that are
needed from a technical assistance perspective, and the needs
of farmers, and the grants that are available.
I just commit to continuing to work with you to make sure
we have the capacity to actually apply and execute these grants
because we know that there is money out there, but these are
very busy folks that are helping to feed everyone, and we need
to make sure we have that technical assistance, the capacity to
apply for the money they deserve. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Hirono. Thank you. And Congresswoman Tokuda, I am
really glad you happened to mention the importance of food
hubs. As it turned out, I visited the Malama Kauai food hub,
and this is an actual building where the farmers, some small
farmers who could never afford to have a building like this,
where they can bring their produce process to value added, a
certified kitchen, all of that, without some support.
And I have provided $2.4 million in earmarks, so, for that.
And so there are things that we can do along those lines. But I
would say that food hubs are a really important way that we can
support the small farmers in scaling up value added, all of
that.
I have one question more for Mr. Syed. Can you tell me
whether the Supreme Court's affirmative action decision has
impacted SBA's ability to target women and minorities in your
programs?
Mr. Syed. Senator, I am glad you asked the question.
Obviously, we are tracking this. We are--we don't see an
impact, or we have not seen any guidance made available. But I
can also follow up with you to see whether something that I am
not aware of that we are doing differently.
Senator Hirono. I think to the extent that SBA programs
target women for a particular kind of support, that--I think
that is something that the SBA could have an impact. So, you
know what, I just want everyone to know, the Supreme Court's
decisions have an impact on a lot of different things that you
may not think is being resolved or addressed by the Supreme
Court.
But this is one area that we are tracking because the Small
Business committee spends quite a lot of time talking about and
asking SBA whether they are meeting their target growth goals
for supporting minority businesses and women owned businesses.
With that, we are going to take a five minute recess for
the second panel. I thank the first panel for your testimony.
Mahalo.
Mr. Syed. Mahalo.
Senator Hirono. Five minute break.
[Break.]
Senator Hirono. The hearing will resume. We will now
convene our second panel. Just to reiterate, in panel one, we
heard from Federal and State witnesses who have experience
working on programs that support businesses.
And these witnesses shared their knowledge of the programs
and answered questions about how the programs work. And, of
course, there is always room for improvement. We thank them
again for being here.
In panel two, we will hear from private and academic
witnesses who have firsthand experience working with businesses
and who are familiar with the challenges they face. They
include Mark Wright from the College of Tropical Agriculture
and, what is it, Human Resources--sorry, CTAHR, Joe Burns from
Hawaii Small Business Development Center, Randy Cabral from the
Hawaii Farm Bill, and Murray Clay from the Ulupono Initiative,
a nonprofit organization focused on locally produced food,
renewable energy, and clean transportation.
Thank you all for being here. So, with that, we will start
with our first witness, Dr. Wright.
STATEMENT OF MARK WRIGHT, PROFESSOR AND EXTENSION ENTOMOLOGIST,
COLLEGE OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURE AND HUMAN RESOURCES, UNIVERSITY
OF HAWAII AT MANOA, HONOLULU, HAWAII
Dr. Wright. Good morning. Aloha. I am Mark Wright. I am
speaking on behalf of Dr. Ania Wieczorek, our Interim Dean, who
is just recovering from COVID. I am here to come and speak on
her behalf. I am with the College of Tropical Agriculture,
University of Hawaii at Manoa, statewide responsibilities for
research extension and education in agriculture and a broad
range of topics.
With a funding college of the University of Hawaii, as you
probably all know, we play a role in wide ranging
transdisciplinary education, which provides extensive support
in agriculture and natural resource management, including
things like invasive species management and so on, which are
fundamentally important, as we know, to the State.
During the past few years, our college underwent a
strategic positioning effort, during the whole pandemic in
fact, during which we collected data from more than 5,000
individuals regarding requirements of various stakeholders in
the State.
And the result was a strategic document outlining four main
initiatives. Among those was enhancing economic development for
an adaptable and resilient community and well-trained
workforce.
And among this economic development was one of the main
initiatives. One of the big things that came up was the needs
of small agricultural operations that require access to free
resources for education and training to strengthen their well-
being and their ability to contribute to economic development
and the people of Hawaii.
We need to be proactive in making locally produced food
widely available to our population and a vibrant tropical
agriculture of value added products to global communities,
particularly in the State vulnerable to natural and human
disasters, as we have seen recently, that can certainly have
significant negative impacts on our food and food security and
economy.
I will give you a few examples of impacts that the College
of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources have and continue
to have. We are particularly active in the area of biosecurity
and food security, particularly the management of invasive
species. Insects and disease pests caused 20 to 100 percent
crop losses in many cases, as I mean, I am sure you have seen
as you have been traveling around.
We have entomologists and plant pathologists to work on
managing these problems, developing environmentally friendly
options for managing these pests. Some examples of the recent
development of integrated pest management for coffee berry
borer, a severe pest of coffee, which has saved approximately
$132 million for that industry in terms of pest management
alone.
We work in other crops such as macadamia nuts, papaya,
vegetable crops, the whole range. Turf and landscape pest
management is another huge issue. You are probably aware of the
issues we are having on Oahu and now Kauai with coconut
rhinoceros beetle which decimates coconut palms. CTAHR is also
involved in food safety training.
We have a program that has been able to train almost 560
farmers recently in complying with food safety requirements. We
work on culturally important staple foods and specialty crops,
things like taro, ulu, and then floriculture as well, of
course. We have a sustainable organic Ag program that
contributes to training people in organic agriculture
statewide, as well as contributing to workforce development.
We have Hawaii-One-Ag Program, which focuses on students
developing their education in terms of being able to work
immediately in agriculture. Our GoFarm Program does a similar
thing where we have immediate training for people who are
interested in entering the agricultural sector.
Natural resource and environmental management is another
substantial component of what we do with people working on
natural environment, working on invasive species management,
fire management, and many other issues related to environmental
management. Our college research addresses family and consumer
issues.
For example, healthy family development, the role of older
people in society, providing environments that are healthy for
young people, and developing a good economic sense and so
forth.
So, in summary, we require lots and lots of resources to be
able to contribute to continuing to do these things and be an
economic driver in the State. And I will stop there. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Ania Wieczorek follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Hirono. Thank you. Joe Burns from the Hawaii Small
Business Development Center.
STATEMENT OF JOSEPH BURNS, INTERIM STATE DIRECTOR, HAWAII SMALL
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER, HONOLULU, HAWAII
Mr. Burns. Thank you, and aloha, Senator Hirono. Aloha,
Congresswoman Tokuda. Thank you very much for the invitation
today to testify here, and also thank you very much for what
you are doing for all the residents of Maui who are suffering
terribly.
So, the Hawaii SBDC is a program of the University of
Hawaii at Hilo and is funded in part through a grant from the
Small Business Administration. We opened in 1990 and have been
hosted continuously since then by UH Hilo. We have five service
centers statewide on the four major islands, and we are one of
63 accredited SBDC programs across the country created by
Congress in 1980.
So, in the first two quarters of this year, we advised 945
unique clients, and materially assisted with just under $20
million in attributed capital acquisition. So, my comments
today, I have three of them. First, I want to talk about
Federal agencies which support Hawaii small agricultural
businesses.
So, I have three. The first one is obviously the USDA. And
we work closely with the USDA, especially through two of their
flagship guaranteed loan programs--one is the Community
Facilities Guaranteed Loan Program, and the other is the
Business and Industry Loan Guarantee Program. So, our role is
to provide advisory services in terms of writing the required
feasibility studies.
And doing so, we contributed to the funding of agricultural
and rural development projects for probably over the last 13
years since I have been here at least. And so, I want to
mention three examples.
One is a coffee school with career and workforce
development training on the cultivation, processing, roasting,
and cupping of coffee. A cattle ranch refinance right here on
the Big Island, lowering their financing expenses and
supporting their expansion into the agritourism sector.
And the third one is a rural, urgent care medical clinic on
Kauai, which is not really an agricultural project per se, but
the clinic helps to attract and retain rural residents such as
farm owners, farm workers, by providing urgent medical care in
the rural community that surrounds it. So that is USDA. Second
one is the SBA, Small Business Administration.
So, the Hawaii SBDC, as a resource partner of the SBA,
provides export business advisory services to Hawaii businesses
involved in the SBA State Trade Expansion Program, which Mr.
Syed mentioned, the STEP Program, and that is administered
through DBEDT at the State level in Hawaii. And we call it the
``HiSTEP'' Program.
So, we cover areas such as export planning, international
market research, export financing, including the SBA's
excellent guaranteed export finance programs. And the reason I
mention that is because these services and export loans are
very, very helpful for local, value added Ag product creators.
Senator Hirono talked about commodities. We don't produce
commodities, but we do produce specialty products. So, these
would fit in that category. And then some examples of HiSTEP
assistance that we provided to value added Ag businesses
include a vertically integrated cocoa grower and craft
chocolate manufacturer and exporter, a distiller of heirloom
Hawaiian sugar cane varietals producing high quality rum, and a
manufacturer of reusable cloth food reps using 100 percent
Hawaiian beeswax.
And then the third program we probably don't think about in
terms of agriculture, but that is the Treasury Department's
Small Business Credit Initiative, SBCI, which provides funding
support for both equity and debt access to capital programs.
And there is also a technical assistance element of the
program under which the Hawaii SBDC will be receiving funding
to provide businesses, financial literacy and management
improvement services to socially and economically disadvantaged
entrepreneurs and very small businesses outside of Oahu.
So potential recipients of this technical assistance would
tend to be farm and rural businesses just because of their
location. My second comment relates to how to improve Federal
programs that support agriculture and rural communities. One
specific idea refers to the USDA Community Facilities
Guaranteed Loan Program, which I mentioned.
There is a requirement that under certain circumstances
applicants must obtain the examination opinion of a CPA
attesting to the validity of the assumptions in the financial
feasibility report. In our experience, it has been very
difficult to find those local CPAs who are willing and capable
to do that examination opinion when it is required.
So, then our applicants have to turn to the mainland CPA
firms, which in our experience are very expensive and sometimes
not willing to do it because they don't know Hawaii very well.
And that creates a barrier to completing a potentially valuable
project.
So, I would just like to ask if there is not such a
mechanism already, I wonder if the USDA would consider making
available specific funding to facilitate that CPA examination
opinion when it is required.
And my last comment is, I would very much like to thank
Senator Hirono for co-sponsoring the SBDC Improvement Act of
2023, which reauthorizes the national SBDC Program, enhances
its effectiveness.
There are three provisions of the bill that I would like to
highlight before I close. One is Section 2, which adds depth
and detail to the existing mandated reporting to Congress with
respect to the SBDC's annual entrepreneurial development
activities. Section 3 allows SBDC to use a limited amount of
SBA cooperative grant funding for marketing purposes. And
Section 7 strengthens the protection of client confidentiality.
So, in closing, may I say that we are grateful for the
committee's continuing support of Federal programs which help
to sustain agriculture and rural businesses in Hawaii for the
accomplishment of the shared goals of reducing food insecurity,
removing barriers to pursuing agriculture, and providing the
capital and technical assistance necessary to foster a robust
agricultural community. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Burns follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Hirono. Thank you. I just want to note that I think
there is an echoing in here. It is a little bit hard for us to
hear you all but speak into the mic.
And apparently our mic is picking you up, but if you can,
you speak very clearly into the mic. Randy Cabral, Hawaii Farm
Bureau. You have vast years of experience in being an advocate
for our farmers, so----
Mr. Cabral. Unfortunately, five minutes, not going to be
able to cover it.
Senator Hirono. What was that?
Mr. Cabral. Five minutes is not going to be able to cover a
whole lot of stuff. [Laughter.]
Senator Hirono. You have a lot to impart. Thank you. Please
proceed.
STATEMENT OF RANDY CABRAL, PRESIDENT, HAWAII FARM BUREAU,
VOLCANO, HAWAII
Mr. Cabral. Aloha, Senator Hirono, Congresswoman Tokuda.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony. My name is
Randy Cabral. I am President of the Hawaii Farm Bureau.
Organized in 1948, the Hawaii Farm Bureau is comprised of 1,800
farm families members statewide, and we serve as Hawaii's voice
of agriculture. The Farm Bureau is the biggest general
agricultural organization in Hawaii.
We represent our members' interest in public policy at a
county, State, and national levels. We operate as a trade group
for agriculture. The Hawaii Farm Bureau believes that if we
want to focus on improving Hawaii's agriculture industry, we
need to assist our farmers and ranchers by addressing the many
challenges that they face, such as land use, access to
affordable water, labor, transportation, invasive species,
disaster preparedness, crop insurance, food safety,
agricultural theft and vandalism, research and development,
pesticide regulations, access to capital and marketing, just to
name a few.
I would like to take the time to discuss a few priority
issues that we would like to see more Federal support for.
Number one is invasive species have become one of the most
challenging problems impacting Hawaii. Many invasive species
are damaging Hawaii's environment and State's economy.
Agriculture has a vested interest in this matter and is one
of the major casualties when invasive species are introduced.
Every year, numerous new pests are introduced into the State,
such as the coqui frog, coffee berry borer, axes deer,
macadamia felted coccid, little fire ant, coconut rhinoceros
beetle, small hive beetle, varroa mite, two-lined spittlebug,
just to name a few. We must do a better job of protecting
Hawaii's agriculture industry's environment and the general
public by preventing the introduction and establishment of
harmful pests. Our port of entry biosecurity program is
essential to prevent invasive species from entering the State.
USDA inspect, check in, and carry-on luggage for outbound
passengers from Hawaii.
But there is no USDA inspection of luggage pre-entering
into the State. The only barrier is the State Hawaii plant and
animal declaration form that passengers fill out on the plane
before arrival. It is essential that more effective measures be
put in place and that Hawaii needs to have USDA help.
Second item is farm labor. Shortage of agricultural labor
has been an ongoing problem for years but has gotten worse. The
shortage of willing and able workers, affordable housing for
farm workers, and competition from alternate employment are
several of the pressing farm related issues that need to be
addressed.
The H-2A program was created to fund--provide farmers with
legal workforce to fill jobs on a seasonal basis when there is
insufficient number of willing and available U.S. workers. An
H-2A employer's labor costs frequently approach 40 percent or
more of their total production cost. And for many of these
producers, H-2A labor costs typically constitute 80 to 90
percent of their total annual payroll.
Many of Hawaii small producers simply cannot afford to
participate in H-2A program. There is a need to be an
alternative H-2A State programs that would work for the small
producers. Transportation. Hawaii's position as the world's
most isolated location, as well as being in a series of
islands, presents major challenges to the State's agriculture
industry.
One of the barriers to expanding agriculture in Hawaii is
the cost to transportation. Hawaii's farmers and ranchers rely
heavily on air and ocean transportation to bring agricultural
inputs such as equipment, feed, fuel, fertilizer, agriculture
machinery for their production.
Inter-island transportation has been a major issue with
neighbor island farmers and ranchers. The majority of
agricultural lands are on the neighbor island, yet the
population center is on Oahu.
Neighbor Island farmers and ranchers are disadvantaged when
competing with fellow farmers and ranchers on Oahu due to the
additional transportation cost of bringing in supplies and
sending products out.
Each increase in interisland shipping rates means increased
cost to these farmers and ranchers, cost that usually cannot be
passed on to the vendor. USDA FSA's Reimbursement
Transportation Costs Payment Program provides some relief for
the high cost of transportation but is currently nowhere near
enough to support enough relief.
We need the cap increase to recognize the transportation
costs in Hawaii are expensive and necessary. While costs rise,
the reimbursement program is capped at $8,000 per year. Renters
spend hundreds of thousand dollars in ocean freight per year.
For example, one rancher spent almost a quarter million dollars
on transportation in 2022, but based on their reimbursement
program, they got only $8,000, 3.6 percent of the cost.
I guess with that, I will stop--thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Cabral follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Hirono. Thank you. Murray Clay from the Ulupono
Initiative. So, you have been in--your organization has been an
advocate for sustainable food, etcetera, etcetera, and you
know, are we making improvements?
Mr. Clay. We are. Do you want me to----
Senator Hirono. Please, go ahead.
STATEMENT OF MURRAY CLAY, PRESIDENT, ULUPONO INITIATIVE,
HONOLULU, HAWAII
Mr. Clay. Okay. Yes I have--so sounded like a question. So,
aloha, Senator Hirono and Congresswoman Tokuda, and any members
of the committee. Appreciate the opportunity to speak with you
all today.
The Ulupono Initiative is an impact investing firm, as you
alluded to. We work across the State to try to increase local
food production, renewable energy, clean transportation, and
better management of our freshwater resources just to help
Hawaii be more sustainable and resilient.
So, we are talking today about the significance of Federal
programs and how Federal dollars can be leveraged to support
the food system and producers across the State. For the past 14
years, Ulupono has worked and engaged with various sustainable
projects in food to really try to increase that local food
percentage in Hawaii. We provide financial and technical
assistance.
We partner with Government, profit, and nonprofit
organizations, including many who have testified here today. So
Federal funding resources do play a key role in ensuring our
remote island State is able to increase its self-sufficiency,
especially as we are highly dependent on imported food.
During the COVID pandemic, Ulupono supported the
agricultural industry by connecting Federal monies with local
needs to support local farmers and ranchers who had lost many
of their markets due to restaurant and hospitality industry
closures.
One particular example is the Farm to Foodbank Program,
where Government, private, and philanthropic funds were
leveraged to purchase locally grown food for food banks to
distribute to those in need in our community.
This did several things. It kept farmers afloat with a new
market opportunity that they didn't have before. It supported
local food banks who struggled to get the normal shelf, stable
food that they would regularly carry. And it fed thousands
within the community that were needy because they lost their
jobs virtually overnight because of the shutdown of tourism.
Our unemployment went from 2 percent to over 20 percent
virtually overnight with the lockdowns. So, another way that
Ulupono has supported the agricultural sector is by funding
grant writers to help the local farmers and ranchers get those
Federal program funds.
The majority of Hawaii's producers, as was mentioned, I
think by Director Hurd, are less than $25,000 a year in sales,
and they operate on farms that are less than 10 acres in size.
So, through many conversations with these stakeholders, we know
that small farmers often don't have the time or resources to
apply for those grants themselves.
Having a dedicated resource to support them in doing so has
been really instrumental. So, over the last 10 years, Ulupono
has funded a number of grant writing programs, and the total
cost of all those programs over 10 years was $1.5 million.
Those grant writers over those same 10 years brought in
$133 million of Federal funding. That is 88 times what it cost
to fund the grant and loan writers. So, it is a huge leverage
opportunity. In anticipation of the 2023 Farm Bill, we also
engaged with stakeholders to help identify which Federal
programs would be the most effective for helping producers here
in Hawaii.
And we collaborated with many of the folks that have
testified here, including the USDA Rural Development, the
Hawaii Farm Bureau, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, and
other smaller and statewide groups.
So, of the 21 Federal programs that were identified as
being useful, we narrowed it down to six priority programs.
These are, the Reimbursement Costs Transportation Program,
which addresses part of what Mr. Cabral was talking about, the
Rural Energy for America program, the Specialty Crop Block
Grant, the Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, the
Livestock Forage Disaster Program, and the Micro Grants for
Food Security Program, which were also mentioned today.
So, for your consideration, you will find that our written
testimony suggests that amendments for each of these programs,
which we think will make it more effective for what producers
are actually facing here in Hawaii. In light of what happened
on Maui and Hawaii Island last week, these and future Federal
programs will be especially critical to support the local
agriculture industry and providing relief to local farmers,
ranchers, and food producers as they recover from these
devastating wildfires.
It is worth exploring opportunities to make better use of
the Ag land that we do have. Much of it, as we know, is fallow.
Reuse water in the area to produce productive green firebreaks
rather than just barren strips of land with no fuel. And
increasing capacity around securing Federal funds that you, as
our Congressional delegation, have helped make available.
So, I do thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I am
happy to take questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Clay follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Hirono. Thank you very much. We will now go to our
20 minute questions. I am really fascinated by the way, Mr.
Clay, that you have a grant writing program. And what are the--
what kind of people sign up for the kind of training that you
provide to enable them to successfully receive grants? Just
very briefly.
Mr. Clay. Sure. So, we presently fund grant writer. Our
longest funded grant writer is here on the Big Island at the
Kohala Center. We also fund grant writers at OCA, which is more
focused on Oahu.
And then with the Farm Bureau that kind of works, of
course, statewide. So those three grant writers work with their
constituents in their geographic or across the State region to
help them even know what they should be applying for and how to
apply for it. Because without those skills, you are taking a
very, very busy farmer and trying to get them to apply this
very complicated thing.
And it is all well intentioned, but they just don't know
how to do it. And so rather than having those funds go to just
those that have the best writing skills, they go to those where
they have the greatest need and can impact our food sector the
best.
Senator Hirono. So clearly, there are a lot of grants that
have been made available, by the way, through some of the
really huge bills that have been enacted by Congress. So, the
infrastructure bill, the COMPETES Act, the omnibus bill, and
there is more money, for example, to fight climate change--some
$300 billion.
A lot of--there is substantial amounts in grants. And that
is why what you are doing to train grant writing is really
important, although part of it is that we could make the, say
the application process more clear or shorter, whatever we need
to do along those lines.
Thank you very much. By the way, that you said that you
identify six priority grants that really make a difference. Are
all of these grants being reauthorized? Is there any danger of
any of these grants ending?
Mr. Clay. I am not certain about risk of them ending, but
in our written testimony, we put in specific recommendations
for awarding changes and requirement changes that would make it
more beneficial to folks here in Hawaii based on our outreach
to local folks, local farmers and ranchers here.
Senator Hirono. Please let us know. And then we do have the
Deputy Administrator of SBA, to the extent that SBA grants are
very complicated. And in fact, there was a reference that, Mr.
Burns, about the CPAs, having a hard time where--and they need
to be certified.
Whatever you were talking about, that makes it harder for
our people to apply for these particular loans. Not sure, but
we need to--if you can get with our Deputy Administrator on,
maybe we make it easier for us to access the programs that we
need. Mr. Cabral, can you explain how the management of
rangelands on Hawaii Island helped with wildfire containment?
Mr. Cabral. Yes, absolutely. I think most pastureland is
well managed by the tenants or landowners through grazing. They
make sure that they keep down invasive species, which has been
a problem with the fires in Lahaina, overgrowth of guinea
grass.
You know, they have the resources and equipment necessary
to control what they have growing on their particular parcels,
and they can control the grazing so that you don't have this
high fire load. I think that makes a big difference.
Around the Lahaina, there was no control of the invasives
and grasses around it, and that I think is a major factor in
that fire.
Senator Hirono. So, did these farmers work with any
organization to alert them to what they could be doing to make
sure that the wildfires are contained? Should that occur? I
think there is a statewide organization, the Wildfire
Management Group----
Mr. Cabral. Yes, I think we have been----
Senator Hirono. Have the farmers worked with----
Mr. Cabral. We have participated in some of these wildlife
management groups in the past. And so, it is something that I
think we can be part of, and I think we would be more than
happy to be part of that group to find solutions to the
problem.
Senator Hirono. There is an organization, I believe their
name is the--I am looking at my staff because I meet with a lot
of people. Yes, there we go, the Hawaii Wildfire Management
Organization, and they have pretty much mapped the entire State
as to wildfire vulnerabilities. And I think they also worked
with your farmers and--on the Big Island to enable them to do
what they needed to do.
And I think that kind of awareness and cooperation is
really going to be part of the lessons learned. And once again,
for you, you mentioned that a top priority is invasive species.
And that is something that Congresswoman Tokuda and I are going
to continue to--she just joined the U.S. House, but I know she
has an awareness of the need to continue funding research into
combating invasive species.
And you have indicated that is the number one priority that
impacts our Ag community. And so, you know, I would appreciate
any other kinds of requests that you would like to put to both
me and Congresswoman Tokuda in how we can continue to combat
invasive species.
Mr. Cabral. I will tell you, Senator, under the past
Administration, when Secretary Purdue was their head of
Department of Agriculture, he came on a visit and I asked him
point blank about helping with invasive species, that the USDA
needs to do more.
And his answer to me was, we do enough for Hawaii. I was
floored by that response. Unacceptable, you know, as far as I
am concerned. But that was the thinking back then. And I hope
this Administration thinks differently and realizes that Hawaii
is basically the invasive species capital of the world, I
think. And we need--desperately need help.
Senator Hirono. Thank you. I think that--you know, that is
one of the things that I talk about a lot on the committees
that I sit on. That for one thing, on the Energy committee,
that focuses a lot on wildfires and to alert the committee
members that Hawaii has its share of wildfires and the acreage
burned is on a par with what happens on the mainland.
And we don't have a Forest Service presence here as such,
but we did meet with some Forest Service people. We do not have
any national forests in Hawaii, and I am trying to bring that
kind of a presence here.
For--again, for Mr. Clay, how can ongoing efforts by
Ulupono and other organizations to bolster our internal food
supply chain and grow the volume of food we are producing in
Hawaii help us better respond to disasters moving forward?
Mr. Clay. So, I think we are all aware that we are, as was
mentioned, the most isolated, populated landmass in the world.
We are 85 to 90 percent dependent on imported food. We rely on
just in time delivery of that food, and then not to mention
tourism is our number one industry, which as we have seen, can
go away virtually overnight.
So, we are very, very vulnerable. I would say when it comes
to food security, I would almost reclassify natural disasters
in two different categories, when it comes to food security.
One are disasters that impact our ability to import food.
So, it doesn't matter whether it is a hurricane, a
wildfire, a tsunami, that is one category. And that is mostly
about damage to our ports and harbors that restricts our
ability to import food. The worst possible situation would be
damage to Honolulu Harbor and Honolulu International Airport
because most of the large shipments of food come in via those
ports.
The other type, which is more like what we are seeing with
some of the wildfires, not just on Maui but elsewhere, is
damage to local infrastructure, which ironically makes it
difficult to get both imported or local food in.
Now, if you have the difficulty with imported food as we
saw during the COVID pandemic, local food can step up and make
a big difference. For example, when the slaughterhouses, the
meatpacking plants in the mainland were being shut down almost
across the nation because of COVID infections, it became very,
very hard to find a lot of different meat products in the
grocery stores, but across the entire COVID pandemic, Paniolo
Cattle Company and Parker Ranch that we worked with did not
miss a single delivery of local beef to the Safeway stores over
that entire period of time. In fact, they increased production
over that period of time.
So local food can make a very big difference. But one of
the other things that we got to remember is when these
disasters happen, tourism often goes away with it. And when
tourism goes away, the most lucrative market for farmers and
ranchers, the restaurants and resorts, close down as well.
So, we have to switch that funding, like we talked about
before, as farm to food bank, so that the food banks that are
having trouble getting food can buy directly from the farmers
and ranchers because you have got farmers and ranchers that
have food but no markets.
You have got people out of work that need food but have no
money, and you just put those two together and it can be really
successful in growing. I would also point out that we are very
focused on institutional purchasing efforts, including
especially with the Hawaii State Department of Education and
their legal requirement to get to 30 percent local food by
2030. Right now, that number is a fairly abysmal, 6.2 percent
according to the report.
Farmers and ranchers will grow. They will expand,
especially with Federal resources. But they are only going to
do that if they think the State is really going to follow
through on this and really increase local production.
And reaching that goal of 30 percent would mean an extra
$14 million of market for local farmers and ranchers. So, we
are focused on the institutional side of that problem as well.
Senator Hirono. I think that kind of focus effort to
purchase local by the Department of Education, you know, is--I
have been trying to get them to put fresh pineapple in our
school lunches.
And for a long time, all of our cafeterias are so used to
just open up the canned pineapple, that when we finally got
some fresh pineapple, people have to figure out how to cut the
pineapple, if you can believe it. So, there are a lot of things
we can do. And one of the other things mentioned was the need
for workers. Mr. Cabral, that is a nationwide need for farm
workers.
And there is a lot more focus in the Judiciary committee
even on the visas that will enable our farms to keep going. And
so, you know, there is a lot of, you know, connection to the
awareness of what we need to do, and especially after COVID.
We have a lot of areas where we can--immigration reform
needs to happen. All of that. And obviously I will talk with
you, mister--I am sorry, regarding the CPA issue. My time is
up, so I am going to go to Congresswoman Tokuda.
Ms. Tokuda. Thank you. Really quickly, I will just
piggyback then on Senator Hirono's last comment about the CPA
examination opinion. I am just wondering, I know you are asking
for more funding to provide support since people are having to
seek out CPAs on the mainland, as well as it gets very costly.
But is there any look at an alternative process to ensuring
some of the financial validity without having to do the CPA
examination opinion? It is very hard for folks, especially on
the neighbor island, to be able to actually access this kind of
professional service, and so, are you looking at an alternative
process to the CPA examination opinion?
Mr. Burns. Thank you for the question. So that is a
requirement of the USDA. So, we don't have the ability to
change that. So that is why I mentioned in this specific
program, which is the community facilities program, that at a
certain level, they do require that.
So normally when we write the feasibility study, if it is
at a certain level, that requirement is not necessary. But at a
certain level it kicks in, and that is where we have
encountered that difficulty. So, we don't have the ability to
change that requirement. That is part of the USDA.
Ms. Tokuda. USDA. Okay, so that is something we can discuss
with the USDA about alternatives to even having this
examination process, which is particularly onerous for our
people.
I just also did want to reiterate and confirm that I know
SBA is opening a business recovery center, has already in Maui
and Kihei, and you have SBDC representatives on site to assist
with connecting people with resources. So, thank you for doing
that. Just want to move over to Mr. Cabral.
Randy, thank you so much for your advocacy and help. We
could spend all day talking about the areas of knowledge that
you have. In particular, I want to focus in on the disaster,
you know, assistance programs that we have. I know even before
the fire I spoke with farmers who have spoken about the fact
that the disaster eligibility cycle is not meeting up with the
demands we have to date.
You know, for some of these programs, you can only apply
twice in 10 years, and we know disaster is striking much more
frequently because of climate change. And, you know, so we
actually have been pushing some reforms in the Farm Bill to
decrease that, you know, that time of period because people
need to access funds when disaster strikes.
And so, to the point of the disaster assistance programs of
various ones, I know, Mr. Clay, you mentioned a number of those
in your testimony. What are farmers finding prohibitive or
challenging in terms of being able to apply for these disaster
assistance programs? How can we reduce some of the barriers?
What are they seeing they really need? Because whether it
is a bridge washing out and they can't get their produce to
market, whether it is something taking out entire crop,
invasive species, axis deer, you name it.
What can we do better when it comes to disaster awareness--
assistance programs, excuse me, that our farmers need to make
it easier to draw down and apply for?
Mr. Cabral. I know there is talk of like a small business
or loans, right, low interest loans. But I think a lot of the
farmers are already in debt. So, getting another loan is not
going to help them.
So, I think grants would be the preferred method for these
farmers. And also, there are a lot of immigrant farmers, that
there is this language barrier. They don't understand the
programs.
So, we need to have somewhere where they can go and get
interpreters to help them process whatever it takes to be able
to get help. So those are the kinds of stuff I think that could
help.
Ms. Tokuda. Absolutely. You know, are they also finding--at
this point, grants definitely versus loans because they are
already cash strapped, but are there other challenges you are
seeing with some of these loans just in terms of whether it is
the amount of money and resources we are able to support folks
with, reimbursed folks with?
You mentioned that with the RTCP program, the
Transportation Reimbursement Cost Program is being helpful, but
quite frankly, not enough to match the, you know, the costs and
whatnot.
So just giving us some insight in terms of where we need to
beef up certain programs, whether it be grants, reimbursements,
or loans, because farmers, quite frankly--it is becoming a make
or break, whether you are part of the fire damage or not, to be
able to survive.
So, any thoughts on these--?
Mr. Cabral. Yes, I mean, if you take the, for example, the
ranchers that got impacted on Maui. They are going to need
feed. But the cost of importing that feed is really hard for
them to do. So, they need help in being able to get either
reimbursement costs or grants to be able to import this feed
for the cattle while they recover from that.
And I think like some of the farmers lost their market in
Lahaina, so they need help in finding new markets. And one way
of helping them, we talked about the food basket, food banks.
Purchasing local food.
And by giving grants to the food basket, food bank, they
can then purchase from these farmers and help them recover from
that market. During the pandemic, we were able to get around
three quarters of a million dollars from private resources, and
we took that money and bought from struggling farmers and
ranchers, and then gave it to the food basket on the Big
Island.
So, programs like that could really help.
Ms. Tokuda. Thank you. I know those are very, very helpful
for a lot of different people and for all of our farmers. I
wanted to jump to Mr. Clay. You know, as Senator mentioned, you
folks did some significant investments over the last decade in
terms of supporting farmers and their efforts to draw down what
is a very large amount of Federal grant money.
So, there is money available on the table. Based upon what
you have seen in terms of the technical assistance work that
you have provided, what kind of changes and supports do we need
to be providing to make it easier for farmers, ranchers, and
producers to be able to take advantage of all the Federal funds
that are available to start, sustain, grow, rebuild their
businesses?
We have talked a lot about language access. We have talked
a lot about increase--you know, streamlining forms. But based
upon your real life experience, really what do we need to do to
connect farmers and producers with the money they so
desperately need right now?
Mr. Clay. So, to start, I am going to piggyback because it
is relevant to something that Randy just said, which is
translation services, essentially. So, I know we are here
mostly talking about Federal programs, but just as an example.
The city and county of Honolulu recently did a small grant
program for $50,000 of grants to a whole bunch of farmers. And
we worked with the Pacific Gateway Center to fund translation
services. And I believe that because of that ability for them
to understand and apply, I want to say three-quarters, but
don't quote me on that, but it is definitely more than half of
the winners of those grants speak English as a second language.
So, if they can't access that, they can't understand it,
they don't even know what they qualify for. Translation can be
a big deal. Another one I would say is these grant writers,
keep in mind that they are just gems. They are so valuable
because they are not just taking farmers and ranchers that come
to them and say, hey, I would like to apply for a value added
producer's grant.
They don't even know what is out there. They don't know
what is available. And so, these people kind of counsel them on
what grants are available and then help them with the
application, sometimes with the business plan and some other
things to get these monies in. So, I would say we have a kind
of scarce resource here.
There is only maybe a half dozen of those types of folks in
Hawaii that I am aware of that are really good at pulling down
that Federal funding, that know how to do it, and can counsel
farmers and ranchers to know what to apply for and how to do
it. And we have got to hold onto them.
There is not many of them here in Hawaii. And training
them, I think was mentioned, training more of such people would
be a benefit as well.
Ms. Tokuda. Thank you. You know, and I would--I know there
has been a number of different panelists here and some of these
questions I feel like are made for many of them.
But just broadly, and Senator did touch upon this in terms
of the role, and Randy, you talked about this too, the role
agriculture and our Ag practices to play in climate change
mitigation.
I mean, for example, when we take a look at wildfires and
brush fires, you know, are we maximizing our placement of
farms, maybe targeting, you know, grazing lands, agroforestry
techniques to really be able to slow down a lot of the fire
that we are seeing.
Obviously, invasive species, as Randy mentioned, plays a
role in accelerating the impacts on our land as well, whether
it be, you know, fallow lands, whether it be barren lands, all
of these different things.
We are, in fact, the invasive species capital of the world,
as was mentioned. We are also the extinction capital of the
world. Two very, you know, unfortunate things that we are known
for. But sadly, when we do nothing in terms of resources and
actually addressing this, it turns deadly.
We can't feed ourselves, and you have wildfires like what
we have just seen. So, there are real consequences and costs,
life costs if we do not act quickly on managing our invasive
species threat.
So just wondering, I am speaking to CTAHR now, to Dr.
Wright, is there anyone also working closely with our
Department of Agriculture, with our Farm Bureau, our actual
producers, to take a look at how we are studying this role of
agriculture, how we need to be more proactive in terms of the
use of our Ag lands, much of which are fallow, that now need to
be productive, whether it be agroforestry, whether it be
grazing lands, to really understand that we are dealing with
climate chaos right now and we will continue to see more and
more of these types of incidents, and we have an opportunity to
preempt and prevent some of this using these particular
techniques?
Dr. Wright. Yes. So, we do have a program in the Department
of Natural Resources and Environmental Management that
considers wildfire prediction modeling and so on, and I think
they are looking at the way land is used and the spillover
effects of fallow lands with invasive species.
And in general sort of since the college recognizes that
invasive species is a major impact and that it results in these
horrendous, disastrous events like wildfires and so on, so it
is a big driver in the college. We are constrained by lack of
resources such as quarantine facilities for biocontrol for
invasive species, for example. And those are things we plan
for. We have a number of groups of people that work in those
areas. Does that answer your question?
Ms. Tokuda. Well, I think it just points to the fact that
we have a lot more work to do. And as is brought up in this
hearing, while right now our only protection is a sheet where
you check off a box when we have threats of invasive species,
we have noxious weeds, we have guinea grass. We have so many
things that are quick burns. We have to do more, or it will
turn deadly for many of our communities. So, thank you,
Senator.
Mr. Cabral. Congressman, if I could make one comment. In
Ag----
Senator Hirono. Can you speak into the mic--?
Mr. Cabral. We are not able to do a whole lot without
water. Water is going to be the key to a lot of stuff that we
need to do. And unfortunately, there is a lot of controversy
over water.
If you look at Lahaina and the controversy of taking that
extra flow to fight fire versus the farmer, you know, that was
an issue that I think played out across the islands. East Maui
water system is so controversial, but we need to be able to
share water.
We need water development to make sure we can protect these
areas, create green space. If we are going to put in
agricultural crops, we need water, otherwise, we are not going
to be able to do anything.
Senator Hirono. Excuse me--thank you very much. As we focus
on sustainability and resilience in our communities,
agriculture has a very large role to play. And yes, agriculture
faces many challenges.
Part of what we do in Congress is, is to point out how
unique Hawaii is, not the least of which that we are very
isolated, the thousands of miles of ocean. That presents unique
issues for us in terms of transportation and all kinds of other
elements, invasive species that other States may not have--not
faced quite to the extent that we do, and the need to research
at CTAHR and other places for all of that.
So, this is a hearing that brings together agencies from
the Federal Government, as well as State and local advocacy
groups, to bring to bear how important our focus is on food
sustainability and resilience. And this is one of the ways that
we can be much more focused and proactive in what we need to
do. But it is a lot.
And things like our ability to get grant money, if we don't
apply successfully for those grants, we are leaving money on
the table that can be brought to bear. So, it is a lot of
organizations, Federal, State, and local coming together to
address the issues that we face.
And by the way, I am glad that the Pacific Gateway Center
was mentioned because they are a group that provides language
services, etcetera, and they enable a lot of immigrants who
come to our State to succeed. And I know for a fact that they
have enabled restaurants, for example, to get the kind of help
that they need from Pacific Gateway Center. And one restaurant
that we have been to is Istanbul, and they got their start at
Pacific Gateway Center.
So, there are organizations that not very many people here
know about, but they are plugging away, just as all of us are
and all of you are. Thank you very much for the two panels. And
for the record, our committee will remain open for two weeks
for questions for the record. And of course, we would ask the
witnesses to respond promptly to those questions.
And I want to thank Congresswoman Jill Tokuda for joining
us, because she sits on the Agriculture committee and is going
to be very focused on putting into the Farm Bill those kinds of
provisions that will be very, very focused on what we need to
be pushing for, for Hawaii.
So, thank you, Jill, for being here. There being no further
business, the committee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:25 a.m. HST, the hearing was adjourned.]
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