Recently I’ve been in touch with a Kauai farmer who’s renting and would like to purchase his own acreage to cultivate. A common conundrum – Kauai land is currently too expensive for him, but does he really want to uproot his family and relocate to Hawaii Island, where acreage is substantially more affordable?
Fresh greens
Which got us to thinking about leasing farmland. To encapsulate: a large percentage of privately-held land on Kauai is in the hands of several large landowners – Grove Farm, Alexander & Baldwin, Gay & Robinson, etc… Since the demise of sugar, much of these lands have been sitting fallow, save for some cattle ranching.
Many on Kauai, however, are starting to think about food security. It doesn’t make sense for an island with so much fertile land and water to still be importing so much of its food, but it also doesn’t pay – yet – to do large-scale agriculture on these lands.
So why not lease portions of this land to small farmers? It could be a win-win-win situation: the land-owners avoid selling off their land during a down market, but are able to generate cash-flow; farmers are able to ply their livelihood without mortgaging their future; the people of Kauai are blessed with more local food. (Indeed, the area around Honoka’a on Hawaii Island is a model for land use of this sort.)
South shore ag lands
It’s a nice fantasy, but in actuality this scenario on Kauai is still in its infancy – for whatever reason, there’s just not much leased land available – yet. Grove Farm has some pieces adjacent to the Isenberg Tract in Lihue that are currently leased to Pioneer Seed – there is a waiting list. The State of Hawaii is offering a couple of pieces in Hanapepe with 35 year leases.
There is good news on the horizon, however: within the next few years, Grove Farm has plans to open the Maha’ulepu Agricultural Valley, 800 acres of leased land for diversified ag mauka of Poipu (contact me if you’d like an application).
And the prospect of a Farmworker Housing Bill, depending on the form it eventually takes, could impact the situation as well – I’ll be blogging about this soon.
I’d love to hear if someone reading this post knows of any other ag land to lease on Kauai.
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Justin - Head Web Head | Jan 25th, 2010
Wow Sagar, you really are the Kauai land expert.
My brother has looked at leasing land for a Motorcycle track on the Big Island, and over there it was ridiculously inexpensive.
I do know of people leasing ag land on Kauai, but I don’t know what the cost is.
If anybody knows, please chime in…
Katie Minkus, R(B) | Jan 26th, 2010
Aloha, Sagar… This is exactly the solution I believe is best for the Hamakua acreage our County in all it’s wisdom is attempting to sell during a down real estate market to make up the budget shortfall! So shortsighted to sell significant agricultural lands to one owner, instead of leasing to a number of small farmers. I’m psyched the conversations have continued about sustainability and that it’s not just happening on the Big Island. BTW, the other up and coming farming/sustainability focus area on the BI is North Kohala Hawi/Kapa’au area – where Beth lives and specializes in selling large parcels of land. She has a lot of knowledge about this topic.
Matt Beall | Jan 26th, 2010
What about the County “Ag Park” adjacent to Seacliff in Kilauea? Weren’t there originally going to be 10-acre plots for lease there? What happened?
Sagar Hallal, RA | Jan 26th, 2010
I don’t know, Matt. Does the County actually own land there?
Thanks for your comment, Katie. I’d love to talk with Beth about Hawi/Kapa’au sometimes – it’s a special area. I have a dear friend who grew up there, her family growing everything in the garden. There seems to be a lot of continuity with the ag in that area. You see it in North Hamakua – the leased plots being farmed by former plantation workers and/or their children.
What is a Leasehold Farm and Why Would Anyone Want It? « Hawaii Real Estate Market | Feb 2nd, 2010
[...] doesn’t want to repossess the land and will extend another lease for 35 years especially with Agricultural Leases. These leases require the owners to farm, pay a low yearly rent, and share a percentage of any [...]
Hawaii County Selling 700+acres in a Buyer’s Market « Hawaii Real Estate Market | Mar 16th, 2010
[...] by the end of this year to the highs of 2005 & 2006! Why isn’t the County planning to lease this land as farmland to local business owners who are crying for this sort of acreage at an “affordable” [...]
Machiko Yamaguchi | Apr 30th, 2010
My husband and I have been looking for ag land for lease in Kauai with no luck so far. Yes, we called Grove farm too. State of Hawaii doesn’t seem to have any land for lease available now on Kauai. Where else can we try?
Sagar, could you give us an application for the leased land in Poipu? (Maha’ulepu Agricultural Valley)
Sagar | May 2nd, 2010
Machiko, send me your email address – to sagar@hawaiilife.com – and I will send you that application, as well as maybe connect you to someone else who might possibly be interested in leasing land.