THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	87
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the board of agriculture and agribusiness development corporation board of directors to adopt definitions for small and large farms.

 

 

     WHEREAS, there is a need to define farms by the process of the operations and not the acreage or amount of revenue; and

 

     WHEREAS, small farms, defined by the United States Department of Agriculture as those with a gross cash farm income less than $350,000, range from retirement and residential farms with little or no output to commercially oriented farms and with operators employed full-time in agriculture; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, the United States Department of Agriculture categorizes nearly ninety-two percent of farms in Hawaii as small farms; and

 

     WHEREAS, neither the Department of Agriculture nor the Agribusiness Development Corporation have clear definitions of small and large farms; and

 

     WHEREAS, often times legislation is introduced that includes language without a clear and concise definition; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii needs Hawaii-specific language to bring clarity to the definition of small and large farms and to be able to measure changes in agricultural diversity; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, that the Board of Agriculture and the Agribusiness Development Corporation Board of Directors are requested to adopt definitions of small farms and large farms; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that small farms be defined as farms where ownership has direct management of daily operations and works on the farm; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that large farms be defined as farms where ownership has hired management for daily operations and does not work on the farm; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Agriculture and the Agribusiness Development Corporation use these definitions for all administrative actions that require the clear definition of the size of the farm; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture and the Chairperson of the Agribusiness Development Corporation Board of Directors.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

DOA; ADC; Farm Definitions