Maui County's Department of Agriculture says its new grant program could attract up to 200 applicants.
The agriculture department began accepting applications for its grants earlier this month and will do so until June 30.
The program will support a wide range of agriculture operations. Food-growing farms, landscaping businesses and even therapeutic horseback riding services could qualify for the grant.
The new program is meant to be for a "broad scope" of farmers and producers, according to Jennifer Lookabaugh, a grants management program specialist with the department.
Lookabaugh said Maui County farmers have many needs. Some are still recovering from the August wildfires, and others need more protection from invasive axis deer.
“ The biggest request we've had over last year and that I'm getting the most interest in is fencing and equipment. Those are the things that the majority of farmers need so that they can secure their cropland, so they can make sure that the deer aren't getting and eating all their crops or their grazing areas,” Lookabaugh said.
The department inherited agriculture grants and applications from the county’s Office of Economic Development last year and redeveloped its own program to better meet the needs of the island's agriculture industry.
Lookabaugh said the program will focus on smaller farmers instead of larger organizations.
She said that there is no hard cap for the grants, adding that awards ranged from $7,500 to $500,000 last year.
However, the agriculture department could be operating on a smaller grant budget this year. Maui County Council recently passed a budget bill that gives the department just over $6 million for grants during the upcoming fiscal year. That’s a 17% drop from its allocation last year.
Additionally, more than $470,000 of that grant funding must go to the Maui County Farm Bureau, which Lookabaugh noted was not part of last year’s budget.
Still, Lookabaugh is optimistic about the redeveloped grant program.
“Our department has put this program together with the goal to provide a very comprehensive and accessible grant program that is easy to navigate and farmer-friendly. That was one of the things that we changed between OED's format and our format,” she said.
Grant applications can be found online on the Maui County website.
