Federal freezes and cuts continue to stall millions of dollars meant to support local agriculture, but advocates and professionals continue to make the case for those targeted programs and initiatives.
A Hawaiʻi delegation wrapped up a three-day visit Wednesday in Washington, D.C., for its second annual policy summit focused on farming and food security.
Lawmakers, state officials and other leaders in local agriculture have been highlighting locally grown products and proposing changes to biosecurity and import policies that could be hurting local farming.
They’re also highlighting the impacts of the Trump administration’s efforts to slash federal spending.
“We need to make sure that anytime a cut happens, we let them know immediately how that's affecting the farmers, the ranchers, the community,” said Nicole Galase, director of the Hawaiʻi Cattlemen's Council, on Tuesday from Washington.
The visit — including a meeting with U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins — seeks to establish a connection between local and federal officials, which could amplify problems felt in Hawaiʻi caused by pauses in and terminations of federal programs.
Fallout is already being felt
A report from the Oʻahu Resource Conservation and Development Council found that, so far, around $90 million in federal dollars for the state and the Pacific region have been cut, frozen, or could be targeted for either.
Farmers said the impacts have already led to operational changes, pauses in work and even reduced production.
One federal initiative on pause is the USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, which includes two projects that set aside a total of $46 million specifically for Hawaiʻi.
The Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative is a partner in both projects, and CEO Dana Shapiro said most — if not all — of that funding has yet to be spent and reimbursed by the U.S. government, which means it’s under threat of being taken away completely.
“I think the point is that there's so much on the table right now that Hawaiʻi could lose. It's in jeopardy, and it would be an enormous loss over the next several years,” Shapiro said.
While the projects aim to strengthen food systems and agroforestry, the funds would directly support farmers and their operations.
A sizable chunk of the $46 million is for monitoring, reporting and technical services, but $20 million is meant to go directly to local farmers.
“It's funds going directly to farmers and ranchers and foresters to be able to do practices that are considered ‘climate-smart,’” Galase said. “This might be against this administration's new direction, but what we're here to do is make sure that they know that these aren't just climate-smart practices.”
The Trump administration has aggressively downplayed the impacts of climate change, even going so far as scrubbing the words “climate change” from federal websites.
The focus of the USDA’s “climate-smart” projects likely flagged them for review, pause or even cancellation.
But in several cases, the administration has rescinded firings and walked back cuts to programs and services, sometimes because federal officials were convinced they provided other benefits.
Contract workers in Guam and Hawaiʻi who manage the invasive brown tree snakes also reduce bird strikes at airports, for example. Those positions were slashed, but then brought back because they provide a safety service for airplanes.
Shifting the focus — in this case to U.S. farming instead of climate change — could keep federal funds flowing.
Meanwhile, farmers and the organizations that support them continue to deal with the uncertainty of that support.
“ We're still trying to support our farmers. The impact is pretty huge because… there's a lot of upfront costs that they have to bear. And now there's a chance that they won't be reimbursed, and in some cases, they've totally paused their projects,” Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative's Shapiro said.
Those who made the trip to Washington appear cautiously optimistic that the USDA will be supportive of Hawaiʻi agriculture, and that some impacted funding could be restored.
Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said Rollins showed interest in visiting the islands and working with the state to develop local agriculture.
