The state Department of Transportation is working to support local agriculture by making interisland shipping less of a burden.
One of the most significant issues for farmers in Hawaiʻi is the high cost associated with shipping their products.
In a 2020 survey, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state found that shipping costs are farmers’ third-leading barrier to growing their operations.
At a recent state Agribusiness Development Corporation meeting, one of the highlighted efforts is to improve refrigeration at ports on both the Hilo and Kona sides of Hawaiʻi Island, which would help maintain the freshness of agricultural goods like flowers.
“One of the things that's needed is affordable refrigeration, really on both sides of the island. … We’re usually pretty good on timing, but every so often a plane breaks down or something happens, and those flowers then sit near or on the tarmac,” said Dexter Kishida, the state DOT’s food security and biosecurity manager.
“Having refrigeration capacity near the ports gives the ability, in those rare but definitely possible circumstances, to keep products fresh compared to what happens where the farmer is the one who absorbs really the full cost of a destroyed product.”
The effort and other DOT initiatives are specific to Hawaiʻi Island, the state’s hub for agricultural production.
Separately, officials say recent changes can also possibly prove to be beneficial for local farming.
Young Brothers, which provides the state’s primary interisland shipping services, just increased its shipping rates by nearly 26% following approval by the state Public Utilities Commission.
But state officials said that as part of that rate increase, the shipping company has to expand its existing discount for local agriculture products to also include lightly processed — by being partially cooked or frozen — that didn’t qualify for the discount before.
