Kudos to Hawaii County for putting together the 2012 Hawaii County Food Self-Sufficiency Baseline, a vital step in working toward food self-sufficiency.
The sections on grass-fed beef, vegetable production, food safety and issues that affect increased food production particularly caught my attention because of the recent appearance of axis deer on Hawaii island. This is an animal that grew from eight deer introduced onto Molokai in 1868, to 7,000 deer in 1900. A doe will produce four fawns every three years.
The report found that there is an opportunity in the local beef industry to increase both local production and consumption, and that consistently producing high-quality 1,000-plus pound animals depends on adequate rainfall and pasture quality. Maui’s Halea- kala Ranch has been producing local beef for years. However, during the last drought, axis deer aggregated into herds of 500-plus animals and slowed their movements from browsing to active grazing on forage grass that could otherwise have sustained cattle operations through the beginning of the rainy season. This competition for forage grass cost the ranch six figures’ worth of supplemental feed, destocking, death loss and premature sales.
The report also found that Hawaii County is a great place for growing produce, and opportunities exist for expanding produc- tion and variety. On Maui, farmers lost $406,000 worth of produce to axis deer, and spent $270,000 on fences and other control measures over two years.
Although axis deer have been on Maui just 53 years, Maui agriculture losses translate to roughly 4 percent of production for farmers and ranchers; for Hawaii County, which produces twice as much as any other island ($202.6 million in 2010), that would translate to losses running to $8.1 million yearly. We already know axis deer eat pineapple, cane, pasture grasses, corn, fruit trees and most leafy vegetables, and since they eat acorns in Texas, it is justifiable to think they will affect macadamia orchards in Hawaii County as well. New and developing crops such as tea, vanilla, sweet potato and cacao are likely to suffer, slowing the timeline to make these productive for farmer investment.
Maui County is looking for ways to manage deer populations, which are still growing, along with the impacts. Hawaii County has an opportunity to avoid such losses, but we need to get serious about eradicating axis deer before they get a foothold.
As for food safety, the report mentions that food safety certification is increasingly being required by retailers and buyers. Crop producers will need to ensure that deer and other animals do not graze in production areas due to diseases like leptospirosis, cryptosporidiosis, E. coli and bovine tuberculosis, which they can transmit via saliva and feces. This means investing in 8-foot fences around crops and gardens.
Invasive species and pests were mentioned as challenges in parts of the report, but the magnitude of the invasive species issue — from axis deer to fireweed, little fire ants and even the rat-lungworm disease carried by invasive semi-slugs in inadequately washed produce — warrants its own section as an issue affecting food production. This disconnect between invasive pests and food self-sufficiency must be rectified.
To the recreational and subsistence hunters that kill nearly 10,000 feral pigs, sheep and goats annually on Hawaii Island: Mahalo. Let’s have some real dialogue on how to best protect hunting of feral pigs, sheep and goats while also protecting other food and environmental resources.
As for axis deer, we need to get serious about trying to eradicate them on Hawaii island. If we don’t, we just have to look across the channel to see what’s in store.
