STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3475

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  S.R. No. 64
                                        




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.R.
No. 64 entitled:

     "SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE
     BUREAU TO EVALUATE THE AGRICULTURE LOAN SYSTEM IN HAWAII,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to request the Legislative
Reference Bureau to evaluate the ability of Hawaii's public and
private agriculture loan systems to meet the credit needs of
today's small, individually-owned, diversified enterprises.

     Your Committee finds that large, static plantations are
rapidly being replaced by smaller, more dynamic farms.  Unlike
large plantations, small farms are able to adapt their growing
and marketing strategies to take advantage of, and to temporarily
weather changing local, mainland, and overseas marketforces.  One
of the major problems encountered by small farms, however, is the
lack of available capital to adapt existing plantation-sized
infrastructure, such as roads and irrigation and drainage
systems, to meet the specific needs of the "small farm", i.e., a
farm of less than ten acres and reported gross annual revenues of
$50,000 or less.

     The present public and private farm credit systems evolved
to meet the needs of mature, plantation-sized agriculture, and

 
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may not be appropriate for emerging, family-sized enterprises.
These family-sized enterprises make up eighty-six per cent of the
more than 5,500 farm and ranch businesses in Hawaii.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your
Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 64, and
recommends its adoption.

                                 Respectfully submitted on behalf
                                 of the members of the Committee
                                 on Ways and Means,



                                 ________________________________
                                 CAROL FUKUNAGA, Co-Chair



                                 ________________________________
                                 ANDREW LEVIN, Co-Chair

 
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