HCR170

WHEREAS, Hawaii's livestock industry faces numerous challenges that create obstacles towards obtaining a strong and diversified livestock industry in the State; and

WHEREAS, according to the Department of Agriculture, in 2006, locally produced eggs represented approximately thirty-three per cent of the total eggs sold in the State, and approximately thirty to thirty-five per cent of the milk consumed in the State was locally produced; and

WHEREAS, within the past year, two egg farms and a dairy farm have closed in Hawaii, and a dairy farm and another egg farm are now threatened with closure; and

WHEREAS, one of the challenges the livestock industry faces is the rising cost of livestock feed; and

WHEREAS, due to its location and relative geographic isolation, Hawaii relies heavily on overseas shipping for a majority of its food and products for food production, thus, livestock farmers rely on imported feed from the mainland to satisfy their feed requirements; and

WHEREAS, local poultry farmers, for example, have indicated that the total cost of grain or feed for their livestock amounts to seventy per cent of the cost to produce one dozen eggs, with fifty per cent of that cost attributed to the transportation expenses for the feed; and

WHEREAS, furthermore, with increased United States Department of Agriculture regulations on agricultural products, livestock farmers are forced to buy and use high-protein feed from the mainland to feed their livestock because grains, such as corn, are too expensive to grow locally in Hawaii to satisfy the quantities that are required by livestock farmers; and

WHEREAS, the high transportation costs for feed is a perennial problem for livestock farmers and the cost of importing feed grains from the mainland adds more than $100 a ton to the expense; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Agriculture recognizes that the longevity of Hawaii's livestock industry is threatened due to the high costs of supporting this industry, and has introduced in the Legislature S.B. No. 1307 and H.B. No. 1221 during the 2007 Regular Session that creates a livestock revitalization program; and

WHEREAS, if enacted into law, the livestock revitalization program will allow the Department of Agriculture to provide grants to qualified producers to reimburse these producers for a percentage of their feed expenses; and

WHEREAS, however, the livestock revitalization program is a short-term solution to a problem that is in desperate need of a permanent solution to effectively protect the livestock industry in Hawaii; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Agriculture is requested to establish a task force to discuss and develop long-term solutions to effectively protect the livestock industry in Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force includes the following members:

(1) The Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture or the Chairperson's designee;

(2) The Dean of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawaii or the Dean's designee;

(3) The President of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation or the President's designee; and

(4) Members representing the various sectors of Hawaii's livestock industry, including but not limited to dairy, beef, eggs, poultry, and pork; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force:

(1) Examine the current policies, procedures, and operations of livestock farms in Hawaii;

(2) Explore and identify best practices to develop long-term solutions to effectively protect the livestock industry in Hawaii;

(3) Explore any other options available to the task force to develop long-term solutions to assist Hawaii's livestock industry; and

(4) Establish findings, and identify and recommend solutions to issues involving satisfying livestock feed requirements, including the transportation costs of feed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Agriculture submit a written report to the Legislature of the task force's findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2008 Regular Session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture; the Dean of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawaii; and the President of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Livestock Industry; Task Force; Report

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	170
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII