STAND. COM. REP. NO. 941

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 1389

       H.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred H.B. No. 1389, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LIVESTOCK HARVEST FACILITIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for the planning and design of scalable livestock harvest facilities.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture; Hawaii Cattlemen's Association; Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, Inc.; Hawai‘i Farm Bureau; Hawaii Crop Improvement Association; Ponoholo Ranch, Limited; Paniolo Cattle Company; McCandless Ranch; The Maritime Group, LLC; Maui Cattle Company; Parker Ranch, Inc.; Hawaii Beef Producers LLC; Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United; and five individuals.

     Your Committee finds that the cattle industry in Hawaii has a long-standing history and has seen numerous changes in production practices, requiring adaptations to market conditions.  Recently, there has been a resurgence in the number of cattle that remain in Hawaii for local consumption, giving rise to challenges for many facilities that are not equipped to handle the increased numbers of cattle.  Your Committee finds that these facilities were built for a set throughput of livestock, which makes it difficult to effectively adapt to changing industry conditions, and therefore your Committee understands that funding is needed to provide plans for new livestock harvest facilities to benefit the livestock industry in the long term.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1389, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Agriculture and Environment,

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MIKE GABBARD, Chair