Family is winding down operations at pig farm

Shinsato Farm in Kahaluu has begun scaling back its production of pork in preparation for eventual closure, Glenn Shinsato, the farm’s namesake, said Friday.

“The chefs and everybody we deal with have been notified that we’re downsizing,” Shinsato said.

The farm, which has had its acreage on the market for about a year, will keep its commercial accounts intact for the time being. No closing date has been set.

Shinsato and his wife, Amy, have worked on her father’s farm since the late 1970s, taking charge of operations in 2004. Amy Shinsato’s father, Shigemichi Tomei, established the hog farm in the 1940s under the name Tomei Farm. It was renamed in 2004.

Amy’s three brothers “kind of want to get out,” Glenn Shinsato said.

“We’re hoping that somebody might want to come in and keep the farm, the pigs or something else,” he said.

As the locavore movement has grown in recent years, Hawaii’s snout-to-tail, farm-to-fork chefs would buy whole pigs from Shinsato Farm, giving its pork stature on Hawaii’s culinary scene.

Many of the restaurants that serve Shinsato pork are listed on the farm’s website, including BLT Steakhouse, Roy’s Ko Olina, Town and The Pig and the Lady.

The Shinsatos have received inquiries from people who want to farm, as well as “people with money” who have asked about buying and subdividing the land, but the acreage lacks sewer infrastructure and is zoned for agriculture, Shinsato said.

Further, Mapele Road, which leads to the farm, partially collapsed in late 2015, leading to confusion and controversy over who owned the road and therefore was liable for repairs.

“I think the sale of the property, it’s going to take a while. There are so many issues that have to be sorted out with the road,” he said.

“At this point what we’re looking at is the way we can make the most money for the longest-term viability. We’ve got to get people who cook at home to buy our product.”

In the meantime the Shinsatos will continue to compete against cheaper mainland pork products sold by big-box retailers.

They have spoken to organizations about investing in development rights to keep the land in farming, but nothing has yet solidified.

Farming of any kind is not easy, as veteran farmer and agriculture industry advocate Dean Okimoto of Nalo Farms can attest.

“Last year everybody lost money because of the weather,” Okimoto said. “A lot are on the edge and had to take out loans. The general public doesn’t know this.”

Just last month Alexander & Baldwin announced that Hawaii’s last sugar plantation, its 146-year-old Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. unit on Maui, would close its 36,000-acre sugar plantation at the end of the year.

Within days Richard Ha, Hawaii island grower of tomatoes and bananas under the Hamakua Springs brand, announced that his operations would shut down at the end of next month.

Government efforts to further regulate pesticides and tighten other agricultural rules pose hurdles, Okimoto said. “They keep putting up bills that we’ve got to go down (to the Legislature) and fight, and that takes us away from the farm.”

ON THE NET:

>> shinsatofarm.com

>> staradvertiser.com/features/whats-your-favorite-dish-glenn-shinsato

>> staradvertiser.com/ features/part-of-complex-pork-dish-can-easily-be- done-at-home