Land sale a plus for farming

Oahu land in agriculture has plummeted in past decades, so the sale of former pineapple acreage by heirs of a plantation owner near Wahiawa for lease to farmers is a welcome comeback. Brokered by the Trust for Public Land, the deal is planned for lease of land to farmers for crops that hopefully will replace a significant amount of groceries that now come from the mainland.

The 1,743 acres have been in the estate of George Galbraith, an Irish immigrant who acquired the land in the 19th century and died in 1904. The trust explained that the time clock has expired nearly a century later, as 48 descendants and an estimated 600 beneficiaries had to decide what to do with the land.

The $25 million purchase will place 1,200 acres with the state’s Agribusiness Development Corp., which will manage it in partnership with farmers, ranchers and aquaculture groups to diversify agriculture, said Lea Hong, state director for the trust.

She has pointed out that 85 to 90 percent of Hawaii’s food is imported, largely because of the agricultural land that has been rezoned for development.

"Many, many organizations and individuals have been involved in this effort for decades," Hong said.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which contributed $3 million to the purchase, received 500 acres near Kukaniloko Birthstone State Historic Site, a cultural site where famous Hawaiian chiefs were born. Other amounts included $4.5 million from the Army, $4 million from the city and $500,000 from a private donor., D.R. Horton-Schuler Division. Indeed, this looks to be an impressive effort by diverse public, private and nonprofit entities working toward an important shared goal.

Oahu’s land in crop declined by about 36,900 acres — 77 percent — from 1980 to 2008, due largely to the decline and closure of sugar cane and pineapple plantations, according to a report last year for the city Department of Planning and Permitting. An increase by about 4,600 acres in vegetables, melons and fruits other than pineapple from 1994 to 1999 was due to the increased availability of land on the island, but that was followed by a 1,700-acre decline during the past decade.

Two major state Land Use Commission approvals in June exacerbated Oahu’s development-versus-agriculture pressures: for the 5,000-home Koa Ridge project on 768 acres of farmland between Mililani and Wai­pio; then for Ho‘opili, a 11,750-home community on 1,554 acres of prime Ewa farmland.

Developers had sought to buy the Galbraith property but the recession stood in the way, and the trustee turned to selling the land to the state agriculture corporation. Kaaawa blogger Ian Lind, whose 98-year-old mother is a beneficiary, said the result "is a solution that gives the beneficiaries substantial value and gives the people of Hawaii substantial value if the land can be held in agriculture."

The Wall Street Journal compared the transaction with "The Descendants," a movie last year starring George Clooney as a trustee involved in a disagreement about whether to sell land for development. Lind told the Journal that some heirs were upset that they weren’t offered land instead of money and others preferred proceeds from development of the land. Lind is right that they should be satisfied with what they’re getting and feel good about it.

Last year’s city report estimated that more than 30,000 acres of "good farmland" remained available for growing additional crops. The Galbraith agreement shows that attempts to turn former plantation land into productive farmland can help sow a crucial future path. We agree with the Trust for Public Land when it says: "The property could be a game-changer for the future of agriculture in Hawaii."