The Maui County Council is moving along a bill to encourage local farming in an expansion area of the Kula Agricultural Park.

The Council’s Agriculture and Public Trust Committee last week recommended the passage of Bill 160, which would establish organic standards and regulations in the 260-acre expansion area of the agricultural park.

Kula Agricultural Park is currently 445 acres and supports 26 farmers, according to the County of Maui.

The regulations in Bill 160 would limit the type of pesticides and fertilizers that lessees at the agricultural park can use and would comply with the Organic Foods Production Act.

Testifier Barbara Barry, who operates a 1-acre organic agro-forest in Haiku, supported the passage of the bill and said that there’s more demand for organically grown food.

The use of chemical inputs harms the soil, she said, likening it to “being on antibiotics all the time.”

“Restoring the soil is really a big part of growing healthy food,” Barry said. “Your food’s only as good as the soil it’s grown in.”

Autumn Ness, representing the nonprofit Maui Hub during the meeting, said the bill would help newer farmers access affordable farmland — one of the most difficult obstacles for farmers.

Getting land is hard. … You’re lucking if you find a two- to five-year lease. You’re lucky if it has water,” Ness said. “If you’re an organic farmer and you’re starting with degraded soil, which is what most two- to five-year leases are, you’re going to have to spend the first year building your soil. By that time you’re getting kicked off your land.”

Bill 160 also would increase the number of members of the Kula Agricultural Park Committee to 11 from nine members, including a representative from GoFarm Hawaii and one from the Maui County chapter of Hawaii Farmers Union United.

It also would prioritize the growth of food for local consumption over noncrop foods.

The bill also looks to remove some requirements for lease application forms, such as balance sheets, sources and anticipated uses of capital and federal and state tax returns for two years prior.

Ness said she wouldn’t be opposed to having those requirements, but said removing them during the application process would help remove obstacles for new applicants.

Council committees can recommend the passage of bills, but it’s the Council that ultimately votes to pass them.