I’m president of Green Point Nurseries, a third-generation family agribusiness in Hilo that produces cut flowers, foliage, and tropical blooming plants. Our products are distributed to local, national and international markets. I also serve as president for the nonprofit Synergistic Hawaii Agriculture Council, a collaboration between coffee, floriculture, macadamia nut and papaya industries.

Hawaii agriculture is facing strong headwinds on multiple fronts and state lawmakers will be introducing bills in the upcoming session to help alleviate some of the pressure.

In my view, one of the most daunting and pressing issues is Hawaii’s aging farmers. According to the 2017 Agricultural Census, the average age was 60.1 years old. That average would be 65+ today. Fundamentally, local food production would decline exponentially within the next five to 10 years along with the potential loss of farmland.

Lawmakers are introducing a bill to incentivize farmers with tax credits, and another bill would subsidize transportation costs for livestock, crops and feed. Last session’s House Bill 1705 sought to allow the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) to extend leases for farmers on agricultural parks for an additional 30 years. We shouldn’t risk losing proven producers with the likely future of declining production.

To address the state agricultural parks’ waiting list, lawmakers should take action on Act 90, a law in place for almost 20 years that would transfer appropriate agricultural lands from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to HDOA. Given the high cost of land for lease or sale, more state agricultural parks are needed to grow food production.

Lawmakers must support these bills and need to do more to help offset the scale of production Hawaii will be losing due to attrition. A 2010 study by economists from the HDOA and the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawaii-Manoa determined that just 11.6% of the food consumed in Hawaii was locally sourced. I would venture to say that it’s less than 10% today and given the current reality, that number could continue to shrink.

According to a recent Star-Advertiser article (“Hawaii farmers battling depression in large numbers, UH study finds,” Jan. 3), many younger farmers quit in five years primarily because they are not able to make ends meet.

I’m not a food producer, but as an agricultural entrepreneur, creating demand allowed my family farm to grow and support 50 employees. The article also stated that according to a UH study, 83% of the people surveyed see agriculture as important to the state and 56% said they would spend more on local produce. That 56% needs to grow substantially for small farmers to be profitable and scale-up production.

Agriculture needs targeted marketing to key audiences with discretionary incomes to grow demand for locally produced food. I urge senators to confirm Gov. Josh Green’s nomination of Sharon Hurd as chair of HDOA. Her private sector experience in cargo sales for Delta Airline has served her well as the manager of HDOA’s market development division. She has a proven record of securing federal funds for marketing initiatives to help local producers compete with imports and be competitive in export markets. That needs to be a sustained effort moving forward. And farmers need to do their part and engage consumers by telling their stories to create demand for their products.

Hawaii agriculture is at a turning point. It needs bold action from public and private sectors along with strong consumer demand to give Hawaii’s small farmers a fighting chance.

Eric Tanouye is president of Green Point Nurseries in Hilo.