Brothers Joe, left, and Aquilino Medrano show the eggplant crop
they're raising on former Waialua Sugar Co. land leased from
Dole Foods-Hawaii. Photos By Terry Luke, Star-Bulletin
Brothers Joe, left, and Aquilino Medrano show the eggplant crop
they're raising on former Waialua Sugar Co. land leased from
Dole Foods-Hawaii. Photos By Terry Luke, Star-Bulletin
"I'm trying to get a feel for the market."
Medrano, 40, and his brother, Joe, 55, are among former and current Waialua Sugar Co. workers taking up the company's offer to lease old sugar cane fields as the area's plantation days come to an end.
As Dole Foods-Hawaii moves to shut down its sugar operations, it is experimenting with several other crops, while opening a few fields to workers who face losing their jobs this fall.
Aquilino is the weed control supervisor for Waialua Sugar and Joe works in the mill's power plant. While they hope to have jobs with Dole, they're not taking anything for granted.
"It is sad that sugar is coming to an end," the younger Medrano said. "But maybe it's good in a way" because it has given people "the opportunity to test their ability at farming."
In this way, "we can try to keep the country country and keep it in agriculture," he said.
Small coffee plants grow in between rows of sorghum as part of efforts by Dole Foods-Hawaii to begin diversified agriculture production on Waialua Sugar Co. land.
So far, 60 acres, divided into 42 lots, have been made available, with another 47 acres, or as many as needed, to be opened down the line, said John Hirota, Waialua Sugar's community service/land manager. Initial leases are for a maximum seven years.
An independent Waialua Farmers Cooperative was formed to help displaced or current sugar workers get into farming, from liability insurance, loans and grants to guidance and training, said Hirota, a co-op director.
Dole also is making fields available to "any bona fide ag producer in the area."
The company will plow the land, provide irrigation lines and water meters, charging $250 an acre a year and 28 cents per 1,000 gallons (less to former sugar workers). After that, it's up to the farmers to make it work.
Hirota credited the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Business and Cooperative Development Service, Hilo branch, for help in starting the co-op, as well as the state Agriculture Development Cooperative, the state Office of Community Service and the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
"At first, we got very little response (from workers)," Hirota said. "People were skeptical." But 26 have since joined the co-op, with many more expressing interest as the countdown to the end of the sugar plantation accelerates.
Medrano knew farming wouldn't be easy, but "it's harder than I thought," he said. "It's not for everyone. Farming is a family thing and you have got to have your family backing you up. Hopefully, this will pay off in the long run."