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C.~,~n~,1 p~~zs~ copy ~~,z ` C~ c~$ t~,c3~ Re. Hester Farms LLC Mauka ofPahala Z~G1 Pahala, 10-19-04 ~~P ~c Aloha All Members of the County Council of Hawaii, Sony to say I can only be present in soul but not in body due to medical reasons, but I do want to share the information I gathered from persons knowledgeable in the related azeas regazding the feasibility of farming or truck-farming on approximately 5-acre parcels at about 1000 feet above Pahala. After having spoken to loan officers in varying on-island financial institutions, I compiled the following financial information. 1. Most banks will not finance raw land. 2. Those few that do, will only finance 70 which would mean that if the pazcel cost $100,000 then the applicant would have to have $30,000 of his own. 3. A cheap box house would probably run at least $150,000. Thus bringing the total before any investment into the fanning itself up to a quarter of a million dollars. 4. Then there are the fanning investment costs: fencing, fertilizer, farm equipment, water, plants/seeds, labor, etc. 5. I was told that I needed to make at least $4,000 per month just to break even. 6. This would be a huge and rather risky investment for anyone....most likely way over the capabilities of most of the local people/farmers, don't you think ? I also spoke to agents from the University of Hawaii, Agricultural Division and compiled the following fanning information. 1. The type of crops that would grow in this location would be very limited due to the elevation, expected rainfall/water source, heat and wind. 2. It was suggested that I put up greenhouses, which, I was told, would cost a further quarter of a million per acre....but then I could grow orchids....but they need a lot of water...plus the orchid mazket is having problems at the moment due to cheap orchids from other countries. So maybe orchids would not be a good idea. This according to the University advisor. 3. If I grew vegetables, then I could only grow half of the acreage at a time as the other half has to lie fallow for a season. 4. Then I should also take off one acre for living space. So this meant that I actually only had 4 acres to farm on...or only two acres if I was growing vegetables. 5. Then I was told I had to allow for crop failure and or poor markets. 6. To all this would also come the problems of soil erosion and the troubles that accompany heavy rainfall. 7. I was strongly advised to rent 5 acres as, according to the advice of professionals, there was no way I could eek out a living with this high of an investment. Then there was the USDA who recommended a whole list of improvements and suggested coffee and cacao as good crops for that hillside. However, the Ka'u coffee mazket isn't exactly flourishing and cacao is apparently very sensitive to wind. Another point that I don't believe has been addressed are the what-ifs. What if one farmer wanted to Cemm. No. ~ . ~Q ~ Ref. To: ~ ~ Ref. Dote