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the Kona"coffee belt" area, given the agricultural and more specifically, coffee industry's importance to the area's economic health. The State Department of Agriculture and University of Hawai`i College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTHAR)have conducted economic studies analyzing the Kona coffee industry, which have identified trends in the size of coffee farms, and how farm size relates to commercial economic viability. In addition, the County of Hawai`i department of Research and Development commissioned a study of the County's food self- sufficiency. Findings from these studies can be found below: • Hawai`i's Coffee Industry: Structural Change and Its Effects on Farm Operations,Hawaii Department of Agriculture (2006) - Under the heading. "Industry future trend", this study found: "...recent growth in large estate farms outside of the Kona region as well as the increasing average farm size in the Kona region indicate that scale economies—a situation in which per unit production cost falls as production scale rises—effects are at work. The average farm size on the Big Island expanded from 2.9 acres in 1981 to approximately 5.2 acres by 2003 (Figure 6). An average farm in the North and South Kona region was 5.4 acres in 2003. "(http:iAidoa.hawaii.gowitp-contenduploads/2013/O1/CotTee-industrv- structural-change-FINAL.pdt) • The Economics of Coffee Production in Hawaii, CTAHR(2014)–Under the heading"Summary of Acreage and Total Sales", this study found: "The majority of coffee farms are generally small, with sales of less than $10,000, and thus are classified by the USDA as non-commercial farms (Hoppe et al. 2010). The average sales of these farms are$3,273 per year (Table 4) and comprise 60%of all farms; however, they only make up 6.7%of total coffee sales for all of Hawai`i. The average size of these farms is 1.67 acres, and in aggregate they make up 13%of total acreage of all farms. Small commercial farms, which maintain sales from $10,000 to $250,000, are the next largest group, and account for 38% of farms. Within this range,farm sales accounted for 44% of total sales for Hawai`i, averaging $33,882 for the year. Their average size was 5.8 acres, with a 28%share of total land for coffee in Hawai`i. " (http:dtiruw.ctahr.hamaii.ediaoclfreepubs/pdf/E1-25.pdf) -3-