2021-10-27 EMC Agenda item 5-b(i) - Climate change is a big problem for farmers in Hawaii (MC)

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Ornellas grows orchard crops like lychee, along with paddy crops like rice, on a 15-acre farm on Kauai. An intense flood in 2018 washed away nearly an inch of topsoil — something that takes at least 100 years to form naturally — on his farm. It also rerouted a stream that runs across his land. Intense weather events are just one of the challenges facing the state. Farmers are dealing with an ongoing drought, more unpredictable weather patterns, and an overall loss of rain on the leeward sides of the islands. Weather has been a favored topic of farmers for time immemorial. But now, those conversations are shifting to something more ominous than what the rainfall will be like this year. "Something that we're kind of talking about is, is climate change going to threaten the existence of macadamia nuts in Hawaii? Of certain food crops?" said Nathan Trump, president of the Hawaii Macadamia Nut Association. "Are weather events just going to become too severe to make it so that we can't fa rm?" To make sure that agriculture has a future in Hawaii, researchers from the University of Hawaii are seeking out crops that will be able to withstand the increased heat, soil salinity and droughts expected in the state's future. Farmers, meanwhile, say more research is needed, along with investments in the kinds of infrastructure that will help agriculture thrive in a more unpredictable climate. The time to invest in this kind of research — and to support the kinds of sustainable agriculture that can take more carbon out of the atmosphere than it produces — is now, they say. "The time to fix the roof obviously is when it's not raining," Ornellas said.