The House Committee on Agriculture has scheduled SB1374 to be heard on Wednesday, March 23rd, at 9:00 a.m. This bill would allow the State to negotiate and facilitate a land exchange with Dole Food Company, Inc. for lands listed for sale in the Central Oahu area up to the North
Shore. Should this exchange go through, the State would add at least 5,000 acres or more of prime agriculture land. The estimated costs to buy all the listed lands, about 18,000 acres per their website, is between $75 - $150 million. An option to acquire these lands would be through a land exchange.
Over the past years, the State has made it a priority to shift toward sustainability in agriculture and decrease our food imports. The state has a tremendous opportunity to acquire a significant amount of agricultural land to help support our local agriculture industry.
I ask for your support and to please submit testimony on SB1374 by clicking below.
