<p>Aloha & Welcome to the SOW podcast aimed to provide educational support, information, guidance and outreach to farmers, ranchers, and allied agricultural producers in Hawaii. This podcast is brought to you by the Seeds of Wellbeing or SOW Project at the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Ag. and Human Resources. This podcast is supported by the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN), grant no. 2021-70035-35371, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (funding until March 31, 2023). </p>
Many Hawaii agriculture producers we speak with feel stressed and a bit confused by the workings of politics and the bills in the legislature. They want to see important changes happen, but are unclear what agriculture-related bills may be in session, or how individuals can be more involved to help things change. In this episode we speak with Hunter Heaivilin, Hawaii Farmers Union’s Advocacy Director and founder of Supersistence to try to get a handle on the state of things in early 2026 and what folks can do to help impact the changes they want to see.
Brought to you by University of Hawaii College of Tropical Ag. and Human Resilience (CTAHR), and the Seeds of Well-being (SOW) Project. This podcast is supported by the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Hawaii Department of Agriculture.
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Spend enough time around Hawaii farmers and ranchers and you’ll soon hear the name of the Federal agency Natural Resources Conservation Service (or NRCS). You may hear the word "conservation' and not necessarily think that they help agriculture producers, but if you have spoken with NRCS, or to folks that have worked with them, you will wonder why you haven’t reached out to them sooner! To better understand NRCS and what they can do to help, we speak with the Director for all of the Pacific Islands Area, J.B. Martin, and NRCS Outreach Coordinator, Jolene Lau, as well as two Hawaii agriculture producers that have been working with NRCS.
Brought to you by University of Hawaii College of Tropical Ag. and Human Resilience (CTAHR), and the Seeds of Well-being (SOW) Project. This podcast is supported by the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Hawaii Department of Agriculture.
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Who knew that the Hawaii Department of Health had a veterinarian on staff?! We didn’t until we met Hawaii DOH’s one and only Public Health Veterinarian at a Hawaii Island conference in Kona. From speaking with her, it seems that’s true for a lot of folks in Hawaii, so in this episode we share our talk with recent Hawaii transplant, Ariella Barry, who was hired by the state DOH to fill a 20 year vacancy, and just in time to lend a hand during the 2025 Federal Government shutdown. We spoke with her during that Federal shutdown.
Brought to you by University of Hawaii College of Tropical Ag. and Human Resilience (CTAHR), and the Seeds of Well-being (SOW) Project. This podcast is supported by the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Hawaii Department of Agriculture.
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Every day, hundreds of people drive to the very end of the road out of Honokaʻa on the northeast corner of Hawaii island to peer into Waipio valley from the lookout. They see that many signs warn to do the right thing, or “be pono,” and show respect by heeding the “Road Closed, Local Traffic Only” signs and keeping their vehicles out of the valley. So most wonder what happens in Waipio valley. One sign shares that Waipio valley has a thousand-year taro (kalo in Hawaiian) farming tradition. Kalo is used to produce one of the more popular indigenous foods on the islands, poi. Kalo was once a staple of the Hawaiian diet and poi is still quite popular on the islands. You can find fresh poi from Waipio valley in the local grocery stores and even at Costco. But how is poi made and who in Waipio valley is still making it? In this episode we speak with Kahealani from Mokuwai Piko Poi, Inc. whose family has been making and selling Waipio poi since the 1970s.
Brought to you by University of Hawaii College of Tropical Ag. and Human Resilience (CTAHR), and the Seeds of Well-being (SOW) Project. This podcast is supported by the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Hawaii Department of Agriculture.
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We listen to and discuss dairy farmer Jeff Corle’s song “Empty Barn” and speak with him about this song he wrote when he was "at the bottom." We find out how it helped his mental health, and what happened when it went somewhat viral and the reactions from others started to pour in. We also speak with some agriculture producers that heard Jeff’s song and they share what this song has meant to them.
Brought to you by University of Hawaii College of Tropical Ag. and Human Resilience (CTAHR), and the Seeds of Well-being (SOW) Project. This podcast is supported by the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Hawaii Department of Agriculture.
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In this episode, we explore topics like natural lifemanship, heart math and coherence with Paige Deponte, Founder and Executive Director of The Spirit Horse Ranch on Maui. Paige discovered and learned these techniques to help manage her own trauma, and so now trained on them and teaches others how they can see their benefits, and uses her horses as part of the process. We discuss these techniques in detail and how they may be of help to anyone that has experienced trauma.
Brought to you by University of Hawaii College of Tropical Ag. and Human Resilience (CTAHR), and the Seeds of Well-being (SOW) Project. This podcast is supported by the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Hawaii Department of Agriculture.
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In this episode we speak with folks from the Hawaii County Department of Finance, Property Tax Administration office, about recent changes to Hawaii County’s property tax regulations and filing requirements that can allow agriculture producers to receive, or continue to receive, preferential property tax rates for their property on the Big Island of Hawaii. These changes have created quite a stir among agriculture producers so we wanted to get more information and some clarification about these changes.
Brought to you by University of Hawaii College of Tropical Ag. and Human Resilience (CTAHR), and the Seeds of Well-being (SOW) Project. This podcast is supported by the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Hawaii Department of Agriculture.
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By all accounts, Green Point Nurseries on the Big Island of Hawaii is a success story, so we decided to pay them a visit. In this episode, we talk about how this family, now in its third generation of cut flower production, has gotten through the hurdles of family succession, shifting markets, and growing pains that any agriculture producer will experience over many decades of growing and selling in, and from Hawaii.
Brought to you by University of Hawaii College of Tropical Ag. and Human Resilience (CTAHR), and the Seeds of Well-being (SOW) Project. This podcast is supported by the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Hawaii Department of Agriculture.
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In this episode we speak with Susan Collins, owner of Bird and Bee Hawai‘i on the Big Island of Hawai‘i. As you will hear, Susan has gone to great lengths to educate folks about bees, bee keeping, and legislation related to bees in Hawaii. We talked about how she got here, where things are going, and then heard a very recent update related to colony collapse on the mainland, and the impact of government cutbacks, DOGE (the US Department of Government Efficiency) and the spending freezes implemented by the Trump administration.
Brought to you by University of Hawaii College of Tropical Ag. and Human Resources (CTAHR), and the Seeds of Well-being (SOW) Project. This podcast is supported by the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Hawaii Department of Agriculture.
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When we attended the 2024 Hawaii Agriculture Conference on Oahu, we noticed that the name Agricultural Leadership Foundation of Hawai‘i figured prominently, so we decided to find out more about it. In this episode we speak with Board President Diane Ley about the history and vision of ALFHawaiʻi, how and why ALFH started and continues the Hawaiʻi Ag Conference, and details about their 14 month Agriculture Leadership Program from Diane but also from Molly Mamaril, a recent graduate we spoke with at the Conference.
Brought to you by University of Hawaii College of Tropical Ag. and Human Resources (CTAHR), and the Seeds of Well-being (SOW) Project. This podcast is supported by the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Hawaii Department of Agriculture.
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