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Hawaiʻi lawmakers are working on a bill aimed at solving a long-running problem in the state’s agriculture tax and zoning systems: officials say they have struggled to determine which land should be treated as a farm for program benefits, and critics have pointed to “gentlemen farmers” that they argue do not run genuinely productive operations. The proposal, Senate Bill 2153, would direct Hawaiʻi’s major agricultural agencies to use a clearer, tiered definition for who qualifies as a farmer based on what they produce and how their land is used.
At the center of the bill is Sen. Tim Richards of the Big Island, who said the state needs better guardrails precisely because Hawaiʻi’s agriculture ranges from subsistence-style farming to large commercial operations. The issue has come up repeatedly in state and county efforts to limit what critics describe as fake agricultural uses, including cases in which developers were said to target agricultural land for housing. Richards and other supporters argue that more explicit standards could strengthen the tax base while aligning state incentives with legitimate agricultural activity.
Richards described the kinds of small-scale operations he said could be missed when definitions focus only on large output. He gave an example of a retired person raising a small number of cattle and killing an animal infrequently, then sharing it with family. Richards said, “That’s bona fide agriculture, absolutely. It’s subsistence.”
Jonathan Likeke Scheuer, a former chair of Hawaiʻi’s Land Use Commission, said some of the practices he has seen fall well short of what he would consider agriculture. Scheuer pointed to clusters of properties across West Maui and the Big Island where, in his view, farmland mainly functions as a scenic backdrop. He said, “They’re nothing approaching what any reasonable person would say is an agricultural use,” adding, “You have the absurdity of people who say, ‘I’m growing turf’ because they just have a large lawn.”
Even as lawmakers consider a framework that aims to clarify eligibility, farming advocates said the bill could create new compliance burdens. Hunter Heaivilin, advocacy director at the Hawaii Farmers Union, said the state must be careful about unintended consequences. He said, “My concern is that we then increase the hurdles and headaches for smallholders, without meaningfully addressing the consolidation of land ownership,” arguing that the rules should not simply shift the work of proving legitimacy onto small operators.
Heaivilin, who spent two years writing a state-commissioned report on Hawaiʻi land management practices, said past regulatory approaches often benefited larger operations. In his view, a binding definition will require careful design because it could be used in ways that do not match the program’s goals. He said, “The concern with developing something that will be a regulatory tool, without considering all of the regulatory uses, is that it gets misapplied.”
The bill is structured as a two-step process. It would require the agriculture department to develop the tiered “matrix” this year, with the Agribusiness Development Corp., and then bring it back to lawmakers for approval next year. Scheuer said the proposal also risks producing consequences that officials may not yet fully see, including effects on land and water use or differential treatment depending on where farms land within the tiered system. He added that the bill appears to be “setting up some larger policy discussions,” saying, “It’s not clear exactly what those are, and some of those could be very contentious.”
Supporters and critics also looked to other places for models. Both the Hawaii Farm Bureau and Farmers Union have suggested Hawaiʻi consider Guam’s approach, where farmers must register with the island’s agriculture department before they can access local markets, tax exemptions and other support programs, including grants. Brian Miyamoto, the farm bureau’s executive director, said the registration requirement could provide a clearer view of the agricultural landscape. He said the added paperwork and extra administrative work could be drawbacks, but he argued the state would benefit from knowing more precisely what is being farmed.
Jonathan Helton, a policy analyst for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, said enforcement would remain a central challenge for any definition, especially when it comes to taxation and state programs. He said that enforcement at both county and state levels would always be a concern. At the same time, Helton and other advocates said the proposed rubric could support efforts to distribute incentives—such as state grants, subsidies and tax exemptions—to those they believe most need them.
Richards said the bill is intended as a first step rather than a quick fix. He said he hopes identifying Hawaiʻi’s farmers more clearly will help lawmakers move ahead on future legislation and initiatives aimed at improving agriculture across the state. Richards said, “I’m not convinced we have it worked out quite right. But then again, as they say, legislation is making sausage,” adding, “It’s going to take a little bit of grinding and mixing before you get done.”