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Hawaii Grown: The Islands Pastures And Croplands - Honolulu Civil Beat
The amount of land used for farming in Hawaii has shrunk dramatically since the 1930s.
Nearly half of Hawaii’s lands are designated for agriculture, but only a fraction of the state’s 4.1 million acres are used for farming.
Federal data shows that in 2017 when the most recent agricultural census was conducted only 8% of the state’s agricultural lands were used for growing crops. Another 18.5% was used for grazing animals, 8% was woodlands and another 8% was categorized as “other,” which includes farmsteads, homes, buildings and livestock facilities.
Although access to land is one of the biggest challenges for would-be farmers in Hawaii, an analysis of state and federal data shows no shortage of agricultural land.