{"id":543845,"date":"2026-03-25T06:34:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T06:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/543845\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T06:34:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T06:34:15","slug":"relief-program-to-help-farmers-ranchers-impacted-by-kona-low-storms-big-island-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/543845\/","title":{"rendered":"Relief program to help farmers, ranchers impacted by Kona low storms : Big Island Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Farmers and ranchers affected by the recent storm systems can apply for a grant to address immediate needs resulting from the storm beginning today. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Flood damage and debris through the Greenwell Coffee Farm nursery in South Kona following the Kona low storm on March 14, 2026. (Photo courtesy: Tom Greenwell)<\/p>\n

The Hawai\u02bbi Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity has established the Emergency Farmer Relief Program with $500,000 authorized for the emergency grant program from the department\u2019s restricted funds. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur farmers are a crucial lifeline for our food security and sustainability efforts,\u201d said Gov. Josh Green. \u201cAs we work to increase our islands\u2019 independence from offshore food imports, we must support the farmers and ranchers who supply healthy and nutritious produce and meats for our local people through grocery stores, schools and restaurants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis emergency funding for our agriculture communities emphasizes their essential role in our state\u2019s food security and our commitment to aid in their recovery,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

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Ranches and businesses may apply to receive a one-time grant of $1,500 with applications opening today, Tuesday, March 24. Applicants who complete and submit applications by Friday, March 27, will be prioritized for funding. Awards will be announced next week.<\/p>\n

The program application can be found on the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

Applicants must have experienced damage or losses from the storms and must provide a General Excise Tax (GET) license, proving they conduct business in the state.<\/p>\n

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Questions on the program or application should be directed to dab.efr@hawaii.gov. Applicants who have limited access to the internet can call the Governor\u2019s Office of Recovery and Resiliency for assistance in completing the applications at 808-586-0034.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the full impacts from the Kona Low 1 and Kona Low 2 storms are still being assessed, we know our agricultural producers have been severely impacted by these events,\u201d said Sharon Hurd, chairperson of the Hawai\u02bbi Board of Agriculture. \u201cThe Emergency Farmer Relief funding aims to support our agriculture industry with grant money to start recovering from the disaster or provide brief financial stability during this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hawai\u02bbi Board of Agriculture will consider a request from the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity to activate the emergency agricultural loan program for damage caused by the Kona Low storms. If approved as requested, emergency loans of up to $100,000 will be available at 3% interest for qualified agricultural producers.<\/p>\n

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For more information, contact the Agricultural Loan Division at 808-973-9460 or dab.agloan@hawaii.gov.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Farmers and ranchers affected by the recent storm systems can apply for a grant to address immediate needs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[89103,242915,192,19861,169555,242916,92209,242917,79,10171],"class_list":["post-543845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-biosecurity","tag-emergency-farmer-relief-program","tag-environment","tag-food-security","tag-gov-josh-green","tag-hawaii-board-of-agriculture","tag-hawaii-department-of-agriculture","tag-kona-low-1","tag-science","tag-sustainability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}