Hawaii seed industry a $50 million business
Hawaii seed industry a $50 million business
- 2004-05-19 - Pacific Business News (Honolulu)
Howard Dicus
Hawaii agriculture has gone to seed, but in a good way. For the 2003/2004 season, the value of the Hawaii seed industry hit a record $50.5 million, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture reports.
That's up 5 percent from the 2003 season. And over the last 10 seasons the value of the state's seed industry has grown at an average annual rate of 20 percent, based on reported operational budgets.
The seed industry employs 262 full-time and 683 part-time employees mainly on Kauai, Molokai, Oahu and Maui. This doesn't count nearly 500 regularly visiting professionals, who stay an average 9 days spending about $175 a day.
More than $50 million is a lot of money for an industry that doesn't use a lot of space: 4,080 acres, a record amount representing a 5 percent expansion from the previous season.
Most of these seeds are not sold. They are a product of ongoing research or will be further propagated before sale. Still, seed outshipments are expected to rise 10 percent to a record 6.4 million pounds in the 2004 season.
Corn account for more than 95 percent of seed acreage and 98 percent of all seeds shipped. You may be surprised to learn that about 85 percent of all the corn fields in the state are grown strictly for their seed.
In 2002, Hawaii farmers harvested a record 610 acres of sweet corn for fresh consumption. But local seed operations harvested nearly five times as much, 3,400 acres, in the 2002/03 season.
What makes Hawaii seed central is its year-round growing environment. Whatever researchers can develop in Iowa, they can do here faster. Seed companies are busiest in Hawaii from October to January when much of the seed-growing U.S. mainland is snowy or frigid. The 5 percent of activity not devoted to corn is devoted to soybeans, cotton, sunflower, wheat, and a few others.
"By the 2007/08 season," said Don Martin, director of the Hawaii Agricultural Statistics Service, "Hawaii's seed companies intended to expand plantings by 25 percent to over 4,800 acres, augment its workforce by over 10 percent, and increase total expenditures to $65 million."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the development of crops is in large measure the story of the development of seeds. Genetic improvements by plant breeders, and this predates genetic engineering, gets much of the credit for the fourfold improvement in cotton yields and the sevenfold improvement in corn yields per acre since 1930.
So farmers tend to buy seed rather than using what they get from their own crops. In the 15 years from 1982 to 1997, the amount of soybeans grown from purchased seed rose from 55 percent to 81 percent; of cotton, from 50 percent to 78 percent.
USDA says U.S. farmers use more than 6.5 million tons of seed annually for major crops, a $5.7 billion business and about a fifth of the global seed market. The next two players are both Asia-Pacific nations, which together spend about the same amount. China is second at $3 billion and Japan is third at $2.5 billion.
Reach Howard Dicus at hdicus@bizjournals.com.
- 2004-05-19 - Pacific Business News (Honolulu)
Howard Dicus
Hawaii agriculture has gone to seed, but in a good way. For the 2003/2004 season, the value of the Hawaii seed industry hit a record $50.5 million, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture reports.
That's up 5 percent from the 2003 season. And over the last 10 seasons the value of the state's seed industry has grown at an average annual rate of 20 percent, based on reported operational budgets.
The seed industry employs 262 full-time and 683 part-time employees mainly on Kauai, Molokai, Oahu and Maui. This doesn't count nearly 500 regularly visiting professionals, who stay an average 9 days spending about $175 a day.
More than $50 million is a lot of money for an industry that doesn't use a lot of space: 4,080 acres, a record amount representing a 5 percent expansion from the previous season.
Most of these seeds are not sold. They are a product of ongoing research or will be further propagated before sale. Still, seed outshipments are expected to rise 10 percent to a record 6.4 million pounds in the 2004 season.
Corn account for more than 95 percent of seed acreage and 98 percent of all seeds shipped. You may be surprised to learn that about 85 percent of all the corn fields in the state are grown strictly for their seed.
In 2002, Hawaii farmers harvested a record 610 acres of sweet corn for fresh consumption. But local seed operations harvested nearly five times as much, 3,400 acres, in the 2002/03 season.
What makes Hawaii seed central is its year-round growing environment. Whatever researchers can develop in Iowa, they can do here faster. Seed companies are busiest in Hawaii from October to January when much of the seed-growing U.S. mainland is snowy or frigid. The 5 percent of activity not devoted to corn is devoted to soybeans, cotton, sunflower, wheat, and a few others.
"By the 2007/08 season," said Don Martin, director of the Hawaii Agricultural Statistics Service, "Hawaii's seed companies intended to expand plantings by 25 percent to over 4,800 acres, augment its workforce by over 10 percent, and increase total expenditures to $65 million."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the development of crops is in large measure the story of the development of seeds. Genetic improvements by plant breeders, and this predates genetic engineering, gets much of the credit for the fourfold improvement in cotton yields and the sevenfold improvement in corn yields per acre since 1930.
So farmers tend to buy seed rather than using what they get from their own crops. In the 15 years from 1982 to 1997, the amount of soybeans grown from purchased seed rose from 55 percent to 81 percent; of cotton, from 50 percent to 78 percent.
USDA says U.S. farmers use more than 6.5 million tons of seed annually for major crops, a $5.7 billion business and about a fifth of the global seed market. The next two players are both Asia-Pacific nations, which together spend about the same amount. China is second at $3 billion and Japan is third at $2.5 billion.
Reach Howard Dicus at hdicus@bizjournals.com.
posted by DP at 3:22 PM
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