Agriculture land crimes costing ranchers millions in loss, death
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Acres of vandalized crops, tractors stolen and cattle killed. These are all among the concerns being concerned to lawmakers by ranchers and farmers across the state.
The latest tragedy includes Cranston Pia, who was killed on his Makaha ranch after getting into a confrontation with trespassers. Ranchers said, they’ve been bringing up concerns over trespassing and poaching for years.
“Now there’s nothing for his wife and kids and who’s going to be held accountable,” said Kalei Salcedo, a Makaha rancher. “It fell through the cracks.”
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It’s not just illegal hunting and trespassing. According to the Hawaii Farm Bureau, farmers and ranchers are dealing with $14.4 million in losses due to agriculture land crimes. They’re also spending over $11 million on security equipment like fencing, security guards and cameras. Hawaii Island is seeing the brunt of the impacts.
“I don’t think there’s a farmer and rancher out there that hasn’t had some kind of ag land crime impact their operations,” said Brian Yamamoto, Hawaii Farm Bureau Executive Director.
The Hawaii Department of Agriculture said, part of the issue is difficulty in reporting agriculture land crimes which requires a full laundry list of information before a report can be submitted.
“We need something that’s just like evidence and this is my farm, I have a picture of someone stealing, go get him,” said Sharon Hurd, Department of Agriculture Chair.
Some of the solutions being brought to the table include making it easier for farmers to report agriculture land crimes and increasing law enforcement.
Currently the Department of Law Enforcement doesn’t investigate agriculture land crimes, but said it’s willing to. There’s also a Senate bill making progress which would create a position in the prosecutor’s office to investigate ag land crimes.
