HI SR88

Request Department of Agriculture to designate areas in each county suitable for dairy operations and develop incentives to increase dairy operations statewide.

Require Department to submit report with findings, recommendations, and proposed legislation to Legislature no later than twenty days before the 2020 Regular Session convenes.

Report must include a map and explanation of designated dairy areas by county, proposed incentives to increase dairy operations, and examination of the Milk Act's effects on Hawaii's dairy industry decline.

Address Hawaii's dairy crisis: state milk production declined from 160 million pounds in 1988 to 15 million pounds in 2017, with only two dairies operating and one planning to close in spring 2019.

Highlight need to reduce reliance on imported milk and increase local food production, especially given March 2019 supply disruptions caused by weather and shipping delays.