Land for farming can be bought, rented, or leased. Which option you choose will depend greatly on your goals and the availability of land. Buying land is not necessarily the best option, especially for a beginning farmer. Your options for expansion may be limited and your market or goals for your farm may change. When looking at land for your farm, consider the following factors:
- Location: Is it easy to access the property? How close are you to neighbors? How close are you to your markets and your suppliers? What zoning restrictions are there? If you’ll be direct marketing through a farm stand or ag tourism, will you have adequate site access and parking and is this permissible if leasing? Are you operating in an Enterprise Zone (https://invest.hawaii.gov/business/ez/)?
- Natural Resources: Consider how suitable the size (acreage), topography, soil types, field sizes, layout, and water options (potable, catchment, streams, etc.) are for your planned farm. Consider sensitive cultural and environmental features as well (endangered species, cultural sites, etc.)
- Climate: Elevation and precipitation, the length of growing season, and micro-climates will help dictate what you can grow.
- Housing: Do you require housing on the farm or nearby? Can you build and live on property? There are often restrictions to living on or building a home in AG zoned land, especially in a CPR or co-op ownership system (see below for more info). Be sure to understand your rights before purchasing land.
- Farm infrastructure: Evaluate the farm buildings, fencing, roads, water supply, utilities, and equipment. Can you build or place new infrastructure?
- Farm history: What were the prior uses for the property, specifically chemical use and storage, non-agricultural uses, liens and encumbrances? Land that was previously in sugar cane or pineapple cultivation is a good indication that the land is of good quality for agriculture although pesticides were likely applied on the land previously. NOTE: If you wish to go into organic production, this information is vital.
- Community Resources: What kind of agriculture is already present in the area? Are there farming neighbors for support and advice? Are there agricultural service providers serving the region?
- Security: Agricultural theft can be a problem. Consider how you can protect your tools and crops.
Buying
Purchasing land is a major decision and investment. A great deal of research should be done prior to purchasing land to understand the land zoning and form of land ownership. Using a realtor and/or a lawyer to review all purchase documents prior to signing is highly recommended. Here are ways to find what’s available for sale:
- Realtors— Local realtors will be aware of listings for agriculture land. If you have a location in mind, contact a local realtor in that area.
- Retiring farmer—If you know a farmer that is retiring and doesn’t have children to take over the farm, he or she may be willing to sell in order to keep the land in farming.
- Approach owners—Look for land that is zoned for agriculture, but isn’t currently in production. Find out who the owners are and ask if they are willing to sell.
- Classified ads—Look over the classified sections of the newspaper or any local farm publications or real estate websites. Sometimes there are ads for properties.
Forms of Land Ownership
Recently there has been an increase in smaller farm lots (1-5 acres) available for purchase, especially on Oahu. The majority of these lots were originally sold as a much larger property, and has been bought by a developer who is re-selling smaller lots. It is important to understand what rights you have as an owner.
- Fee Simple– is the most common form of land ownership and entitles you to full and irrevocable ownership of the land and any buildings or infrastructure on the land. Fee simple owned AG-zoned land normally allows for one house or farm dwelling on the property.
- Condominium Property Regime (CPR)- is a form of ownership, whereby an owner is entitled to exclusive ownership and use of the unit (lot) but the underlying land and other common elements are owned in common with other unit owners. It is the same system as how an apartment building is managed. You will likely be part of an Association of Apartment Owners (AOAO) who will maintain common elements like entry ways, water systems and roads. As the owner of the unit, you will have a unique Tax Map Key (TMK) number for your lot and will be able to sell it at anytime. Because your unit is part of a larger property there is often no legal rights to build a house or farm dwelling on your unit. This is because only one dwelling is usually allowed per property, in this case the whole property.
- Cooperative (Co-Op)- is another form of land ownership for farm lots among multiple owners of a larger property. In a Co-Op, you will own stock or membership in the larger property and will be assigned exclusive use to a certain area of the property. Similar to a CPR model, there will probably be an owner’s association to maintain common elements and you will likely not have legal rights to build a farm dwelling.
More information on CPR and Co-Op ownership of ag lots can be found in this 2021 report written by State of Hawaii Office of Planning. The main difference between CPR and Co-Op is that a CPR ownership gives you exclusive ownership of the unit property while in a Co-Op you are assigned exclusive use of said property. The Co-Op model usually has more difficulty with financing or obtaining loans to purchase.
Renting/Leasing
Rented or leased land is usually more readily available and gives you the flexibility to develop your product and market base. There are several options for finding lands to rent or lease. It is important when leasing land to understand your lease contract and the rights you have to the land. You may need to consult a lawyer to review a contract or to have certain terms included in the lease.
- Agricultural Parks— There are several agricultural parks throughout the State. Ag Parks have a variety of parcel sizes that may be available for leasing.
- Large land owner leases—Large land owners including the State of Hawaiʻi and Kamehameha Schools lease agricultural land. They may also know which of their tenants is willing to sub-lease smaller parcels of land for agricultural production.
- Retiring farmer—Retiring farmers not willing to sell their land may be willing to lease it or discuss another arrangement such as profit sharing, etc. Network with farmers through local agricultural associations and farming events to find opportunities. Some of the local farming associations:
- Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau: http://hfbf.org/
- Hawaiʻi Farmers Union United: https://hfuuhi.org/
- Hawaiʻi Organic Farming Association: https://hawaiiorganic.org/
Additional Resources for Identifying Your Land Options in Hawaiʻi
Some portions of this section is adapted from helpful information provided by the CTAHR Sustainable and Organic Agricultural Program (SOAP): https://cms.ctahr.hawaii.edu/soap/
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Web Soil Survey has soil maps and data available online for more than 95 percent of the nation’s counties: https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm
Climate information can be found on the University of Hawaiʻi Geography Department’s Climate of Hawaiʻi website: http://climate.geography.hawaii.edu/