March 20, 2026, 1:02 p.m.
Hawaii State Capitol
Conference Room 224 and Videoconference
To: Senate Committee on Water, Land, Culture and the Farts
Sen. Chris Lee, Chair
Sen. Lorraine R. Inouye, Vice Chair
Senate Committee on Agriculture and Environment
Sen. Mike Gabbard, Chair
Sen. Herbert M. “Tim” Richards, III, Vice Chair
Senate Committee on Economic Development and Tourism
Sen. Lynn DeCoite, Chair
Sen. Glenn Wakai, Vice Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Ted Kefalas, Director of Strategic Campaigns
Re: COMMENTS ON HB2585 HD3 — RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL TOURISM
Aloha Chairs, Vice Chairs and other Committee Members,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii offers comments on — and three amendments to — HB2585 HD3, which would reform statewide rules for agricultural tourism in the state’s agriculture district.
Specifically, this bill would require that agricultural tourism be permitted as an accessory and secondary use to a farming operation in counties that have adopted ordinances that regulate agricultural tourism.
In these counties, agricultural tourism operations would have to register with the county planning department and provide information such as what visitor activities will be offered and documentation that the property is enrolled in the county’s agricultural property tax dedication program.
The bill would also add food trucks to the definition of an “agricultural-based commercial operation” and delete overnight accommodations of 21 days or less as a permitted use in counties with at least three islands.
Agricultural tourism activities can support the state’s goal of having more local food production by offering farmers and ranchers the opportunity to diversify their sources of income.
A 2023 report from the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University noted that agritourism “is a way to capitalize on the state’s robust tourism sector while providing producers with additional income to complement their baseline agricultural activities. … Such activities include farm tours, value-added product sales, event hosting, farm-to-table experiences, volunteer opportunities, and others.”[1]
This bill would be a step in the right direction; however, Grassroot urges the committee to amend it to protect the existing property rights of Hawaii farmers and ranchers.
Hawaii Revised Statutes 205-2(12) and 205-4.5(14) allow overnight accommodations of 21 days or less in counties with at least three islands that have adopted ordinances governing agricultural tourism.[2] Many farmers and ranchers throughout Maui County rely on this language to run short-term rentals and bed and breakfasts to help supplement income from their farming operations.
At the same time, some counties might be hesitant to legalize agricultural tourism activities because they do not want to encourage additional short-term rental units.
Thus, the committee should keep 205-2(12) and 205-4.5(14) and add the following bolded language to those sections:
“Agricultural tourism activities, including overnight accommodations of twenty-one days or less, for any one stay within a county; provided that this paragraph shall apply only to a county that includes at least three islands and has adopted ordinances prior to the effective date of this law regulating agricultural tourism activities pursuant to section 205-5; provided further that the agricultural tourism activities coexist with a bona fide agricultural activity.”
Likewise, Grassroot is concerned that the new definition of “Secondary to the principal farming operation” in the bill would jeopardize the businesses of many legitimate farmers and ranchers.
The current definition specifies that annual revenue from secondary uses such as agricultural tourism must not exceed annual revenue from the principal farming operation.
A bad harvest due to drought, disease, pests or other causes could render the principal farming operation unprofitable for a year or two, during which time the farmer or rancher would have to also cut back on their agricultural tourism activities to comply with the rules proposed in this draft of the bill. This would amount to kicking the landowner while they are already down.
As such, Grassroot recommends this definition be struck from the bill.
Last, Grassroot suggests that the bill’s definition of “principal farming operation” not include the phrase “and from which agricultural production constitutes the majority of the operation’s land use, labor, and operational activity.”
From a practical standpoint, it would be impossible to determine whether a particular activity takes up the majority of a ranch or farm’s land use. Free-range cattle might be using the same fields that visitors walk through as part of a ranch tour. How would a county allocate land use to various activities when a farm operation took its visitors on a tour through its coffee trees?
Accepting these suggested amendments would strike the correct balance between protecting property rights and allowing farmers and ranchers to participate in tourism, which is the state’s largest economic engine.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Ted Kefalas
Director of Strategic Campaigns
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
1050 Bishop St. #508 | Honolulu, HI 96813 | 808-864-1776 | info@grassrootinstitute.org
[1] John Gifford, Abigail Martone-Richards and Jason Pena et al., “Hawaiʻi Agritourism: Examining how Agritourism can be Responsibly Implemented to Support Small Farmers and Ecological and Cultural Preservation in the Hawaiian Islands,” April 2023, p. 11.
[2] 205-2 Districting and classification of lands. and 205-4.5 Permissible uses within the agricultural districts., Hawaii Revised Statutes, accessed Jan. 29, 2026.
