BS Tropical Agriculture at University of Hawaii Hilo? (Waimea: for sale, leases)

[HBCA1]

Has anyone graduated with a BS in Agriculture from University of Hawaii Hilo? If so, can you please give me you opinion about the quality of the program and the different specializations. I am considering transferring to the school from California. Thanks in Advance.

Additionally, this is my first post so I appreciate any advice about the ins and outs of this site.

[OpenD]

Aloha

I can't give you an expert rating on the academic quality of CTAHR (pronounced see-tar) as the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, of the University of Hawai'i is commonly referred to, but I can give you a layman's impression...

I have found their public resources to be very, very good and their staff very knowledgeable and helpful. I have read a number of their publications and found them very useful in working out various gardening questions. I've visited their experimental farm, up near the Hilo zoo, and talked to their staff and Master Gardeners and taken classes they offer to the public, as well as buying plant starts they offer to the public.

What I know about their history is that they began early in the 1900s, and were the founding school that the University of Hawai'i system was built upon. And a quick scan of the internet indicates that they are the only school of Tropical Agriculture in the country, so I guess if that's your chosen field, that's where you need to go.

Nice people, quite professional, in the relaxed Hawaiian way.

One thing I'd be aware of... out-of-state tuition is double the in-state tuition, and you have to be a resident (not a student) for a year before the beginning of the school year to qualify for in-state rates. Hawai'i, however, is part of the 8-state WICHE tuition reciprocity agreement that allows some out-of-state students to qualify for a reduced rate of 150% of in-state rates, and fortunately California is another participating state. So if you haven't already thought of it, I'd check into that program to see if you qualify.

Good luck!

[Noalani]

I believe the program has a solid reputation. My friend, who works in agriculture with HC&S here on Maui, is married to a kama'aina Kula onion farmer and they sent their oldest son to UH Hilo for the agriculture program. They must feel pretty good about what it has to offer!

[winkosmosis]

Where do you get jobs with that degree? Hawaii is the only tropical state, and there are few farms unlike other states. Everything is owned by a few huge landowners, more in the colonial plantation model. How many agriculturalists could HC&S possibly need?

[davephan]

An agriculturists degree could result in a job paying $29K to $69K, with the average in the mid 40s. Perhaps the college should be consulted to determine what type jobs previous graduates received and what type of income those graduates earn. Those jobs might not be in Hawaii.

I know someone with a forestry degree. He couldn't find a job after graduating and has been working at Walmart for many years. People don't need a college degree to work for Walmart.

Be careful with college degrees. You're investing a lot of money and effort. A co-worker knows someone who went to several colleges studying Commercial Art. That person is in debt for about $300K, with probably no way out of debt for life. College can improve your life and standard of living or it can financially destroy your life. Many other degrees offer much higher incomes and have a high probability of finding employment in the field of study.

Getting a Career as a Agriculturist

[hotzcatz]

You don't need a degree for most commercial art jobs, you need a good portfolio of work you've done to show your prospective employers. Same with draftspeople. But for the higher paying jobs such as architect, you'll need a degree.

Do most agricultural jobs require a degree? How expensive is it to get one from U of H Hilo? Would it be worthwhile to move to Hilo and work at Walmart (not that they pay a living wage, you'd probably need to be subsidized or work two jobs to support yourself) for a year to get the in-state tuition rates? Maybe find a job working in agriculture somewhere instead of that Walmart job?

Or maybe go directly into farming. Here's an email forwarded by our local ag extension:

Aloha Friends,

Please help us spread the word that the Co-op still has farm land for lease in Hamakua and we are looking for farmers!

We have some of the lowest lease rents in the State at $200 per acre per year, long term leases that don’t expire until 2033 and irrigation water from the Hamakua Ditch.

Please help us spread the word by forwarding this email to whomever you feel might be interested. I’ve also attached a flyer that you can post if convenient.

Also, please like and share our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/hamakuaag
Anyone that is interested can contact us at 775-1107 or visit our website at www.hamakuaagcoop.com.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Lori Beach
Executive Manager

The farm land they have available to lease was used for growing sugar cane at one time. It's on the Hamakua coast between Hilo and Waimea and is from several acres up to around forty or so, I think. It is just for farming, though, you can't live on it.

[OpenD]

Agriculturists are typically not farmers, per se.

They are experts who work with plant and animal breeding, agricultural diseases, agricultural techniques. For example at CTAHR they develop new avocado varieties to grow well in the various microclimates and differing altitudes in Hawai'i. Ditto bananas, coffee, macadamia nuts, papayas, etc.

[hotzcatz]

Oh, okay. Well, you'd think someone who wants an agricultural degree would want to play in the dirt, too! I guess stuff like tissue culture is a bit different than dirt farming, though, isn't it?

My younger farmer and rancher relatives all have degrees from Texas A & M in some sort of farming and ranching. I just lump all that under "agriculture" but maybe because a lot my background is about land use designations and not the actual work itself.

What agriculturist jobs are there for someone with a new agriculturist degree? CTAHR has a lot of them, don't they? Does the state? Do the orchid farms hire any? Would it be better for the agriculturist to set up a tissue culture lab or some money making agricultural thing instead of using the money to go to school?

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Oh, okay. Well, you'd think someone who wants an agricultural degree would want to play in the dirt, too! I guess stuff like tissue culture is a bit different than dirt farming, though, isn't it?

Well, they do play in the dirt lot, too. At least some do. One of their Agricultural Research farms is up on Stainback Highway south of Hilo, near the Panaewa Rainforest Zoo, and that's one of the places they grow out plants they've cultured to see how they do, as well as to cultivate trees and plants for sale, harvest seeds, etc.

BTW, as you drive in that direction from Highway 11, on the left side are some of the most awe-inspiring growths of Monstera Deliciosa you could ever hope to see... a wall of huge green leaves, must be more than 20' tall, running for hundreds of yards it seems. And their strange long spiky fruits, that are the only part of the plant that is not poisonous *once they are ripe*... and they take a year to ripen! They supposedly taste like a blend of banana, pineapple and mango when fully ripened, but I've never chanced it, because they are also said taste acrid and are full of needles of oxalic acid when not ripe.

Hey, that could be a research project for an enterprising young agriculturist, to domesticate the Monstera so its fruit could be cultivated for the breakfast table!

http://ntbg.org/plants/plant_details.php?plantid=7693

[winkosmosis]

Oh I guess you could work at Monsanto... So long as the anti-GMO activists don't drive them out out of Hawaii