One farm kid who returned to the land is Chauncey Monden, thirty-five, a fourth-generation farmer who took over the family business to grow strawberries, onions and assorted vegetables. Wife Teena runs an open-air farm stand on Kula Highway whose opening was one of the bright spots in agriculture last year. The Mondens’ Kula Country Farm embodies several of the strategies Maui farmers and ranchers are using to survive. Monden grows specialty crops like year-round strawberries, and the farm stand offers a direct connection to consumers (meaning higher returns to farmers, who also avoid shipping costs). The colorful stand attracts visitors, adding an agri-tourism component.
Farmers who choose to emphasize agri-tourism need to understand marketing, collaboration and branding, and to wend their way through a bewildering permit process. Ali‘i Kula Lavender is a leader in agri-tourism and is sharing its lessons and its success with others. “It could’ve been any crop. It could be corn, watermelon, tomatoes,” Weigert says of the business model that increases profits through “value-added” specialty items—from lotions to candles to seasonings—created by a network of small businesses that use the farm’s lavender.
Even longtime farm families are boosting income by turning traditional Kula crops into such value-added products. M. Uradomo Farms makes its onions into eleven different pickled products, and Hashimoto Persimmon Farm, whose 500-plus trees produce fresh fruit October through December, makes a line of salad dressings, syrups and other goodies to extend sales beyond the season.
Branding has been a key to another success story, that of the Maui Cattle Company, owned by six ranches spanning more than 60,000 acres. The ranchers work together to produce beef on island, rather than shipping it off to the mainland for finishing. “Most Maui residents are still eating imported beef,” says company managing director Alex Franco. “We want to draw attention to a better and local option. We all have to find ways to shorten the distance between the farm and the table. When it comes to beef, you want to know where it comes from, who took care of it. And we can trace our product right back to our animals.”
One of the Cattle Company’s owners, Ulupalakua Ranch, is a pioneer in weaving together a variety of projects to improve its business. For example, Tedeschi Vineyards’ winery, located on the historic ranch property, has become a tourist destination, which allows the nearby ranch store and deli to showcase Maui Cattle Company beef and other ranch products. The winery makes a popular wine from raspberries, gives the residue, or lees, to Maui Community College’s culinary program, then buys jam made from the lees to sell in its tasting room shop. Lately, says vineyard president Paula Hegele, she’s been buying raspberries that are not up to retail quality, but fine for wine, from Chauncey Monden.
Such collaborations make the agricultural network stronger. And that creates a better safety net beneath us all.
Tour Maui’s Farms
Upcountry Maui offers a wide variety of agricultural experiences that can be explored in a single day. Here’s a sample itinerary. You’ll find more ideas and a handy map on page 36.
Start at Surfing Goat Dairy on Oma‘opio Road. Drop in after 10 a.m. for a casual tour, or call to arrange a visit that includes a cheese tasting and even goat milking. Then stop at the Kula Country Farms stand on Kula Highway (Route 37) before heading up Kekaulike (Route 377) to Ali‘i Kula Lavender Farm on Waipoli Road. There, you can wander the fragrant fields on your own and enjoy lavender tea and scones, or call ahead for a guided tour.
Back on Kula Highway, head south past tiny Keokea to Ulupalakua Ranch for a burger of elk or Maui Cattle Company beef at the Ranch Store. Across the road, sample wines at Tedeschi Vineyards’ tasting room (located in the cottage built a century ago for King Kalakaua, a frequent guest). Or head north to Makawao to visit Makawao Mushrooms, where oyster mushrooms grow in an innovative setup near Haleakala Ranch headquarters. Above Makawao, on Olinda Road, Anuhea Protea Farm offers tours of its fourteen planted acres.
Most tours require reservations, and you’re smart to call ahead to be sure the farm’s crops are in season. Take a cooler with ice, so you can buy fresh produce and flowers as you go.
Surfing Goat Dairy: 878-2870, surfinggoatdairy.com
Ali‘i Kula Lavender Farm: 878-3004; aliikulalavender.com
Tedeschi Vineyards: 878-6058, mauiwine.com
Makawao Mushrooms: 298-8480,
Anuhea Protea Farm: 888-325-1988, anuheaflowers.com
