Bayer Hawaii is pleased to announce that its bi-monthly radio program, Sustaining Hawaii, will return for its third season in 2022. Launched on Jan. 8, 2020, Sustaining Hawaii is a public platform for the men and women who live and work in Hawaii’s agriculture industry to share their stories and have meaningful dialogue about the industry’s most pressing challenges and what’s being done to overcome them.

Over the last two years, Sustaining Hawaii has covered a wide range of topics from food safety and drought mitigation to COVID-19 impacts and has featured more than 25 guests from various local organizations, such as the Hawaii Agricultural Foundation, Hawaii Farm Bureau, Hawaii Food Bank, Hawaii Food Service Alliance, Institute for Human Services, Sensei Ag and more.

“Our commitment to community and transparency is of the utmost importance to Bayer and we value public platforms like our Sustaining Hawaii radio program which provides opportunities to not only share information about what we do in Hawaii, but what others in the industry are doing as well,” said Rich Meiers, Digital Communications Manager at Bayer Hawaii. “We’re grateful to KHVH, Rick Hamada and our many partners and guests who have made this show the success that it is today.”

For the next 12 months, KHVH host Rick Hamada will continue to sit down with local farmers, community leaders, and industry movers and shakers to take an even closer look at the current state and future of Hawaii's agriculture industry, by covering topics such as the Ag Park at Kunia, Food Production, Sustaining Maui Ag.

“Sustaining Hawaii is relevant, topical, and educational while providing support and advocacy to this critical industry. We’re able to gain insight to the challenges and, yes, the victories of our friends and neighbors who are farmers, ranchers, and others who comprise this wonderous community,” said Rick Hamada, host of KHVH. "I’d like to thank Bayer for the opportunity to be a part of Sustaining Hawaii and I'm looking forward to furthering the community’s understanding and appreciation of agriculture in our state and beyond.”

Sustaining Hawaii kicked off its third season on Jan. 5, 2022 with a one-hour interview with the Dean of the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR), Dr. Nicholas Comerford. He shared information about CTAHR’s cooperative extension service which supports the local farming industry through education and resources. He also shared his take on what the current obstacles are and what can be done to create a farming industry that is self-sustaining.

“We have potential, but we have a long way to go,” said Dr. Comerford. “There are a variety of obstacles that have to be overcome, that in many ways are unique to Hawaii. We have to pay attention to the areas that we have control over - how we manage our farms and how we reduce our inputs to make our farms more sustainable.”

Listen to the complete interview with Dean Comerford HERE.

Sustaining Hawaii airs from 9-10 a.m. on the first and third Wednesday of the month on News Radio 830 KHVH.