The USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service in Cooperation with the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture has released a report on the results of the Hawaiʻi Agricultural Theft and Vandalism survey for 2019.
The total value of theft and vandalism losses, as well as security costs, from Hawaiʻi farms is estimated at $14.4 million or 10 percent of the total of the 2018 net farm income of $142 million estimated by USDA, Economic Research Service. For 2019, Hawaiʻi County had the second highest rate of theft and vandalism in the state, at 15 percent of state total. Hawaiʻi County reported the highest cost attributed to security measures at $7.78 million.
Just six percent of respondents statewide were familiar with and completed the Department of Agriculture's ownership and movement certificates which were designed to deter agricultural theft.
Department of Research and Development Agriculture Program
