Connecting Learning, Life and Aloha
‘O ka ‘imi na‘auao, ke ola a me ke aloha kā kākou e huliāmahi ai

College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management, Koleke Mahiʻai, Kālaiululāʻau, a Hoʻokele Kumuwaiwai Kūlohelohe

Farm Supported Programs

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Background

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo (UH Hilo) farm laboratory is located 5 miles from the main campus in Panaewa, Hawaiʻi. The 110-acre farm is used primarily for UH Hilo/ CAFNRM courses to provide students with a unique opportunity for hands-on learning. "Learning by doing" allows students to connect lecture-based information with practical subject-based experiences. The farm also supports local applied research activities and outreach with substantial community engagement.

Supported Programs

Animal Health and Management

This track of study provides students with a variety of animal science courses related to health and management. All of the courses are aimed at giving students hands-on experiences working with livestock through farm laboratory activities. The courses emphasize safe and confident animal handling and good animal husbandry practices.

The Animal Science areas at the UH Hilo farm consists of:

  1. Horse arena and barns
  2. Goat and cattle barns
  3. Swine facility

A haltered cow

Goats by the fence

A pig snout closeup

Example Courses

ANSC 351 Swine Production (3)

Hands-on activity: Piglet processing ANSC 353 Horse Production (3)

Hands-on activity: Lameness observation and evaluation ANSC 357 Ruminant Production Systems (3)

Hands-on activity: Cattle artificial insemination

Two big pigs

Beekeeping

A hive of bees is examined by students

UH Hilo has been recognized by the media, public, and state Senate for its efforts to bring greater awareness to the honey bee, an important and vital pollinator of many crops. The Beekeeping Certificate helps to recognize the level of achievement in beekeeping gained by UH Hilo students and will assist them in future career positions.

The bee areas at the UH Hilo farm consists of:

  1. a one-acre bee garden, Mapuhonehone
  2. a giant hive that visitors can enter with all the basic parts of a hive to experience being a bee
  3. a honey bucket that contains a colony of bees. Visitors can observe a honey colony at work or a beekeeper tending to the colony
  4. two apiaries (collection of hives)

Example Courses

ENTO 262 Intro Beekeeping (3)

Hands-on activity: Honey extraction

ENTO 350 Advanced Beekeeping (3)

Hands-on activity: Inspecting a hive for diseases and pests

AG 205 Value Ad Prod & Post Harv Hand (3)

Hands-on activity: Mystery Ingredient Challenge; harvesting a commodity from the farm and developing it into a value-added product

A closeup of a Beehive

Horticulture/Agroecology

A student poses next to his Kalo plantings The undergraduate Tropical Agroecology specialization is designed to provide an opportunity for students interested in tropical crop science or a plant-related field to have access to selected courses or topics in their area of interest. The curriculum is structured to offer a well-rounded undergraduate education emphasizing the long-term sustainability of our managed crop production systems and the surrounding ecosystems.

Hydroponic lettuce is grown in the greenhouse

The Horticulture areas at the UH Hilo farm consists of:

  1. 3 Greenhouses
  2. Fields
  3. Orchards
  4. Gardens and raised bed plots

Dr. Marahatta explains the culture regimen for hydroponic lettuce

Example Courses

Hands-on activity: Building compost pile from organic wastes from farm
Hands-on activity: Production of anthuriums and orchids
HORT 262 Princ Of Hort (3)

Hands-on activity: Honey extraction
HORT 263 Hydroponics and Vegetables (3)

Hands-on activity: Continuous leafy greens production in non-circulating systems
AG 263 Composting and Vermicomposting (3)

Hands-on activity: Management of greenhouses and shade houses raising ornamentals and fruit trees

Extension outreach activity

Farm Maps