2022-2023 Crop Report
HPR The Conversation- with Kona Coffee Farmers’ President Suzanne Shriner
Local coffee farmers brace for yields up to 40% lower than usual
Hawaii Public Radio | By Catherine Cruz
Published September 13, 2022 at 4:27 PM HST
The Kona Coffee Farmers Association says the Hawaiʻi coffee industry is bracing for what could be one of their worst years for production. That will likely mean higher prices for coffee drinkers as well.
On Hawaiʻi Island, some farmers say their crop yields are down 30% to 40%. Part of the trouble involves coffee leaf rust and the coffee berry borer beetle.
But heat and drought have been a big factor this year, according to Suzanne Shriner, head of the association.
“We’ve seen that in Kona and Kāʻu in particular, it’s been a very dry year. We didn’t get our usual summer afternoon rains, which has brought the harvest in a little bit early because it’s been hotter than usual,” Shriner told The Conversation.
“We’re struggling a bit with it on all ends. The harvest started in July and will continue through roughly December. July is early. In a normal year, we’d start harvesting in late August or early September, but nothing is normal anymore with the weather patterns. Everything is moving around on us. It’s been a problem,” Shriner said.
Shriner said her members are still gathering research on the impact of climate change on Hawaiʻi’s coffee crop.
(what has affected smithfarms the most): “We also had a particularly tough time last year with coffee leaf rust, which defoliated a number of our trees, which reduced yields again. So our trees are having a tough year overall,” she said. “We jokingly like to call it ‘farmageddon’ because it always seems like something new is hitting farmers.”