Hawai'i farmers went to state lawmakers yesterday to tell them agriculture is in trouble.

Hawai'i Farm Bureau Federation president Dean Okimoto read through a list of at least five individual farms that have closed in the past year. They produced a variety of products: cabbage, other vegetables, papaya, macadamia nuts and eggs.

At a time when the state is internationally recognized for diverse Hawai'i cuisine reliant on fresh produce, Okimoto said farmers need help to stay in business. Yet, farmer after farmer explained recent struggles with drought, high fuel prices and competition from cheaper imports.

Richard Ha, president of Hamakua Springs on the Big Island, talked about the potential for farms to develop energy-producing operations alongside their vegetables.

Ha grows apple bananas and tomatoes and is known as a successful farmer. But he said he sensed big trouble this year beginning in March when he heard that farmers weren't buying fertilizer at a time they normally would.

What he found was that farmers feeling the pinch of high fuel and transportation prices felt they couldn't afford the investment. They felt "they can't raise prices" without risking the loss of consumers who are also feeling squeezed, he said.

Eric Tanouye is vice president of Greenpoint Nursery, a Big Island family business that employs 65 people growing anthuriums. He also serves as head of the Hawaii Florists & Shippers Association, representing flower growers from across the state.

He said the booming floral business had grown to a $107 million industry but is seeing signs of struggle with some businesses cutting people, others "on the verge of closing."

Meredith Ching represented Alexander & Baldwin, the state's largest farmer with 35,000 acres in sugar cane at Maui's Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company; and another 3,000 acres of coffee on Kaua'i.

Ching said the company still struggles with some of the same problems as other farmers: including water sources, high prices of fuel and transporting crops from field to market.

She said the company has kept rainfall records since 1925 and found 2008 to be the driest year on record, 35 percent drier than the previous low in 1926.

She said the company partners with other farmers by giving cane tops to ranchers like the Big Island's Buddy Nobriga. And in the marketplace, they have developed specialty sugars.

Chef Alan Wong sat in on the legislative informational hearing because he's concerned about news of farmers in trouble — "serious trouble."

Helping subsidize farmers can help keep prices competitive, Wong said.

Hawai'i has been gaining an international reputation for diverse foods. People here and in other communities are working more to be "locavores" — people who consume foods produced locally.

Wong said consumers can help by asking supermarkets for locally produced foods, by shopping at farmers markets, and by shopping local for holiday gifts.

"These are troubling times for everybody," he said. "Let's try to take care of our own. Everyone's feeling it."

Okimoto said a visitor who has traveled to Hawai'i multiple times wants to eat differently here and knows the difference that fresh food makes. "They'll tell you about eating papaya here versus eating a papaya in California that's grown in Mexico," he said.

Okimoto said he believes that supporting agriculture in turn preserves green space, produces fresh food that can be sold in restaurants and markets boosting tourism and retail while offering the community an opportunity to be more self-sufficient.