2023 Honorees:

Geoff Haines 
For Geoff Haines, island agriculture was his lifelong vocation: from the lo‘i of Keanae, to the vegetable fields of Kula, to becoming one of the largest producers of hydroponic lettuce in the state. Geoff spent his childhood in Kīhei, enjoying the beaches and parks, and was a student at Baldwin High School and Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy, graduating in 1971. While attending Colorado State University, he met his wife Celia. 

After returning to Maui, he began experimenting with farming, and in 1997 helped start a hydroponic lettuce operation to provide Hawai‘i with a locally produced supply of butter lettuce. Over the years, Pacific Produce Inc. grew and expanded into a range of lettuces and leafy greens, today producing up to 15,000 lbs. of specialty lettuces every week. The operation uses quality-enhancing harvesting and packaging innovations, supplying Hawai‘i consumers through both retail outlets and restaurants, and was one of the first farms in Hawai‘i to be food safety certified utilizing GAP (good agricultural practices). Today, Pacific Produce employs 14 full-time workers. Geoff was well known for taking care of his employees, paying wages to meet the high cost of living in Hawai’i and operating a sound business to provide benefits including paid vacations. He was firm believer in balancing work life and enjoying all that is good in life and sharing it with family and friends. 

Throughout his farming career, Geoff was a passionate advocate for local ag, and always willing to lend his support, whether in time or donations, mentoring students, or working with employees or colleagues. A devoted husband, father, grandfather, son, brother and friend, Geoff most enjoyed spending time with his family: wife Celia, daughter Emily Swatek (Ryder); sons William (Rob), and Nathan (Meredith), grandchildren Corey, Tyler, Kaelyn and Kaia; mother Alyce; siblings Kim and Gregg (Virgie), and many nieces and nephews. Geoff passed away in March 2023, but his dedication to quality, care of the land, and love of farming remain as his legacy. 

David Brown
Together with his wife Carol, Ha‘ikū flower grower David Brown creates a world of beauty on Maui’s North Shore. The Browns have been developing the family’s third-generation wholesale nursery Maui Tropicals & Foliage for 44 years. Blossoming in once-depleted pineapple fields, the nursery now produces an amazing year-round display of varieties and colors, with the majority made up of exotic tropical flowers, stunning and massive gingers and heliconias, and a range of tropical foliages. 

The Browns take advantage of Maui’s everyday sunshine and excellent growing conditions, which produce such beautiful colors and vibrant quality. Maui Tropicals & Foliage supplies many of the florists on Maui and protea growers; creates incredible floral designs for special events, conventions and corporate events; and even offers delivery of the very freshest flowers in the Upcountry area. 

With floriculture declining on Maui due to incredible competition from overseas markets, farms like the Browns are critical to keeping this agricultural niche viable. 

William “Bill” Eby 
Local rancher William “Bill” Eby was a lifelong cattleman who managed and worked on six island ranches during his illustrious career. Inducted into the Paniolo Hall of Fame in 2001, Bill was the founder of Pacific Airlift, a business that introduced air transport for horses, cattle and other livestock to and from Hawai‘i. 

Born on Kaua‘i and raised on Maui in Hamakuapoko and Ha‘ikū, Bill spent formative years helping the Grove Ranch cowboys. He knew from a young age that ranching was what he wanted to do. In 1942, after the U.S. Navy took control of Kaho‘olawe, Bill helped to gather all the cattle on the island to ship them to Maui. The cattle were driven to pens along the shoreline, roped and swum out to whale boats, and then hoisted onto a ship headed for Maui. Building on these early experiences with transporting livestock, Bill made a successful lifetime career with a much more efficient method. His business Pacific Airlift allowed ranchers to fly valuable livestock into the state overnight—a huge improvement over bringing them in on stressful, week-long boat journeys. 

Bill ran Honolua Ranch for 31 years and Nahiku Ranch for 10 years. In his later years, he leased Erehwon Ranch in Kula. He had a reputation for being humble and fair, and treating his animals well. Raising his own cattle and buying livestock from other ranchers, his word was always as good as gold. He is responsible for introducing progressive bloodlines of cattle and horses to the islands. 

Bill’s niece Beverly remembers fondly how Uncle Bill would take her around with him to check his pastures and cattle. “He would talk to me about his cows, his horses, and all his experiences,” Beverly says. “I learned and experienced so much from him that was so different from my Honolulu city-life.” 

Bill and his wife Beatrice were married for 59 years until her death in 2006. Bill passed away in 2010, leaving a legacy as a cattleman that continues to serve the agricultural industry. 

Carl “Soot” Bredhoff
To lifelong cattleman Carl “Soot” Bredhoff, ranching is one of the most honorable professions. Soot made his mark on Kaupō Ranch in Hāna and Kahuku Ranch on Hawai‘i Island, improving bloodlines, horse herds, housing and worker relations. 

As Soot showed in his long and varied career, ranch managers not only do it all, they are stewards of the land, and do their best to improve their environment and make the agricultural industry stronger than they found it. 

Born in Honolulu, Soot grew up in a Mānoa Valley of taro patches and hog farms, before the roads were even paved. As a youth, he worked in the pineapple cannery and then later at Hawai‘i Meat Company, where he learned all about cows from the inside out. Although Soot was sure his degree in animal science from Colorado State University would earn him a job, in reality, it was his skill at riding a horse that landed him his first job at Kualoa Ranch. His experience there helped prepare him for a lifetime of ranching. 

From 1967 to 1982, Soot was Kaupō Ranch manager. Along with fulfilling many other tasks within the ranching community, he organized and oversaw renovation of Huialoha Congregational Church in 1978, and again in 2003. His wife Judith was treasurer for 40 years at the little historic seaside church whose pews were always filled with paniolo. 

Soot met Judith, a schoolteacher, when he was sent down to rescue her from a herd of cattle who had invaded her front yard. They had a daughter Sarah and were married for 48 years until Judith passed away in 2016. 

Soot was inducted in the Paniolo Hall of Fame in 2002 and continues to share his stories and dedication to the ranching way of life.

Honorees for 2020 – 2022 include:

• Henry Monden
• The late James C. and Jane Sakugawa of James C. Sakugawa & Sons
• The late Mr. and Mrs. Vida
• The late Mr. and Mrs. Santos

“Honoring our Legacy Farmers is an important part of AgFest and now an important part of the 4-H Livestock Fair as well,” said Warren Watanabe, executive director, Maui County Farm Bureau. “Our agricultural industry on Maui would not exist as we know it without the lasting contributions these folks have made.”

The renamed and expanded Maui AgFest & 4-H Livestock Fair will open in the community the same way as in past years: with an old-fashioned pancake breakfast honoring local farmers for their contributions to our community.

The breakfast is a delicious, island-style way to kick off the festival, serving up a full buffet of bacon, sausage, eggs, juice, pancakes and syrup, along with coffee. The fun morning also offers door prizes including Grown on and Maui produce, products, plants or other.

2019 Honorees

Last year’s Maui Legacy Farmers Pancake Breakfast paid tribute to three Maui champions of agriculture: George “Keoki” Freeland, Arthur DePonte, and Masaru Uradomo.

Arthur DePonte

Arthur Sherman DePonte was born in 1929 in Kula. From the age of 9, he helped his family with their cows, and rode mules, donkeys and horses. From his Uncle Stephen Perreira, later the owner of Factors Ranch, he learned the tools of the trade of the ranching business. From his grandfather and father, Manuel DePonte, Sr. and Jr., both of whom were master saddle makers, he learned the art of making Hawaiian saddles. He personally made 15 Hawaiian stock saddles, decorated with rawhide braiding, over his lifetime. From age 17 to 19, Arthur rode as a jockey in races held at the Kahului Racetrack. When he was 19, Arthur started his own small cattle ranch in Camp Maui, Ha‘iku, and in Kula.

In 1962, he entered into partnership with his brother Ted to acquire the land and stock to start Hale Haku Ranch. Their goal was to introduce and improve the Brangus breed on Maui, and to do so they imported pure breed Brangus bulls and heifers from Yuma, Ariz. The ranch covered approximately 200 leased acres in Keokea, 600 acres at Hale Haku and 80 acres at Kaheka. At its peak, the ranch ran over 600 head of cattle, including 150 brood cows, each of which Arthur knew by name and could tell if one was missing.

After 15 years of ranching, Arthur moved on to operate DePonte Enterprises, continuing to develop his Brangus breed with AI techniques, producing excellent specimens in his small herd. He also bred, trained and showed registered quarter horses, winning blue ribbons.

Now semi-retired, he raises goats and flowers in Kula, where he is well known for his deer jerky, and advises three ranches on the development of their Brangus herds while enjoying more time with his extended family.

George Keoki Freeland

George W. “Keoki” Freeland grew up in Lahaina during the Plantation Era. After graduated from Lahainaluna, he attained a Mechanical Engineering Degree from the University of Notre Dame. He attended the HSPA and Amfac training programs on six different plantations, designing machines and different methods of operation to mechanize field and factory operations.

“I have always enjoyed helping people to make their jobs easier, leading to greater productivity and success,” he says. He worked at O‘ahu Sugar Co. for 21 yrs., and at Pioneer Mill Sugar Co. for 10 years, with job titles that included Mechanical Operations Supervisor, Mechanical Operations Superintendent, Cultivation Superintendent, Irrigation Superintendent, Harvesting Superintendent, and Operations Manager. His proudest career moment came when he was promoted to Vice President & General Manager of Pioneer Mill Sugar Co.

While Amfac was in the process of shutting down Pioneer Mill’s sugar operations in1995, Keoki moved on to a new career as Executive Director of the Lahaina Restoration Foundation. There he led efforts to preserve Lahaina Town’s history, including the Mill’s smokestack, and his family-owned Pioneer Inn, which was built by his grandfather in 1901. He also worked with Friends of Moku‘ula to restore the royal Hawaiian pond. Now retired, Keoki supports his successful artist wife Betty Hay in her business, and also enjoys hunting, hiking and surfing.

His favorite way to enjoy Maui ag? A juicy Lahaina mango.

Masaru Uradomo

Together with his wife Celestine, late Maui farmer Masaru Uradomo began Maui Pickled Products from a Kula onion farm nearly 50 years ago and rose to national fame. A second-generation Maui farmer and founder of M. Uradomo Farms, Masaru was crowned “King of Maui Onions” in a 1977 Los Angeles Times article. The Uradomo family strived to produce the finest Maui onions, even during the winter months, and then found ways to create value-added products using the less perfect onions. By coincidence, Masaru found a book on the road in front of the farm which gave him the idea to pickle the onions without using chemical preservatives common at that time. At first it was one onion flavor, and that grew to three. Remembering some old tsukemono that Masaru’s mother used to make, Masaru and Celestine developed new ideas for products and began to experiment with growing different vegetables on their farm. Eventually, Maui Pickled Products like takuan, nappa zuke, and spiced onion and ogo were added to the mix and became mainstays on market shelves for decades.

After Masaru’s passing in 2012, the Uradomos’ two sons took over the farming and processing company and ran it successfully for many years. Finally, after 49 years of farming and 43 years of value-added food manufacturing, production ended in January 2019. Son Ira remembers the “countless hours and days of experimenting, research and hard work” that his parents put in to make the perfect product, as well as to protect the Maui Onion from infringement by mainland operations, many years before the Maui Onion Growers Association came to fruition.

Past Honorees Include:

2018 Recipients: – Lindy Sutherland of Kaupo Ranch and HC&S; Chuck Boerner of ONO Organic Farm; and the late Dr. Phil Parvin of the College of Tropical Ag and Human Resources.

2017 Recipients: – Doug MacCluer of Maui Pineapple Company and Maui Gold Pineapple Company; Richard “Dick” Cameron of HC&S; Peter Baldwin of Pi‘iholo Ranch; and the late Dr. Wilbert Yee of Yee’s Orchards.

2016 Recipients: – C. Pardee Erdman of Ulupalakua Ranch; David “Buddy” Nobriga of Maui Soda & Ice Works and Nobriga’s Cattle; and Hanako Hashimoto of Hashimoto Persimmon Farm.

Maui AgFest & 4-H Livestock Fair provides a full day of activities, education, crops, animals, games and talk story sessions. Admission is free. Parking is $5 per car in the stadium, baseball field and War Memorial Gym parking lot. Handicap parking is available in the gym lot. Parking is $5 per car at Boys & Girls Club of Maui, Keopulani Park and Baldwin High School. Handicap parking is available in the War Memorial Gym parking lot.