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Expo exhibits farm tools
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| Leif Ringstad, general sales manager for Maruyama U.S., of Texas, demonstrates the use of the firm’s mister/duster by misting a stand of bananas recently at the M. Kawamura Farm Expo at Pua Loke. Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island |
By Dennis Fujimoto - The Garden Island
PUA LOKE — Instead of rain, corn fell out of the skies Friday at the M. Kawamura Farm Enterprises and Garden Expo.
The corn was the dry agent used to demonstrate a Maruyama mister/duster, operated by Leif Ringstad of Denton, Texas, the general sales manager for Maruyama U.S.
Ringstad was just one of several visiting dignitaries representing some of the major lines of equipment being sold by the family enterprise in Pua Loke.
“With the return to backpack agriculture, the use of these types of equipment allows the small operators to enjoy the same kind of benefits being enjoyed by the big operations,” Ringstad said while firing up the mister/duster.
Instead of using the normal dry fertilizer that is distributed by the piece of equipment resembling a backpack blower, Ringstad used corn to demonstrate the machine’s effectiveness.
Another unit had water that Ringstad used to mist papaya and banana that were growing around the farm facility in Pua Loke.
“With the high cost of organic fertilizer and chemicals, these units allow the user more precision with less waste,” Ringstad said. “The mister/duster is used by taro farmers to more effectively distribute fertilizer to their crops.”
Maruyama, whose headquarters are in Japan, has long been a producer of equipment that helps small farm operators, one of its pieces being a water pump fashioned in the form of a brush cutter that allows the operator to draw water from an irrigation ditch for watering smaller crop beds.
With the emphasis on green industry and the environment, Mat Rocheleau of Michigan, one of the RedMax, said their line of power equipment, built to commercial-grade, outdoor specifications, run better due to improving the technology that goes into the manufacturing of engines.
“Better engine technology results in less emissions, more horsepower, less fuel consumption to get the job done, and smaller engines for less weight,” Rocheleau said.
The Strato-Charged engines that power a variety of equipment, were introduced in 1998, and generate 15-20 percent more horsepower and consume less fuel when compared to a typical 4-stroke engine, or 4-stroke hybrid engines of the same engine displacement size, states the RedMax Web site.
Additionally, a lightweight machine that is easy to maintain emits fewer emissions and generates up to 20 percent greater fuel efficiency.
New to this year’s expo, Rocheleau had a reciprocating head on a brush cutter, a model that was introduced several years ago by Maruyama and still in its product lineup.
“We’ve found that a dedicated reciprocating head unit is versatile enough that users can cut through heavy grass and small trees,” Rocheleau said.
Other major equipment manufacturers on hand included Echo, Shindaiwa, Kubota and Toro.
Ed Kawamura, proprietor of the M. Kawamura Farm Enterprises, founded by his dad, Mac Kawamura, said one of the new products for growing this year includes the Farmyard Blend distributed by Kellogg Garden products.
“You can’t get this much fertilizer for under $10,” Kawamura said. “The product is a blend of farm manures derived from dairy, steer, chicken and poultry waste, forest humus and rice hulls. The secret is the rice hulls.”
Meanwhile, Frank Pierce of Lockeford, Calif., was admiring the specimen of parsley grown in a recycled bathtub using the Kellogg Soil Building Compost as its primary growing medium.
“This product has compost that helps break up soil and help the plant with root development,” Kawamura said. “And, if you have a bathtub handy, don’t bring it to the landfill. You can plant stuff in it.”
As the whir of power equipment punctuated the air filled with the fluttering of manufacturer banners, Ringstad said, “The chickens are going to love me with all this corn I’m spreading around.”
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
The corn was the dry agent used to demonstrate a Maruyama mister/duster, operated by Leif Ringstad of Denton, Texas, the general sales manager for Maruyama U.S.
Ringstad was just one of several visiting dignitaries representing some of the major lines of equipment being sold by the family enterprise in Pua Loke.
“With the return to backpack agriculture, the use of these types of equipment allows the small operators to enjoy the same kind of benefits being enjoyed by the big operations,” Ringstad said while firing up the mister/duster.
Instead of using the normal dry fertilizer that is distributed by the piece of equipment resembling a backpack blower, Ringstad used corn to demonstrate the machine’s effectiveness.
Another unit had water that Ringstad used to mist papaya and banana that were growing around the farm facility in Pua Loke.
“With the high cost of organic fertilizer and chemicals, these units allow the user more precision with less waste,” Ringstad said. “The mister/duster is used by taro farmers to more effectively distribute fertilizer to their crops.”
Maruyama, whose headquarters are in Japan, has long been a producer of equipment that helps small farm operators, one of its pieces being a water pump fashioned in the form of a brush cutter that allows the operator to draw water from an irrigation ditch for watering smaller crop beds.
With the emphasis on green industry and the environment, Mat Rocheleau of Michigan, one of the RedMax, said their line of power equipment, built to commercial-grade, outdoor specifications, run better due to improving the technology that goes into the manufacturing of engines.
“Better engine technology results in less emissions, more horsepower, less fuel consumption to get the job done, and smaller engines for less weight,” Rocheleau said.
The Strato-Charged engines that power a variety of equipment, were introduced in 1998, and generate 15-20 percent more horsepower and consume less fuel when compared to a typical 4-stroke engine, or 4-stroke hybrid engines of the same engine displacement size, states the RedMax Web site.
Additionally, a lightweight machine that is easy to maintain emits fewer emissions and generates up to 20 percent greater fuel efficiency.
New to this year’s expo, Rocheleau had a reciprocating head on a brush cutter, a model that was introduced several years ago by Maruyama and still in its product lineup.
“We’ve found that a dedicated reciprocating head unit is versatile enough that users can cut through heavy grass and small trees,” Rocheleau said.
Other major equipment manufacturers on hand included Echo, Shindaiwa, Kubota and Toro.
Ed Kawamura, proprietor of the M. Kawamura Farm Enterprises, founded by his dad, Mac Kawamura, said one of the new products for growing this year includes the Farmyard Blend distributed by Kellogg Garden products.
“You can’t get this much fertilizer for under $10,” Kawamura said. “The product is a blend of farm manures derived from dairy, steer, chicken and poultry waste, forest humus and rice hulls. The secret is the rice hulls.”
Meanwhile, Frank Pierce of Lockeford, Calif., was admiring the specimen of parsley grown in a recycled bathtub using the Kellogg Soil Building Compost as its primary growing medium.
“This product has compost that helps break up soil and help the plant with root development,” Kawamura said. “And, if you have a bathtub handy, don’t bring it to the landfill. You can plant stuff in it.”
As the whir of power equipment punctuated the air filled with the fluttering of manufacturer banners, Ringstad said, “The chickens are going to love me with all this corn I’m spreading around.”
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
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