94-year-old Charley Nii has run Charles Nii Nursery for the past 60-years.
"Creating all this stuff over here it was a lot of hard work," says Charles Nii.
His son Glenn has taken over most of the family's farm of landscape plants, trees and flowers.
"We have roughly a little over 6 acres, I'm utilizing about 3 acres right now," says Glenn Nii.
For the past 38-years his family and a dozen other farms have been paying a set lease rent to Kamehameha Schools- Bishop Estate of about 15-dollars/acre/month.
In July, that old rental rate expired. As part of their rent renegotiation, Kamehameha Schools- Bishop Estate offered they now pay 434-dollars/acre/month. And the right to reside on the the property.
"We wouldn't survive if they pushed them up so high," says Charles Nii.
"It would be a sad day for him, to see it go. Because he built this thing up," says Glenn Nii.
To protest the rent increase Kamilonui Farmers put down their rakes and shovels for picket signs.
"We want an affordable rent. Yeah we know the rent needs to be increased and we're willing to pay it but raise it 25-times than what it is now is totally unaffordable," says Judy Nii, R & S Nii Nursery, Inc.
Kamehameha Schools- Bishop Estate says "We have been meeting with the farmers since March. We have given them several extensions of time". But they say time is up.
Farmers still want to negotiate.
"At this point we're just trying to fight for our lives," says Glenn Nii.
Kamehameha Schools- Bishop Estate says "we still believe our expired offer was fair". And they are now headed for arbitration to resolve the dispute.
