Ralph and Norma Booker of Plymouth, Ind., and another tourist look at a mated pair of seahorses at the Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm on the Big Island.
A seahorse wraps its tail around the finger of Earl Robertson, Linton, Ind.
Mark McKinney (left) of Tipton, Ind., and Gary Geswein, Palmyra, Ind., get up close with a bunch of bananas at the Wailea Agricultural Group on the Big Island.
Earl and Carolyn Robertson, Linton, Ind., with Ali’i, owner of Ali’i Kula Lavender Farm on Maui.
Ali’i, owner of the Ali’i Kula Lavender Farm, greets guests during lunch at the Lavender Farm, prepared with culinary lavender.
The Island of Maui is one giant photo opportunity. Left to right, Donya Lester, executive secretary of the Ag Alumni Association; Norma and Ralph Booker, Plymouth, Ind.; and Don Huff, Indianapolis, found this spot somewhere between the airport and the hotel.
Ag Alumni Executive Secretary Donya Lester and Gary Geswein, Palmyra, Ind., watch their step at a Volcanoes National Park lava flow on the Big Island.
Mark McKinney, Tipton, Ind., gets a close look at A’a lava, which resembles freshly turned dirt, but is much harder.
A tour guide at the Kona Coffee Living History Farm demonstrates a wooden saddle used on burros to carry coffee bags. Joe Gerencser (left to right), son, Gary, of Milford, Ind., and Carolyn Robertson, Linton, Ind., look on.
Retired faculty member Bruce McKenzie (left), Lafayette, Ind., gets a look at some antique coffee-making equipment along with Joe Gerencser and Carolyn Robertson, Linton, Ind.
Bob Cooper (left), owner of the Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory, gives the group a tour of his cacao groves on the Big Island.
Tracie Matsumoto, a USDA scientist who earned her PhD at Purdue in 1999, helped make tour arrangements on the Big Island. She is shown with Dean of Agriculture Randy Woodson and his wife, Susan.
Wailea Agricultural Group co-owner Mike Crow (left), processes fresh Hearts of Palm into samples for Dean Randy Woodson, Gary Geswein, Palmyra, Ind., and Joe Gerencser, Milford, Ind.
The durian fruit in Ralph Booker’s hand is said to be an aphrodisiac. But most in the group could not get past the bitter taste, described by one traveler as "like eating a crème brûlée in an outhouse."
Francis Zee (right), a USDA researcher, discusses his lychee fruit-pruning experiment at the Wailea Agricultural Group.
The group got to pick lemons with Wailea Agricultural Group co-owner Lesley Hill (center).
Jim Reddekopp, owner of the Hawaiian Vanilla Co. on the Big Island, shows off vanilla orchid plants grown in greenhouses.
Microgreens grown in small plots at the Hawaiian Vanilla Co. are shipped to gourmet restaurants and shops.
A portion of the group poses for a photo at the Waipio Valley Overlook on the Big Island.