Posted on: Friday, March 8, 2002

Ranchers say rains welcome

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

KAHUA, Hawai'i — Veteran Big Island rancher Herbert "Monty" Richards believes his family spread at Kahua is slowly coming out of a record four-year drought.

"There is a smile on my face," Richards said this week after returning from a survey of his 8,400 acres. "There is some green grass (in the pasture) I haven't seen for a long time."

After decades of operating the historic North Kohala ranch, Richards called the drought the worst he could remember. The toll was a 20 percent or greater reduction in his cattle herd, which now includes 1,700 mother cows — the standard used to measure herd sizes at Hawai'i ranches. In turn, there are fewer calves and they weigh less.

"There is still a terrible income flow because of the drought babies," he said of the underweight calves he and other ranchers were forced to ship to Mainland pastures and feedlots to cope with the drought.

"Everybody is happy now," said Richards, who expects it will take another three months of "decent rain" to finish the rebound and up to three years to rebuild herd sizes.

Nearly three-quarters of Hawai'i's cattle are raised on the Big Island, with the rest on Maui and Kaua'i.

On Kaua'i, which produces a little more than 7 percent of the state's beef, the outlook is most positive because the drought never set in there.

Donn "Curly" Carswell of Princeville Ranch has extended his mother herd count to 220 — a 20 percent boost while some ranchers on other islands have lost up to 25 percent of their cattle.

"We've been pretty lucky on Kaua'i compared with the rest of the state," he said.

Carswell is considering a so-called "natural beef program" to build market demand for grass-fed beef that never leaves the state. Currently, most cattle is shipped to pastures in Canada and the Northwest.

Drought conditions on Maui, where about 13 percent of the state's beef is grown, have not improved as much as on the Big Island.

"It's still dusty," and the situation remains more questionable, said Maui's Sumner Erdman at the 150-year-old 'Ulupalakua ranch on the island's southwestern slopes.

"We may be in better shape now, but we are still hurting," he said. The size of his herd dropped from 2,500 to 2,000 mother cows.

Erdman was disappointed to be working in sunshine last month on Maui while listening to weather reports about thundershowers on the Big Island, only 40 miles or so away.

"I could feel different in three months," said Erdman, who simply needs more rain. "It's a good reprieve but a short reprieve," he said.

Richards and other Big Island ranchers remain optimistic that the drought has been broken by four storms in recent months — but there remains some apprehension.

Palani Ranch in North Kona, operated by the James Greenwell family, is trying to rebound from four years of herd reduction on its 20,00 acres. James S. Greenwell said his pastures remain considerably dry. Although there is some green grass appearing this week, it may not be enough to sustain his 3,500-cow herd.

However, he judges the situation as being "significantly better."

The cow herd has been diminished at Parker Ranch, the state's biggest at 225,000 acres, by 23 percent from 22,000 mother cows in 1997 to 17,000 now.

Michael "Corky" Bryan, vice president of livestock for the ranch, said the drought exceeds anything he has experienced in 30 years of Big Island ranching. But "it's just perfect at this moment," he said.

However, Bryan stressed that his pastures to the west and makai remain in need of water. "We have a lot of green grass but it will depend on the next few months of rain."

Bryan, who formerly ran the Pu'uwa'awa'a Ranch in North Kona, said if winds are slow and more moisture arrives he looks for a good summer and fall. But he said it may take five years before the herd size is replenished.