Posted on: Friday, April 23, 2004

Greener pastures slowing cattle sales

By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer

Timely rains and greener pastures on the Big Island have led to fewer cattle exports to start the year as ranchers opt to keep their cows in Hawai'i longer.

Grass-feeding the cattle longer in the Islands, rather than a fallout from the discovery of mad cow disease in North America last December, is behind a big drop in exports through February, said Corkey Bryan, vice president for livestock operations at Parker Ranch.

Through February, exports of Hawai'i cattle are down 45 percent from a year ago while overall sales of cattle are off 35 percent at 4,500 head, according to preliminary figures released this week by the Hawaii Agricultural Statistics Service.

Bryan said initial concerns about a drop in demand following the discovery of the fatal, brain-wasting illness were overblown.

"You just didn't know what the perception was going to be," when a cow in Washington state was found infected with the disease in December. That led to immediate bans on U.S. beef exported to several foreign markets and concerns that cattle producers would lose their hides.

Today, however, prices are firm and "demand is good," Bryan said. "It's a non-issue."

Instead, Hawai'i cattle producers are benefitting from rain that has kept pastures in good condition.

"We haven't seen this kind of rain in 10 years, maybe longer," Bryan said.

Each week that ranchers are able to keep cattle in Hawai'i saves money, especially if pasture conditions reduce the need for nutritional supplements, said Nils Morita, an agriculture research statistician.

"If you can feed them here longer then the costs will be cheaper" because that reduces time spent feeding on the Mainland, he said. "Every week saves some money."

Cattle are usually sent to states such as Oregon and Washington to bulk up with feed before they are slaughtered because of the expense of shipping cattle food to Hawai'i.

Parker Ranch, the state's largest cattle producer, hopes to make up the early-year dip in cattle exports once seasonal demand picks up heading into summer.

Jason Moniz, program manger for livestock disease control for the state Department of Agriculture, agreed that cattle sales likely will pick up in the months following February.

Given the greener pastures, ranchers also may be holding off on selling heifers — young females — in an effort to regenerate their stock, he said.

"It's a little bit of everything, but I know there was a definite pause" in sales in January, Moniz said. "That has definitely worked itself out."

Reach Sean Hao at 525-8093 or shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.