Here’s another example of local businesses working to be more self-sufficient. With the rising costs of fuel and the ripple effect, Hawai‘i will need to continue to work at finding ways to break our dependence on outside resources.
Local grinds for isle cows
By Bret Yager
Tribune-Herald Staff Writer
Dairy tries to beat the cost of corn — by growing its own
In a time of soaring shipping costs, Island Dairy has a plan for keeping the cows content while reducing its use of imported grains.
The Ookala farm of 500 milk cows is harvesting its first 50-acre crop of feed corn, and plans to have 200 acres of the grain growing under an ambitious expansion program. The farm also has another 35 acres of sorghum, alfalfa and peanuts growing in experimental plots.
“I figure we spend $1.6 million a year buying feed from the mainland. We’ll be able to cut half of that out,” said Scott Tripp, an Island Dairy consultant who specializes in making such farms profitable.
The farm is the first on the island to experiment with cost control by growing its own feed. Currently, about 500 milking cows produce around 1,300 gallons of milk a day at the Hamakua dairy.
Tripp plans to expand the number of cows and the amount of feed crops to “whatever the land can sustain.” That should result in increased milk production, he said.
The regimen includes fertilization and intense pasture rotations.
“With pasture improvements, correct fencing and water management, we could milk 1,200 cows here,” Tripp said. “There is so much potential here.”
Island Dairy – along with Cloverleaf Dairy in Hawi – is one of the two surviving dairies in the state.
Jeri Kahana, commodities branch manager for the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, and state Rep. Clift Tsuji were on hand for the inaugural corn harvest Tuesday.
“Feed costs have escalated,” Kahana said. “In order for them to stay in business, they have to look at changing the way they farm. They’re really going full on to try to make the farm more profitable and more sustainable.”
“To me, this is very historical that a farmer can grow his own feed on his own property,” Kahana said.
Only one other farm has done anything like it. A dairy on Oahu contracted in 2007 to have a distant neighbor grow corn. That was before the last Oahu dairy folded last year, Kahana said.
The price of fuel has greatly impacted the cost of shipping feed, Tsuji said. On top of that, the cost of corn has risen sharply due to increased demand for the product to be used in ethanol.
“This is value-added in terms of minimizing expenses,” said Tsuji, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. “This is the kind of entrepreneurship that needs to be looked into for long-term sustainability.”
The cost of feed can get steep when cows are munching 60 pounds of grains, alfalfa and molasses a day. Shipping for a ton of alfalfa alone is $120, Tripp said. Instead, the corn will be ground up – leaves, stalks, ears and all – and turned into a nutritious feed called silage.
“We’ll be able to cut out a lot of alfalfa and some of the grain,” Tripp said.
He’s not sure how much of the peanuts, sorghum and alfalfa he’ll grow at Island Dairy. It depends on what other feed sources – bakery leftovers or macadamia nut hulls – he can find.
“Whatever it takes. As long as it’s local,” he said. “I just don’t want to import anything. I want our cows to eat Hawaiian.”
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