Drought now covers half of state

Although frequent rain has returned to parts of Hawaii, more than half the state remains in drought.

Federal agricultural officials expect the drought to continue and intensify in many leeward areas of the state through October, with the likelihood it may spread.

Domestic water supplies throughout the state seem in fairly good shape, but some farmers and ranchers who rely upon rain for their pastures and crops are making some difficult decisions.

Ponoholo Ranch Ltd. owner Pono von Holt said rainfall for several years has been half of normal in the northwest area of Hawaii island and he’s had to reduce his herd by 25 percent, or 1,200 head.

"We’ve never seen anything like this in our history," said von Holt, whose family has been ranching for more than 80 years.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 54 percent of Hawaii is in a drought, compared with about 21 percent a year ago, the Associated Press reported. Some areas are suffering from "extreme" drought, including the south leeward side of Maui, a northwest section of Hawaii island and west Molokai, according to the National Weather Service.

The Waimanalo irrigation system on Oahu was under a 10 percent conservation measure, and the Molokai irrigation system was under a mandatory 30 percent reduction.

Ranchers are facing higher than normal prices for mainland feed and hay because of drought conditions nationally.

The windward sides of the islands are faring better, with rainfall at or just below normal, said National Weather Service hydrologist Kevin Kodama.

"It’s raining, but not as much as it usually does," he said.

But not so on the leeward sides.

On Maui’s leeward slope, Ulupalakua Ranch President Sumner Erdman said his family’s ranch once used pineapple skins for supplemental feed, but that option is no longer available as a result of the closure of Maui Pineapple Co.’s cannery.

"We’re in bad shape," Erdman said. "We’re running out of feed pretty quickly."

Erdman, whose pastures cover 18,000 acres, said rainfall for the 12-month period ending in July was 14.76 inches — the second lowest level since record-keeping began in 1925.

He said the ranch has been in a drought since 2009 and has reduced its breeding cows to 1,500 from 2,300.

"If something doesn’t break pretty soon, that number will not stay where it is," he said.

Some relatively new businesses are facing major hurdles.

Surfing Goat Dairy co-owner Thomas Kafsack said the drought has gotten so bad at his Maui pasture the goats are giving less milk and there are bare patches of land where nothing is growing.

"Even with irrigation around the clock, our pastures are breaking up," said Kafsack, whose 40-acre boutique operation sells goat cheese and truffles.

"We have to buy much more fresh grass, hay and grains," he said. "The price for grains and hay is very high and it’s getting higher and higher."

Kafsack said he’s thinking of moving his herd to a pasture in Haiku, where the rain has been falling and the pastures are green.

But he fears his goats may be stolen as some of them were at his farm last year.

He said he’s had the dairy for about 10 years and pastures have never been as dry.

"I don’t know what happened," he said.

Maui truck farmer Benny Yamamoto, who grows Maui onions and tomatoes, said the drought is worse than several years ago and his farm has had less than 2 inches of rain this year, forcing him to irrigate around the clock and pay a 30 percent to 40 percent higher water bill.

"We didn’t have much rain through winter," Yamamoto said. "It just continued through spring and into summer."

Von Holt, whose family ranch has been in operation since 1928, said the drought is an accumulation of seven dry years and has been worse than the Dust Bowl years of 1931-35.

He said the ranch has reduced its herd and is so dry it’s going to take more than a good rain to pull it out of a drought.

"It’s going to take a normal year, or wetter than normal year, or two to get out of this thing," he said. "But we’re optimistic. One thing about weather is it always changes."