Isle cattle ranchers invited to join grass-fed beef venture

Hawaii’s largest ranch and an investment firm partner are looking for other local ranch operators to join a grass-feed beef production venture.

Parker Ranch and Ulupono Initiative announced their interest in having other Hawaii ranches become part of Paniolo Cattle Co.

The two companies formed Paniolo Cattle in 2014 to produce grass-fed beef at Parker Ranch. The venture was started with 1,400 head of cattle after testing at the 130,000-acre ranch on Hawaii island. Recently, the herd has been between 2,500 and 3,000 animals.

“After seven years of success, and five years of a statewide market presence, we would like to invite other producers on each island to join the program,” Dutch Kuyper, Parker Ranch president and a Paniolo Cattle board member, said in a statement.

Paniolo Cattle representatives have characterized the venture as an opportunity to help Hawaii’s ranching industry go from a struggling model, in which many calves are shipped to the mainland for finishing, to a thriving model that raises animals on grass for the local market using techniques that include rotating and irrigating pastures.

Parker Ranch operates a cow-calf operation with approximately 10,000 mother cows bred once a year, and most calves are exported to the mainland.

Under an expansion of the Paniolo Cattle brand to ranches on other islands, more locally raised grass-fed beef would be available to Hawaii consumers.

“This move will increase access to locally raised beef for local communities,” Murray Clay, Ulupono president and a Paniolo Cattle board member, said in a statement. “During the pandemic, it’s become abundantly clear that a self-sufficient food system is critical to food security and resilience. We also wanted to demonstrate that the available forage was capable of resulting in healthy market cattle with the quality and consistency necessary to build a 52-week, year-round program.”