Emma Bello always loved animals. Growing up in Wahiawa with a family with a strong farming background — her aunt has a cow dairy in Tillamook, Ore., and her grandparents owned Petersons’ Upland Farm — Bello was usually surrounded by chickens, dogs and rabbits.

“I didn’t go out during the weekends with my friends; I grew up really family oriented,” she says. “Being with animals and farming was kind of in my blood, so for me to fall in love with goats was a no-brainer.

“I always say starting this farm was meant to be; it’s my passion in life,” she adds. “I’m working with my family, which I always loved, so this is a win-win.”

Bello is the current owner of Sweet Land Farm, Oahu’s only certified commercial goat dairy farm. The 86-acre property is home to roughly 350 goats, which includes goat moms, dads and kids.

“The number fluctuates because the goats have babies; it changes every year,” Bello explains.

This week was a big one for the farm, which just started opening to the public on both Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Prior to the pandemic, Sweet Land Farm was only open for tours by appointments.

“We were doing tours twice a week — business and church groups, community nonprofits, public and private schools,” Bello says. “Right before COVID, we opened to the public, but we had to shut down once the pandemic hit. We reopened about four months ago, just on Saturdays because of our schedules. We’re a family-run farm; we don’t have the funds to employ people to run the tours.”

During the paid tours visitors are led through the different barns — the rapid-exit milking parlor, which can milk up to 16 goats in a few minutes, is especially impressive — and learn how the cheese is made. They also feed the goats and see the aging room, which can hold nearly 1,000 cheese wheels. Paid tours are currently available on a first-come, first-served basis and start at 10 a.m. Visitors can also embark on free, self-guided tours and purchase alfalfa to feed the goats.

Whether you do a paid tour or a free one, interacting with the goats is a unique experience.

“They’re all so different and personable; that’s how I fell in love with them,” Bello says. “People have their own way of feeding the goats, and they get a kick out of it. It makes you smile and laugh if you’re having a bad day.”

Bello was in the middle of culinary school when her career path took a different turn (at the time, she was an aspiring pastry chef). She initially wanted to work for Naked Cow Dairy Farm, but they weren’t hiring.

“My mom found Surfing Goat Dairy on Maui, and they did internships,” she says. “I worked there for three months; by the third month, I realized I didn’t want to be a pastry chef anymore. I wanted to raise goats.

I stayed there for a year and got more involved with the business. Toward the end, we were looking for properties here on Oahu; we were lucky to find this one.”

The farm officially opened in 2010, but Bello says it took some time for her to finalize its name.

“Since this used to be pineapple land, that’s where we got ‘sweet,’” she says. “The goats are helping the land by fertilizing it, so we thought ‘Sweet Land Farm’ was fitting.

“Starting this farm was a huge investment,” Bello adds. “We grow alfalfa to feed the goats on either side of the property. We had to grow the amount of acres to feed them, but now, we’re self-sufficient.”

A goat’s typical lifespan is 15-20 years, according to Bello, who says the Sweet Land Farm goats are bred once a year and milked for 10 months out of the year. Even though the farm was closed during the pandemic last year, the milking process didn’t cease.

“We didn’t stop milking the goats or throw away milk,” Bello says. “It was hard; I lost my hotel and restaurant clients. Some nonprofits got grants to feed the public, so we discounted our cheeses, sold it to them and packaged it up for them. The nonprofits were able to put it in boxes to give to the public, and that helped us to get rid of some of the cheese in the aging rooms. The three nonprofits we worked with bought more than 2,000 pounds of cheese.”

Sweet Land Farms currently sells cheese — chèvre, tomme, feta and Gouda — and you can also find its products at stores like Kokua Market Natural Foods. You can also find its cheeses at select restaurants like et al.

“We’re always looking for more places to sell because we have so much cheese,” Bello says. “At our farm store, we sell picnic trays with a little of each cheese.

The roasted garlic chèvre is the most popular flavor.”

While Sweet Land Farm always sold cheese, it only started offering gelato about a month ago. Bello says they started experimenting with recipes last year with KCC’s culinary students.

“Flavors change every week; we’ve done vanilla, burnt caramel and lemon blackberry,” she says. “We put leftover gelato into pints so people can purchase those.

“I also make chèvre lemon bars; we freeze the leftovers and fold them into a lemon gelato,” she adds.

In the coming weeks, farm visitors can anticipate cold brew coffee, a new overhang covering in the barn patio, and new gelato flavors.

“We’ve never done coffee before, but we’re working with Honolulu Coffee to have cold brew available,” Bello confirms. “We’ll also be working on fall gelato flavors like pumpkin crunch made with local pumpkin.”

As the farm approaches its 11-year anniversary, Bello looks forward to more people getting to experience what Sweet Land has to offer.

“A lot of people don’t know we’re here,” she says. “Supporting local farms became more important during the pandemic, and I think the public realized that.

“It’s great to see people come out to the farm, laugh and enjoy themselves.”

Sweet Land Farm

65-1031 Kaukonahua Rd.
Friday 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Saturday 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Instagram/Facebook: @sweetlandfarmhawaii