[greenmountin]

TFA says the plantation took a $MM loss on their last sugar harvest, and intends to "diversify". According to another article about the company [0], this diversification is:

"""

• Energy crops: “HC&S has initiated crop trials to evaluate potential sources of feedstock for anaerobic conversion to biogas,” stated the company’s press release. The statement added that HC&S has entered into “preliminary, but confidential, discussions with other bioenergy industry players to explore additional crop-to-energy opportunities.”

• Cattle: As noted above, HC&S is “working with Maui Cattle Company to conduct a grass-finishing pasture trial in 2016.”

• Food crops: “A&B plans to establish an agriculture park on former sugar lands in order to provide opportunities for farmers to access these agricultural lands and support the cultivation of food crops on Maui.” Former company employees would get preference in leasing lots.

"""

[0] http://mauitime.com/news/business/as-the-sun-sets-on-maui-su...

[komali2]

I'm coming in with very little knowledge of Hawaii, but having lived in Taiwan, beef was very expensive compared to back home in Texas because there isn't really any cattle industry on the mountainous island - it's all imported. Wondering if it's the same for Hawaii and thus they stand to make quite a bit of money selling locally? Or shipping to the relatively close Asian/Pacific Islands that also don't have cattle?

[mark242]

Beef is very plentiful on Hawaii - there is a large amount of history about the paniolos, basically cattle ranchers on the Big Island and Maui. Parker Ranch, on the big island, is a huge supplier of beef. http://parkerranch.com/

[Qworg]

Up until the last Parker patriarch gave half the ranch to his workers, it was the third largest producer in the US.

Now it's fifth, IIRC.

Also interesting, the paniolos were the first US cowboys AND they have unique rodeo sports (including my favorite - ranch mugging).

[dnautics]

No. Pretty much the entire big island is a cattle ranch. However beef is expensive in Hawaii because due to state law, cattle must be sent out of state to the abbatoir before it hits your plate. Ranching on Maui probably seeks to take advantage of the infrastructure already available because of operations on the big island.

[underbluewaters]

There are a couple slaughterhouses but most beef consumed on the island is from the mainland. There are no non-grass-fed local options. My understanding is that there just isn't enough land to "finish" the cattle so it's sent to the mainland for fattening up and slaughter. They actually fly a lot of the cattle to Canada.

[greedo]

This doesn't appear to be accurate. Most of the cattle is sent to the mainland due to a lack of slaughterhouses, not due to any law restricting said slaughterhouses.

http://www.hawaiibusiness.com/hawaii-beef-comes-home/

[dnautics]

That is not what I was told at parker ranch! Or possibly I misinterpreted what they said. Thank you for the clarification. I do think that the overall result is more or less the same, instead of being an absolute ban, it's a licensure restriction that limits the number of cows that can be slaughtered locally.

[kinofcain]

There are slaughterhouses on multiple islands, and I can't find anything that states building a new one would be illegal.

At least on Kauai you can often find local beef, pork, and chicken, though it's still more expensive than meat from the mainland.

[derekp7]

Is there some advantage to laws such as this? If not, what would state lawmakers lose if they repealed this law? For their re-election, they could claim to have had a major positive economic impact by lowering food prices, that I'm sure the voting public would eat up.

[dnautics]

I've had the experience of driving through greely, colorado, and you do not want an industrial scale abbatoir in your backyard.

[holtalanm]

Beef is one of Maui's largest exports, actually.

Would never have thought that, but there it is. There is an old western movie about the first Hawaiian cattle ranch, can't remember the name of it, but I know my parents have it on VHS.