Michelle Galimba
Michelle Galimba photographed by Ronit Fahl
Michelle Galimba, along with her family and employees, operates Kuahiwi Ranch in Ka’u on Hawaii island. Michelle sat on the State Board of Agriculture, was recognized in 2015 by Hawai’i Business News’ “20 for the next 20” and may possibly be the only rancher in the world with a doctorate in comparative literature. We caught up with Michelle on July 1, 2020, almost 4 months after Hawai’i recorded its first case of COVID-19.
Aloha Michelle, could you start by giving us a picture of what was happening in your world when COVID hit?
Kuahiwi is our cattle ranch, where we produce beef- approximately 3,000 head of cattle on about 9,000 acres, We've been in business since 1993 and have been providing beef for local markets since about 2007 or so. Over time, we slowly built up our cattle herd and the land that we lease. Right now, we produce somewhere between 450,000 to 500,000 pounds of beef for local markets. We sell in Foodland, Whole Foods, and a few restaurants. We have about 11 people on the payroll.
So, when COVID happened, we did lose restaurant accounts. Obviously, they had to shut down, but it wasn't really that huge of a hit for us. I mean, it was a hit, but we also do farmer's markets and we have a ranch store. The interesting thing is the increased interest from people in our little community. There's a string of about three small towns out here and we saw a lot of people not wanting to drive to the "big cities" of Hilo and Kona. Being a cattle ranch and out here in the boonies of the boonies, in some ways, it hasn't had that much of an impact.
Being a cattle ranch and out here in the boonies of the boonies, in some ways, it hasn't had that much of an impact.
Kuahiwi Ranch roundup photographed by Ronit Fahl
Our local, direct-to-consumer beef sales have increased to the point where it's pretty much the same as what it was from the restaurants.
Our local, direct-to-consumer beef sales have increased to the point where it's pretty much the same as what it was from the restaurants. Maybe a little bit down, but, you know, surprisingly, people just buying a few pieces of hamburger or steaks for their dinner has kept it even, and that interest has been ongoing, even though people are feeling a little bit more comfortable about driving to town nowadays.
Sounds fairly stable, so you were able to replace what you lost with the direct-to-consumer sales?
Yes. As far as our local market. We do ship some of our cattle to Texas and that market has been very badly impacted by the slaughterhouse shutdowns on the mainland. The price we're getting for those cattle is pretty bad but that's the good thing about having diversified marketing. I don't know if it was planned, but we have diverse markets.
What makes the price so low for the cattle?
There's too much supply so that cattle buyers can say I don't want to buy it at that price. It's ironic because the consumers are paying higher prices, the ranchers are getting lower prices, and the middle guys, they're probably not doing so great either because they don't have the volume. It's really not a good system. Nobody's really happy, I guess. We are having to hold the cattle longer so then you're having to pay feed bills for a few weeks longer.
It's ironic because the consumers are paying higher prices, the ranchers are getting lower prices, and the middle guys, they're probably not doing so great either because they don't have the volume. It's really not a good system.
Ryan Okimoto at a Kuahiwi Ranch roundup photographed by Ronit Fahl
The cattle for the local market is slaughtered on Hawai’i Island?
There are two slaughterhouses out here, so we work with both of them.
And you didn't experience a bottleneck at the local slaughterhouse?
Not anything new. That's an ongoing problem. We need more capacity everywhere.
We had a really severe bottleneck for all local protein- pigs, cattle. Although the food bank was positioned to purchase local meat, we didn't have the capacity to process on Maui.
It's similar here. We have more capacity, but then we have way more cattle too. A lot of people really struggle to get their cattle slaughtered or bought here as well. We're kind of lucky in that we've been at this for so long that we have our slot, but if you're someone who's just selling your cattle a couple of times a year it's really hard.
There are cycles in the cattle prices, there always has been. There's been, generally, almost a 10-year cycle of low to high prices. And to be honest, that was kind of what drove us to keep our cattle back because the cycle was at a low on the mainland and it was just like, why are we sending it over there, we're hardly getting any money? That was the impetus in 2007 to try and keep it here in Hawai’i, but even then, the market wasn't very developed. It was a struggle to develop the market, to get people to buy our cattle, to get the slaughterhouses to work with us, that kind of thing.
George Hirowatari, Mark Cuison, and Justin Onaka help out at a Kuahiwi Ranch roundup photographed by Ronit Fahl
But then, say in 2014, the cattle market was at a high. People were sending their cattle over there and were making just crazy money for hardly any work. So, I would say now, people would probably be thinking about keeping their cattle back. But the slaughter capacity is an issue because if they keep it back, they're not sure that they can get it slaughtered. It's really easy to just sell your wean-offs at eight months, and not have to keep them around and fatten them to get big. It takes a lot more land obviously, and you're also making a 2 to 2 1/2 year bet that you're going to be able to do it, whereas, for the weaner at eight months, they're gone, and you don't have to worry about it anymore. It's a tough decision for people I think, to get paid right now, or wait.
Did the interruptions in animal feed have an on impact your business?
We're one hundred percent grass-fed, so it's not a problem- the grass is still growing. But we've had that problem before. Back when we first started out and kept our cattle back, we weren't sure that we could do it completely on grass. So, we were initially feeding them this stuff called millrun, which is basically the wheat bran and chaff. When you turn a wheat kernel into white flour, you take out all the brown stuff. We were using that because at that time they were milling on O'ahu. Containers of wheat kernels were brought in and turned into white flour over there. So there was a lot of this millrun available, but then that operation stopped, and then we didn't have that source of feed. So, we've been there, but yeah, not COVID-related.
Were there any other bottlenecks or any other food system vulnerabilities that were exposed for you during this crisis?
I think the first thing people think about when you get into a really tense situation is, is there going to be enough food, right? So, we had people waiting in lines for Food Basket food. We're such a small and tight community, I doubt that anybody was really hungry per se, but you just want to have that extra food. Just like, as a business when COVID happened, I was like, okay, I need more money because I don't know what's going to happen. I also want more resources so I can weather this situation. But I can't think of anything else as far as the food system. I mean obviously Young Brothers being in trouble, you know, that's a food system thing for us because we do send our beef to other islands. If we didn't have Young Brothers that would be a problem.
Michelle Galimba, George Hirowatari, and Shayne Aickin photographed by Ronit Fahl
I think it's an opportunity to step back and say, what's the right amount of tourism and can we maybe do a better job with that?
Are there changes happening now or that have happened through this period that you would like to see remain in place?
I'm really happy not to have to drive to meetings anymore. Everybody zooms, you know, it's like, yay, I don't have to drive or fly. So that kind of cultural shift has been cool. And obviously, it's sort of like the double-edged sword about tourism. It's kind of awesome to not have that impact. I think it's an opportunity to step back and say, what's the right amount of tourism and can we maybe do a better job with that?
I think people here in Hawai'i at least have really pulled together. I think that's been great, not having what's happening on the mainland-people just kind of getting really crazy about all this. So, yay for us in Hawai'i.
How do you see this crisis as being described in the history books of the future?
I really don't know which way it's going to go, and it's probably gonna be some compromise, but I hope that it's going to be this thing that, you know, we had this time to all sit down, settle down, and reflect and think about what we really want. What's really healthy for us? I hope that we come out of this better, there are a lot of forces that want us to go back to the way we were and just keep on growing and growing and growing. You know it's a finite planet, right?
I hope that we come out of this better, there are a lot of forces that want us to go back to the way we were and just keep on growing and growing and growing. You know it's a finite planet, right?
What can the community do to help build this resilient food system?
I've been amazed by how much, at least people in my community, and I kind of get a sense that it's all over, to some extent, they really want to grow their own food. I buy my seeds from Territorial Seed Company and they emailed back that they are sold out. Wow, that's cool. Even here, at our local feed store. People are just so into raising their own chickens or whatever kind of animal they want to have. All of a sudden, it's just booming. I think people taking part in the food system rather than just assuming that it's going to come from the supermarket, and that's all that they want to deal with.
Calvin Louis, Alfred Galimba, Bert Onaka, and Justin Onaka talk story at Kuahiwi Ranch photographed by Ronit Fahl
There are two things we really need in agriculture. We need more money and we need more people, and the two kind of go together.
I just hope that people keep on doing that. And I know this is really hard and in some ways kind of unlikely, but I'm hoping that we can get some of those people who were in jobs that were not that meaningful to them, and were maybe looking at doing some farming; maybe peeling off some of those guys and getting more people involved in agriculture because that's what we really need more than anything else. Well, there are two things we really need in agriculture. We need more money and we need more people, and the two kind of go together.
Were you able to keep all your 11 employees employed through this period?
Oh yeah. They're great. Like I said, so far, I just feel like, who even knows yet but we're just not even all the way through this at all. So far, we haven't taken a big hit and even if we did, we're really dedicated to our employees because they work really hard for us.
Our last question is, who are you inspired by locally in the food system, who are your local food heroes?
There are so many that it's really hard to pick but I would say the crew at Ma'o Farms are just so amazing. All of them have just done such an amazing thing. It's kind of like what I hope to do when I grow up, but I don't know if I'll be able to do it. The ranch keeps getting in the way. I love the ranch, but it's so inspirational what they do at Ma'o.
Michelle Galimba photographed by Ronit Fahl