Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2007 1:34:03 GMT -5
From our newspaper here on the Big Island:
www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2007/06/17/local_news/local01.txt
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Milk Money
Farmers hope price increase and state help will be enough to keep the dairy coming
Sunday, June 17, 2007 10:06 AM HST
by Terrie Henderson
Tribune-Herald Staff Writer
On any given day, about 900 Holstein dairy cows graze peacefully in the pastures of the 2,000-acre Island Dairy, unaware of their expansive ocean view.
The births of calves is usually a daily occurrence -- sometimes as many as seven. About 600 of the cows produce milk each day, said Kees Kea, co-owner of the dairy, located at the 30 mile-marker north of Hilo, just off Highway 19. The dairy produces about 3,000 gallons of milk a day, he said.
From these cows, along with cows from two other Big Island dairies, comes the milk that ends up in refrigerators, cereal bowls and school milk cartons throughout Hawaii County.
The state is raising the minimum price for Class 1 milk from $26.53 per 100 pounds to $29.53, based on milk with a butter fat content of 3.3 percent. The governor has already approved the price increase, which will take effect Aug. 1, said Jeri Kahana, commodities branch program manager for the Hawaii Department of Agriculture.
Although she did not know if the price paid to the producers -- a 7-cent increase for every 100 pounds of fluid, drinkable milk -- would increase the price consumers pay at stores, she said the price increase was needed to help farmers.
"Milk is a very complicated commodity," she said.
Ed Boteilho, president of Clover Leaf Dairy in Hawi, said his dairy produces about 3,900 gallons of milk a day. The 1,000-acre dairy is home to 800 cows, of which about 670 are currently producing milk.
Both Kea and Boteilho said the rising cost of milk production could hurt Hawaii dairy farms in the future if nothing is done to help farmers.
Several calls made to Kamuela Dairy, the third Big Island dairy, were not returned.
"It doesn't come too soon," Boteilho said of the milk price increase. "We are hurting so bad with the drought, feed prices, fuel, utilities. It's coming just in time. Especially right now. We are in a tremendous drought. I am praying a lot."
Boteilho said getting water to the pastures has proved challenging since the Oct. 15 earthquakes damaged the irrigation system fed by the Kohala Ditch. Repairs are expected to take several months and more than 500 farmers have been affected, he said.
"We are doing our best under the circumstances. We need to try to meet all the needs of the island," Boteilho said, adding his dairy produces about a third of the milk used on the Big Island. "We do have to maintain a certain amount of agriculture in the state. We are just trying to do the best we can. We have to be able to produce it locally."
The Big Island is leading the state in milk production and is likely to become the only island where milk is produced.
Pacific Dairy in Oahu is slated to close at the end of the summer, according to The Associated Press. The only other dairy in the state, Mountain View Dairy on Oahu, closed earlier this month.
There were five dairies on Oahu and five on the Big Island as recently as 1999, according to The AP.
In the 1980s, all the milk consumed in the state was produced locally. Now, only about a third of the state's milk is produced in Hawaii. The rest is shipped in from the mainland.
Island dairies produced 12 million pounds of milk during the first quarter of the year, a 22 percent decline from the same period in 2006, The AP reported.
State lawmakers are trying to help the industry this year by passing a measure to create a $3 million-a-year, two-year program aimed at subsidizing feed costs.
According to House Bill 1221, two egg farms and one dairy have gone out of business within the past year -- and another dairy farm and egg farm are threatened by closure -- largely due to the rising cost of feed.
The bill states that with the closure of local dairies and poultry farms, residents will no longer be able to buy fresh, locally produced products. It also notes that such closures increase the state's dependence of imported foods.
But the feed subsidy, Boteilho said, won't help farmers until September.
While state lawmakers are doing what they can to help the farmers, Kea said it will take more than government assistance to ensure the future of the dairy business.
That is why he is looking at new ways of making milk production less costly, ways that could include solar or wind power. More efficient use of pasture is also something Kea is considering.
Milk shipped to Hawaii from the mainland takes five days to get here, and once it reaches Honolulu, has to be pasteurized for a second time, Kehana said.
"It is shipped in bulk in big tankers, unrefrigerated, super cool tanks, right above freezing," she said.
Although the price of raw milk is less on the mainland -- with the June price for northern California milk being $20.01 per hundred pounds, or about $1.72 a gallon -- the price of preparing and transporting milk makes it comparable to local prices, Kehana said. June's Big Island price for raw milk is about $2.28 a gallon, she said, adding the price is higher than mainland prices because it costs more to produce locally.
"Cows have to eat, you have to import the feed," she said. "We are not a feed-producing state."
After the raw milk leaves the dairies, it is sent by tankers to the manufacturing company. The Meadow Gold Dairies plant in Hilo produces 250,000 gallons of milk a month, including Mountain Apple brand. Meadow Gold also produces juices.
Carissa Tourtelot, spokeswoman for Meadow Gold, said raw milk tankers are received six days a week, with no deliveries on Sundays. When the milk arrives, it is tested for antibiotics, butter fat, solids, acidity, microscopic evaluation of cell counts and water content, she said.
Once a tanker clears all testing requirements, it is received into a refrigerated silo and processed that day or the next. Once the milk products are packaged, they are tested several times to ensure quality, she said.
"When the milk run is completed, packaged products go from the milk plant into the chill box and then loaded on trucks and delivered to customers," Tourtelot said. "The time frame from raw milk to the shelf is two to three days. All Big Island milk is distributed to the Big Island, with any overages distributed to Maui as finished products."
Derek Kurisu, executive vice president of perishable operations for KTA Super Stores, said locally produced milk is about 10 days fresher than mainland milk.
About 10 years ago, KTA began their own private, locally-produced brand of milk, Mountain Apple. He said they carry some organic milk from the mainland, but the majority of milk sold in the store is produced on island.
"People on the Big Island, they are very supportive of local products," Kurisu said. "Dairy is such an important part of the economy. I am so glad the people on the island are so supportive. We sell a lot of milk in our stores."
Terrie Henderson can be reached at thenderson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2007/06/17/local_news/local01.txt
-----
Milk Money
Farmers hope price increase and state help will be enough to keep the dairy coming
Sunday, June 17, 2007 10:06 AM HST
by Terrie Henderson
Tribune-Herald Staff Writer
On any given day, about 900 Holstein dairy cows graze peacefully in the pastures of the 2,000-acre Island Dairy, unaware of their expansive ocean view.
The births of calves is usually a daily occurrence -- sometimes as many as seven. About 600 of the cows produce milk each day, said Kees Kea, co-owner of the dairy, located at the 30 mile-marker north of Hilo, just off Highway 19. The dairy produces about 3,000 gallons of milk a day, he said.
From these cows, along with cows from two other Big Island dairies, comes the milk that ends up in refrigerators, cereal bowls and school milk cartons throughout Hawaii County.
The state is raising the minimum price for Class 1 milk from $26.53 per 100 pounds to $29.53, based on milk with a butter fat content of 3.3 percent. The governor has already approved the price increase, which will take effect Aug. 1, said Jeri Kahana, commodities branch program manager for the Hawaii Department of Agriculture.
Although she did not know if the price paid to the producers -- a 7-cent increase for every 100 pounds of fluid, drinkable milk -- would increase the price consumers pay at stores, she said the price increase was needed to help farmers.
"Milk is a very complicated commodity," she said.
Ed Boteilho, president of Clover Leaf Dairy in Hawi, said his dairy produces about 3,900 gallons of milk a day. The 1,000-acre dairy is home to 800 cows, of which about 670 are currently producing milk.
Both Kea and Boteilho said the rising cost of milk production could hurt Hawaii dairy farms in the future if nothing is done to help farmers.
Several calls made to Kamuela Dairy, the third Big Island dairy, were not returned.
"It doesn't come too soon," Boteilho said of the milk price increase. "We are hurting so bad with the drought, feed prices, fuel, utilities. It's coming just in time. Especially right now. We are in a tremendous drought. I am praying a lot."
Boteilho said getting water to the pastures has proved challenging since the Oct. 15 earthquakes damaged the irrigation system fed by the Kohala Ditch. Repairs are expected to take several months and more than 500 farmers have been affected, he said.
"We are doing our best under the circumstances. We need to try to meet all the needs of the island," Boteilho said, adding his dairy produces about a third of the milk used on the Big Island. "We do have to maintain a certain amount of agriculture in the state. We are just trying to do the best we can. We have to be able to produce it locally."
The Big Island is leading the state in milk production and is likely to become the only island where milk is produced.
Pacific Dairy in Oahu is slated to close at the end of the summer, according to The Associated Press. The only other dairy in the state, Mountain View Dairy on Oahu, closed earlier this month.
There were five dairies on Oahu and five on the Big Island as recently as 1999, according to The AP.
In the 1980s, all the milk consumed in the state was produced locally. Now, only about a third of the state's milk is produced in Hawaii. The rest is shipped in from the mainland.
Island dairies produced 12 million pounds of milk during the first quarter of the year, a 22 percent decline from the same period in 2006, The AP reported.
State lawmakers are trying to help the industry this year by passing a measure to create a $3 million-a-year, two-year program aimed at subsidizing feed costs.
According to House Bill 1221, two egg farms and one dairy have gone out of business within the past year -- and another dairy farm and egg farm are threatened by closure -- largely due to the rising cost of feed.
The bill states that with the closure of local dairies and poultry farms, residents will no longer be able to buy fresh, locally produced products. It also notes that such closures increase the state's dependence of imported foods.
But the feed subsidy, Boteilho said, won't help farmers until September.
While state lawmakers are doing what they can to help the farmers, Kea said it will take more than government assistance to ensure the future of the dairy business.
That is why he is looking at new ways of making milk production less costly, ways that could include solar or wind power. More efficient use of pasture is also something Kea is considering.
Milk shipped to Hawaii from the mainland takes five days to get here, and once it reaches Honolulu, has to be pasteurized for a second time, Kehana said.
"It is shipped in bulk in big tankers, unrefrigerated, super cool tanks, right above freezing," she said.
Although the price of raw milk is less on the mainland -- with the June price for northern California milk being $20.01 per hundred pounds, or about $1.72 a gallon -- the price of preparing and transporting milk makes it comparable to local prices, Kehana said. June's Big Island price for raw milk is about $2.28 a gallon, she said, adding the price is higher than mainland prices because it costs more to produce locally.
"Cows have to eat, you have to import the feed," she said. "We are not a feed-producing state."
After the raw milk leaves the dairies, it is sent by tankers to the manufacturing company. The Meadow Gold Dairies plant in Hilo produces 250,000 gallons of milk a month, including Mountain Apple brand. Meadow Gold also produces juices.
Carissa Tourtelot, spokeswoman for Meadow Gold, said raw milk tankers are received six days a week, with no deliveries on Sundays. When the milk arrives, it is tested for antibiotics, butter fat, solids, acidity, microscopic evaluation of cell counts and water content, she said.
Once a tanker clears all testing requirements, it is received into a refrigerated silo and processed that day or the next. Once the milk products are packaged, they are tested several times to ensure quality, she said.
"When the milk run is completed, packaged products go from the milk plant into the chill box and then loaded on trucks and delivered to customers," Tourtelot said. "The time frame from raw milk to the shelf is two to three days. All Big Island milk is distributed to the Big Island, with any overages distributed to Maui as finished products."
Derek Kurisu, executive vice president of perishable operations for KTA Super Stores, said locally produced milk is about 10 days fresher than mainland milk.
About 10 years ago, KTA began their own private, locally-produced brand of milk, Mountain Apple. He said they carry some organic milk from the mainland, but the majority of milk sold in the store is produced on island.
"People on the Big Island, they are very supportive of local products," Kurisu said. "Dairy is such an important part of the economy. I am so glad the people on the island are so supportive. We sell a lot of milk in our stores."
Terrie Henderson can be reached at thenderson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.