By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Above, tourists take a trail ride at Kualoa Ranch. Below,
a wooden guide post provides a sign of the un-ranchlike
activities that the 126-year-old Oahu ranch now relies
upon for most of its revenues.
Kualoa Ranch is bustling,
By Peter Wagner
but the activity doesn't have
much to do with cows
Star-BulletinIT'S still a cattle ranch -- one of Hawaii's oldest. But just two of 90 employees at scenic Kualoa Ranch on Oahu are cowboys.
Most employees at the 126-year-old ranch are tending tourists, not cows. And if visitors are saddling up for trail rides, they're also hopping into tour helicopters or onto jet skis or dune buggies.
Cattle contributed just 5 percent to total revenues at Kualoa last year, a token of earlier times. But the 600 cows that roam the ranch are serving a new purpose -- keeping the range accessible to visitors.
"Cattle are a good way to maintain open space," said John Morgan, the 40-year-old president of Kualoa Ranch and great-great-great grandson of Gerrit P. Judd.
Faced with rising costs, slim profits and huge estate taxes, Morgan began tapping Waikiki's ready tourist market in 1985 to keep the ranch intact.
The rough-hewn Morgan, dressed in jeans and boots, oversees activities from a simple ranch house adjoining stables. But while he was bred into horses and cows, Morgan has become equally adept at "optional tours," marketing, and the use of Japanese-speaking employees.
It's been quite a shift at the historic 4,000-acre spread, bought from King Kamehameha III in 1850 by Judd and initially used for sugar production before turning to cattle in 1871.
But cattle ranching has become a tough business in Hawaii, where the high cost of importing feed has forced ranchers to ship calves to mainland markets. Many of the 120 members of the Hawaii Cattlemen's Council and numerous smaller ranchers are struggling with rising costs, low profits, and a highly volatile market.
While few have the will -- or the ability -- to follow Kualoa's lead into high volume tourism, many are looking for new sources of revenue.
At the 23,000-acre Makaweli Ranch on Kauai, owned by the Robinson family, operators are considering a modest entry into day-tour excursions to remote areas next year. The 20,000-acre Ulupalakua Ranch on Maui has made room for a 22-acre winery, raises elk, and hosts commercial hunting and shooting.
And Kahua Ranch on the Big Island, an 8,500-acre spread, is aggressively diversifying -- juggling sheep, vegetable farming, alternate energy, and is contemplating a shooting gallery and other visitor-related activities.
Even the massive 225,000-acre Parker Ranch on the Big Island has a visitor center, logo store, and a real estate division. Parker Ranch has sold more than half of the 500,000 acres it had 150 years ago.
But recreational activities at Kualoa are setting new standards in ranch diversification.
Some 40,000 people, mostly Japanese tourists, visited Kualoa last year. They paid about $100 each to spend a day at the ranch playing tennis, firing guns, snorkeling or snoozing in hammocks. They crossed an 800-year-old Hawaiian fishing pond to play on a secluded beach. They reveled in scenery used as a backdrop for "Jurassic Park," "Mighty Joe Young," and scores of other Hollywood productions over the years.
Filmmaking brought about $200,000 to the ranch last year.
By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Tourists frolic on thrillcraft off Kualoa Ranch. In 1985 the
4,000-acre spread began shifting away from cattle. Now the
40,000 tourists who visit the ranch annually far
outnumber its 600 cows.
Other endeavors include aquaculture, which produces 500-700 pounds of fish, prawns and shrimp per week; 15 acres of tropical fruits and flowers; and a farm education program that drew 16,000 fee-paying school children last year. And annual "Big Mele" concerts draw thousands of rock fans to the ranch.But while the ranch generated about $6 million last year, Morgan said it's barely breaking even.
"Our revenues have stayed about the same but costs have gone up," he said. "To be competitive, we have to add value and value costs money."
Kualoa last year laid off about 10 workers, 10 percent of its work force, and the price of a day tour was dropped to $99 from $105.
The cattle business in Hawaii took a dramatic turn in 1991, when feedlot operations were closed at Campbell Industrial Park. The cost of importing feed had outstripped profits and ranchers were forced to ship calves to the mainland for sale or fattening.
While the huge Parker Ranch on the Big Island -- third largest in the nation -- has been able to adapt and is having a good year, many ranchers are struggling.
"At one time, all we produced was finished and consumed here," said Herbert "Monty" Richards, general manager at Kahua Ranch. "Now weaned calves are shipped out of state and the meat brought back into the state. We lose all the value added. We lose all the jobs."
Pono von Holt, director of the Hawaii Cattlemen's Council and manager of Ponoholo Ranch in North Kohala, notes that increasing costs require increased productivity on ranches.
"Twenty five years ago, one cowboy may have ranched 100 to 200 cattle," he said. "Today, it's 800 to 1,000."
At Ulupalakua Ranch, the number of cowboys has dropped from 12 to six in recent years.
"It's extremely tough and it's getting tougher," said Sumner Erdman, president of Ulupalakua. "The costs of doing business in Hawaii have escalated drastically and the price we get for cattle has not gone up proportionately. We have to modernize and become much more efficient."
Meanwhile, tour buses continue to turn in at Kualoa Ranch. And while Morgan hopes to find a niche market for his cattle to revive an old family tradition, he's banking on tourists to carry the ranch. He hopes to add 50 overnight cabins to the operation next year.
How would Gerrit P. Judd feel about all of this?
"I think he'd be happy," said Morgan. "I don't think we've gone too far too fast."
