Mobile slaughterhouse for the Big Island

[james weatherford]

Sure, corn silage "can" be fed to beef. That silage is not, and no other silage on this island is. Feeding silage to dairy cattle is common in the U.S.; while feeding silage to beef cattle is not so common.

As for confirming that corn is gmo: when the County Council passed the GMO prohibition, papaya and corn were exempted because gmo papayas are already widely grown and (as of only a few years ago) gmo corn is grown by that one dairy farm . Throughout the discussions of gmo legislation in the media, this has been stated.

also, from WIkipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_eng..._in_Hawaii

"In November 2008 the Hawaii County Council (county legislature) voted to ban the growth of GM taro (a Hawaiian staple) and coffee to prevent GM crop pollen from reaching other strains.[2]

In 2013 a second bill banned the cultivation of any GM crop on the island, grandfathering in papaya and corn planted by a dairy to feed its cows."

Notice, its states "a dairy" because that dairy is the only one on the island and that (silage) corn is fed to those dairy cows. So, even Ted can be right, sometime.

[rainyjim]

Thanks James, I appreciate you finding that for me.

FYI,

While silage is conventionally fed to dairy cows it is a great nutritional supplement for beef cows as well and is being more widely explored in recent years.

I could provide some links if you care to peruse.

[pahoated]

Never claimed to be always right but I can read with comprehension which seems to be rare with many PW Punatics, especially those that want to make airs and only spew personal clap-trap. Of course, the ignorant challenging with a cheap personal attack followed by the demand for linky evidence is only another n00bness indicator, going back to before AOL dialup. Oldy as moldy bread.
http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections...otest.html

"Aloha also means goodbye. Aloha!"

[Carey]

I think that the article nicely highlights that tis unit is slated for very small production, only able to handle about 1-2% of the ranchland livestock in this county, from the 2010 census.

At that rate, I really doubt that this will encourage MORE ranchland to be put into production!

It also seems from both the comments & location given (Reunion Island) that one of the posters here is not very familiar with ranching in this county, with the concerns mentioned about water used for livestock grain...

We all must realize that some will comment without realizing the realities of living here, and some will have no idea that the total processing that this unit could do would not even cover the feral hunt livestock animals that are here,

much less the small acreage ranch/farmer that has just a few head that they would really like to take to market, without sending them mainland to be slaughtered...

[james weatherford]

Thanks, Carey, for the reality check.
Certainly on point: the relatively small capacity relative to the number of cattle on the island.

[james weatherford]

Thanks, rainyjim.
I am aware that some folks feed silage to beef -- as an agricultural extension agent, 30 years ago in Tennessee, I helped some farmers with their development of a silage feeding system. It was to replace hay, and not pasture.
However, on this island in a humid tropical climate, my experience is that , the grass and legumes grow 12 months/year and the cattle can do the harvesting / grazing on their own and do not need a machine to do it for them.
Simpler. Less costly.
This mobile slaughtering unit will further the opportunity for conversion of grazed forage into high quality protein, which will be a boon to smaller farmers/ranchers.

[rainyjim]

Personally, I am, and would be glad to see the addition of any agricultural endeavor whether they might be a mobile slaughterhouse, fields of GE corn, more livestock, or organic endeavors.

I have heard talk of shipman investigating the potential of a rotational system between papaya fields and cows, has anyone else heard about this yet? I would suspect shipman going into the cow biz might bring about something more than just a mobile slaughterhouse.

[Carey]

Jim....Shipman is, and always HAS BEEN in the "cow biz"... Their main business has always been ranching...papaya is on land they lease out....I do think their cattle volume is way more than the mobile unit can hold, as they are one of the major cattle exporter on this island...

Wm H Shipman formed the Hilo Meat Co in 1911...so if forming a new meat co is in their best interest, I am sure they know about it! for more on their History in the "cow biz" look to this old CTAHR pub. pgs 32-33 & 36-37:
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/RP-5.pdf

[rainyjim]

Ya, I'm aware of their history Carey. Thanks for the link though.

To be more clear, I mean specifically a rotation system with cows being ran through papaya fields between crops of papaya as a means of fertilizing the fields before replanting the next crop.

I had my reservations about the viability of this plan mainly the long duration of papaya crops, albeit relatively short when considering the life span of most fruit trees.

[james weatherford]

To address the off topic:
Shipman is now only in the land business. They lease agricultural land and commercial land to producers.
In addition to papayas (and bananas and other horticultural crops) on some of their land, there is also cattle on some.