Meadow Gold facility, Meadow Gold Dairies said yesterday it is negotiating to transfer a Waimanalo dairy facility and land lease to the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture.
land to transfer to UH
The Waimanalo dairy facility's
26 workers will be laid offBy Lyn Danninger
ldanninger@starbulletin.comThe move would allow the college, which already operates a 128-acre station on land adjacent to the facility, to improve its animal science program and agriculture research programs.
They expect to finish negotiations and complete the transfer in the next two to three months. The deal does not include the dairy's 26 employees, who will be laid off.
Meadow Gold has been evaluating the future of the dairy, which sits on 360 acres leased until 2014 from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, said Glenn Muranaka, president and general manager of the company.
The move is in the best interest of all parties, Muranaka said.
"From a business standpoint, it would be much easier to simply shut down the operation, but we strongly believe that striking this kind of agreement is the right thing to do to boost the viability of our local agriculture sector," he said.
The agreement would include the transition of the land lease, as well as existing properties on the facility, including cattle, pens, barns and milking equipment. The college would also receive a portion of Meadow Gold's 1,000-cow herd.
No purchase price has been set for the acquisition, Muranaka said.
"There's no value set at this point until the college establishes what pieces of the assets they'd like to acquire," Muranaka said.
But as part of the agreement, Muranaka said Meadow Gold would purchase milk produced at the dairy from the college. The money would be used to help support the facility.
Muranaka said the company is providing transitional assistance to the dairy workers who would lose their jobs when the deal goes through.