PHOTO COURTESY OF KAHUA RANCH
For Tim Richards, taking over the operations of Kahua Ranch is a natural extension of his life on the property.
Long-time rancher
takes over family business
Herbert M. "Tim" Richards III
>> Achievement: Recently replaced his father, Herbert M. "Monty" Richards Jr., to become president and general manager of Kahua Ranch on the northern tip of the Big Island.
>> Education: Doctor of veterinary medicine.
>> Age: 45
>> Community post: Serves on the veterinary examiners advisory committee that advises the state Regulated Industries Complaints Office.
What is your family's background?
Kahua Ranch is a family operation. We started ranching back in 1928. We're an old kamaaina family that came here -- I think it was in late 1840 -- as a missionary family. I've lived on the ranch my entire life. I was born and raised here. I'm actually a veterinarian as well. I do a lot of herd work for the other ranches, Parker Ranch, Palani Ranch, Kahuku Ranch, Kaupo Ranch on Maui, a little bit for Haleakala Ranch. I've been running the livestock up here for the last five or six years. We have a diversified operation up here. We do livestock, cattle and sheep. We have a tourism side, ATV tours, things along those lines. I've always worked here, except for when I was away at Washington State University. As of Monday, I took over the general management. Growing up, I was always out here on the ranch. Probably in the latter couple years of high school, I wanted to be a vet. Veterinary medicine fit my aptitude or my desires. So I went away to school. I came back in 1984 and I've been working as a private veterinarian since. I always worked on the ranch, but more as a laborer type deal.
What's a typical day in the life of a cattle rancher?
Every day is a new day. We have seasonal high-labor demands. Like today we were branding. Today it was a real hands-on day for me. Most of the time, I have a great crew. I have nothing but great kudos for them. I am able to continue on my other duties at the veterinary clinic. We get up at 6:30 a.m. We have a once-a-week meeting to lay out what's going on in the week. That's essentially all prearranged from Monday. If there's any issues we need to attend to, we figure out how to best address them. My day, I usually get up at 4 a.m. I start doing my management stuff. That's when I get on the computer, do my contacts on the mainland. I can get stuff done early in the morning, most of my ranch contacting, all of that stuff, somewhere between 4 and 6 a.m.Your father made a lot of changes, modernization at the ranch over time. What's in store in the long run under your watch?
Perpetuating. I give dad a lot of credit. Realistically, the successes we're reaping were started 40 years ago. One of the things we are working on very diligently is the Japanese Kobe beef (from Wagyu cattle). We've been working on those for 12 years and I'm finally able to take it to development. We're definitely going to be concentrating on our livestock and diversified livestock as far as continuing the Wagyu program. Dad has been very visionary in terms of alternate energy. We're exploring different potentials there.
What's the fallout from the mad cow news?
I serve on the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, on the animal health and welfare committee. One of the recent issues was mad cow. Most of the larger ranches in our state retain ownership, meaning they own the cattle through the entire process. The people that retain the ownership, we saw the markets all over the board. First, it was skyrocketing, then it was in the tubes and all. It's been a roller coaster ride since Dec. 23. If you want to talk animal health: One of the things that I take issue with is, first of all, the American beef supply is without a doubt the safest in the world. The reason Japan tests every animal is they've got themselves a problem. The United States has been looking for a problem since the late 1980s. People were alarmed. We turned up one case that came from Canada. The hype that it got kind of surprised me. Is it a health concern? Yes. Is it something that we need to be alarmed at? No. To put it in perspective, 5,000-plus people a year die of food poisoning in the United States. If you study the numbers out of England, they've had approximately 70 people die a year from bovine spongiform encephalopathy. It's a serious condition, yes. The industry is taking it seriously, but it's not this big pandemic.
How have prices reacted?
Up and down. The prices in my opinion, they're very emotional, not based on science. About 90 percent of the U.S. beef supply is consumed in the United States. During this whole BSE concern, we never saw the U.S. demand for beef in our country change. That 10 percent that we shipped overseas, that's essentially shut down. The higher quality product, that's where the markets were lost.
What's the biggest challenge facing the ranch right now?
I asked dad a bunch of years ago, 'Was cattle ranching every easy?' He said it was easier but it's never been easy. I guess my biggest challenge is to keep Kahua Ranch a ranch, financially sound, trying to make the cogs turn.
How's the water situation at the ranch?
We have been extremely fortunate. The drought was very, very nasty through the '90s. When I started managing the herds was probably one of the worse droughts in my lifetime. Relative to then, we are doing fat and sassy.
Inside Hawaii Inc. is a conversation with a member of the Hawaii business community who has changed jobs, been elected to a board or been recognized for accomplishments. Send questions and comments to business@starbulletin.com.
