Local beef production to grow with new company Hawaii Meats
HONOLULU — A Kauai farmer announced plans to expand beef production statewide after forming a new partnership.
Rancher Bobby Farias established Hawaii Meats with an Idaho ranch operator as part of a separation from Kunoa Cattle Co.
Farias acquired more than 2,500 animals from the Kauai cattle operation and the only slaughterhouse on Oahu as part of the agreement, he said. He hopes to invest more in labor to stop local farmers from shipping calves to the mainland for harvesting.
Farias co-founded Kunoa with environmental investment consultant Jack Beuttell and other partners, but the Kunoa team was not ready to invest in costly expansion, he said. Even after the company bought the slaughterhouse in 2016.
With the slaughterhouse, up to 10 cattle a month from its own ranch and other ranchers were being harvested, but recent cattle numbers were about 120 animals a week, Farias said.
Kunoa is expected to continue under new management and become a customer of Hawaii Meats, officials said. The cattle company, which works with many other Hawaii ranchers for its beef supply, will continue to exist largely as a brand and processor of locally raised beef.
Hawaii Meats also plans to establish its own brand of beef sold in stores and other businesses such as restaurants beginning next year, Farias said. The new company should complement Kunoa and other locally branded beef.
Property title certificates caught in 6-year backlog
HONOLULU — The state has amassed a backlog of property title certificates that stretches back six years.
About 180,000 property title certificates are caught up in processing within the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. The backlog has progressed from a three-year delay in 2012 and a one-year backlog in 2006, officials said.
The backlog does not delay the sale or transfer of property, but slows Bureau of Conveyances workers and inconveniences customers hoping to receive timely certificates, officials said.
Minnesota-based West Central Indexing received a $1.3 million contract to install a records management system with updated technology. The new system, announced in August, is expected to be ready in October 2020, officials said.
The Bureau of Conveyances is restructuring staff, digitizing documents and planning to upgrade its main database. The department is also exploring ways to modernize state law governing real estate ownership as part of an effort to eliminate the title certificate delay.
The state Land Court system serves as a public-records database, but also involves bureau staff validating every document. After full verification that can involve time consuming research, the bureau issues a certificate of title providing a state conclusion of ownership.