Hawaii wildfire risks lead to demand for more sheep
22 January 2025
Published by: https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com
USA – HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – As the state looks for innovative ways to prevent wildfires, Hawaii’s struggling livestock industry may be part of the solution.
Growing flocks of sheep, now serving local solar, may soon be employed to both creating firebreaks and providing local food.
You can’t see them from any public road, but there are more than a hundred sheep living under the solar panels of the AES solar farm in Makakilo.
The sheep are owned by Griffith Livestock, which also has cattle on the large property above the H-1 Freeway and the University of Hawaii-West Oahu campus.
Rancher Dustin Griffith says the livestock keep invasive grasses under control.
“We’ve got five different parcels (in the solar farm) that we’re grazing the sheep on, in between, in the gullies, we have our cattle grazing,” he said. “That’s kind of what maintains the grass around the outside of the solar farms.”
Dustin and Bobbie Jo Griffith were already raising cattle on parcels from Makakilo to Makaha when the University of Hawaii leased part of their pastures at Makakilo to AES for the sprawling solar farm, and AES needed a way to keep down the grass.
“In order for us to continue to make money, we decided that we were going to go to the sheep business,” Bobbie Jo Griffith said.
It wasn’t a new idea. Sheep have just the right diet, temperament, and size to thrive under the panels.
“We try to rotate our sheep due to the grass height, due to the health of the sheep, and that’s kind of the program,” Dustin Griffith said.
Bobbie Jo Griffith said one pleasant surprise was that under the invasive grass seems to be more natural growth, which the grazing encourages.
“They’ll eat the rubbish, and it helps the good stuff grow up,” she said, “and if you could, if you rotate it. Well, the good stuff will come up and the rubbish will be gone.”
The secondary, but important, benefit to the solar farm and the community nearby is the reduced risk of out-of-control fires.
The different parcels are separated by chain link fencing, which contain the sheep to the areas under thousands of solar panels, while the cattle roam more freely on the hillside.
There is a noticeable difference in the height of grasses on either side of the fence, although both are shorter than would have been if left to grow ungrazed.
Using sheep or cattle to create firebreaks is already happening in California. Hawaiian Electric is promoting the concept in social media, and it has the support of lawmakers.
Dustin Griffith expresses the practical view of most ranchers.
“I’m not real sure how that’s going to work in in the state, but there’s definitely a benefit to grazing the land instead of just mowing,” he said.
The revenue from the solar farms and potentially from landowners who hire the flock for grazing firebreaks could lead to more supplies of local meat.
Chad Buck of Hawaii Foodservice Alliance has invested in a Kauai slaughter house for smaller livestock, like sheep and eland from Niihau. His Niihau Wild Brand products are just showing up in stores.
He said Oahu could use a similar processing plant.
“Our hope is that as this market grows for sheep, it will also match what’s starting to come into the market, through the sheep that are raised for managing fuel load for solar farms or other areas where it’s hard to access because it’s rocky terrain or whatever,” Buck said.
“But the beauty of this is you have two revenue streams where usually there’s only one and so this seems to be, at least in my view, a perfect match for a more sustainable state,” Buck said.
Dustin Griffith says he hopes the market for lamb and the processing capability can keep up with growing flocks.
“As it grows, there’s going to need to be more attention to, you know, what are we going to do with the meat?” he said.
Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.