Ookala, Hawaii

Hawaii, everyone's dream destination for vacation, has been quite a challenge when it comes to construction. It all began more than a year ago with site evaluation, plan designing, and engineering challenges. The dairy is located on the Big Island at Ookala, half way between Waimea and Hilo, at mile marker 30, the average slope is 12% and there is the possibility of hurricanes, earthquakes and 80 inches of rain per year. July of 2012 found Kelly Vance in Hawaii taking classes and testing for his Hawaii Contractor's License. That was just the beginning of many trips to the Big Island, meeting with suppliers, getting quotes and haunting the Building Department and the Department of Health in order to get approvals and building permits. All parties involved were ecstatic when the dirt work began in June of 2013. We have worked with many exceptional people in the process of laying the groundwork for this project, namely Steve Whitesides and his people in Hawaii, who were all just as anxious as we were to get this job started.

Preparing ground before planting corn, which had never been grown on this site before.
They get three crops of corn a year, you can almost see it grow.

New field of corn, planted in May.

Cows with ocean view accommodations.

Looking toward the ocean (east) from the elevation of the new free stall.

Looking down on the existing free stall. The existing
 milking parlor, office and commodity shed is to the right.

Lush native grass, 2 ft. - 6 ft. tall depending on when or if it has been grazed.

Field of corn that had been planted in May, this picture was taken in June.