AoR 191: Sumner Erdman - Cows, Koas, and Wind Turbines on Maui's Ulupalakua Ranch

Podcast: The Art of Range Podcast · Tip Hudson

Opublikowano: 2026-10-09

From Gold Rush–era farming and sugar to today’s diversified operation of cattle, elk, sheep, a winery, and wind turbines, Sumner Erdman, president of Ulupalakua Ranch on Maui, traces the ranch’s history. He explains how the loss of Maui’s sugar and pineapple industries affected ranching, how an explosion of axis deer combined with drought forced herd reductions, and why rainfall records show droughts getting longer since the late 1990s. Sumner also talks through ideas to drought-proofing the ranch, using cattle to reduce fine fuels and fire risk and protect a restored native dryland forest, the trade-offs between wind and...