March 10, 2025 • 26 mins
Yunuen Bustamante is Oahu's newest extension agent, bringing a fresh perspective to Hawaii's livestock industry. Originally from Puebla, Mexico, her journey blends traditional wisdom with modern agricultural science. With a bachelor's in agronomy and a master's in agroforestry, in addition to her practical experience working as a veterinary technician and livestock specialist at a local ranch, she brings a wealth of knowledge to our Livestock Extension team.
She aims to develop tailored guidance for local producers, focusing on sustainable practices in swine, poultry, and land management using sheep and goats while honoring Hawaiian cultural values. As Hawaii imports most of its food, she sees livestock production as key to food security.
Currently connecting with industry groups, Bustamante is planning educational initiatives to help build a more sustainable, self-sufficient Hawaii. Follow her work @LivestockExtensionOahu on Instagram.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 2 (00:14):
Aloha.
Today's episode is sponsored bythe Livestock Extension Group
of the University of HawaiiManoa College of Tropical
Agriculture and Human Resilience, the Center for Ag
Profitability out of theUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln
and the Western SustainableAgriculture Research and
Education Program, Aloha andwelcome to Livestock Bala'au, a
podcast aimed to provideeducational support, information
(00:35):
, guidance and outreach to ourlivestock stakeholders in Hawaii
and the US.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
We are your hosts, Mele Washiro and Shannon Sand,
and today we are talking withYunuen Bastamante, who is our
new assistant livestockextension agent in Oahu County.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Yeah, thank you guys for having me.
I'm very excited.
I usually listen to yourpodcast here and there and I see
all these people from CTAHR andjust all this interesting
information and I was like oh,I'm going to be there, oh it's
exciting.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Yeah, we're very excited to have you join CTAHR
and Extension and for having youhere today to come and talk a
little bit and share witheverybody, so it's exciting for
us to be able to do this.
So maybe I don't know you wantto share with us a little bit
about your background and howyou came to be here yeah, of
course I would love to again.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
My name is Yunan Bustamante.
I was born and raised in Mexico.
The city where I'm from iscalled Puebla, is right below
Mexico City, so it's a beautifulplace.
Of course I'm from there right.
There's a really nice weather.
It's kind of Manoa type ofweather all year round it's just
rainy but then dry season.
So yeah, so I'm from there.
(01:49):
I have my undergrad educationthere.
I have a bachelor's degree inagronomy, agriculture and
livestock management.
So for one of the biggestuniversities in Mexico is very
specific about agriculture, soyeah.
I was very grateful to getaccepted in the university and
(02:11):
get a scholarship, becausegetting education nowadays is
not affordable.
So just having a scholarshipand giving me the opportunity
for me to be educated.
So after they finished myundergrad, one of my advisors
said I will highly recommend tojust go ahead and do your
master's and now that you're inthe track.
(02:31):
So I was like that's a goodidea.
But I was like what kind ofmaster's degree I want to do?
Because I learned all aboutbasic agronomy, agriculture,
animal science, basic agronomy,agriculture, animal science and
(02:51):
I was thinking I feel that Iwant to do more that is more
sustainable, more natural.
So one of the and the sameuniversity.
One of the programs it wasagroforestry for sustainable
development.
So I was like, okay, what isthat?
What is for sustainabledevelopment?
So I was like, okay, what isthat?
What is agroforestry?
So I talked to several advisorsand they said this is a great
opportunity because agroforestryis gonna be the new kind of,
(03:13):
the new type of research.
It's been there forever.
Indigenous communities havedone agroforestry for like
millennials, but this is gonnabe fancy new name.
Yeah, let's go to forestry.
So, yeah, they started to.
Yeah, I really love understandand preserve our culture as a
Mexican and but also I lovefarming and then those
(03:35):
technologies that we can applyto all these things combined.
So I was like, yeah, I thinkthat's a great opportunity for
me.
Again, I applied and, yeah, Iwas so nervous to get in the
program and, yeah, I wasaccepted.
I was also very lucky.
So then, yeah, because mybackground is animal science, so
(03:56):
it's when I decided to do morespecific research regarding
silvopastures.
Research regardingsilvopastures it's the
combinations with trees, grass,soil and the animals.
So, yeah, I did.
My research was forestry andtraditional silvopasture systems
in the semi, semi arid areas inMexico.
(04:21):
So, yeah, that's kind of likeyeah.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Because there's some really cool projects in Hawaii
that are looking at some of that.
So I was like that's neat thatyou have some experience with
that.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Shannon and I are actually on a project for a
civil pasture.
looking at Lucina in Hawaii andwhatnot, yeah, I think it's a
especially in our tropical areas.
I feel like that's an area thatis not as well utilized, and
then I feel like some peoplemight already be doing it and
not even realize that's the kindof system that they can take
(04:53):
advantage of and use it moreefficiently and effectively
their operations.
But so you also have a littlebit of experience, I know,
because we talked about yourveterinary technician and your
background and livestockmanagement here in Hawaii.
You want to share a little bitabout that yeah, of course.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
So then, because life takes you from many different
ways that sometimes you don'teven know yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
No, you never know where you're gonna end up.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
Yeah, yeah so then for I have some family here.
They used to live here in oahu.
Now they're in Big Island, inthe Hilo side they invited me
into vacations and I ended upstaying.
That was how I ended up.
Wow, this place is beautiful,it's magical.
I have family here and Hawaiianculture and Mexican culture are
(05:38):
so aligned.
We care a lot about family andjust community and all of that.
So I was just like this isgreat.
So then I moved here.
I moved to Oahu around likeeight years ago and one of my
first jobs it was as aveterinary technician.
It was just this hospital, veryspecialized for feline health,
(05:59):
so it was just for cats, mostlyfor cats.
I learned all the basics aboutinjections, medications and all
of that for small species.
They apply to bunnies, to cats,to dogs, to all different
species and companion animalsoverall.
So that was that I stayed for acouple of years.
I was very lucky.
(06:20):
Also, I met a lot of greatpeople.
I learned a lot from theveterinarian.
It was great.
So then, because of mybackground in animal science and
agroforestry, I was just in thesearch for something a little
more.
And having all this nowknowledge about the medical
field I was searching for a joband I had the opportunity to
(06:43):
work at Ballora Ranch.
So I was hired as a.
I started as a lead and then Itransitioned to livestock
specialist because my backgroundmade sense at the time.
So I was there for over threeyears, three years where I
learned a lot and also we grew alot.
(07:05):
I remember we started with 30,20 laying hens and now, when I
left, we have 400 hens.
I was like gosh, how did thathappen?
Yeah.
So we grew a lot.
Also, we have a small flock ofsheep and then also got twice as
big too.
While I was there, One of thethings that I learned that I was
(07:27):
like why didn't they teach mein school back in Mexico it was
about Korean natural farming.
Coalura Ranch have a great,great piggery.
They have all figured out howto raise pigs and litter.
But yeah, I learned a lot andeven even next, we expand that
and we started doing somepasture pigs.
(07:48):
They're still doing somepasture pigs.
Yeah, a lot of learning, a lotof developing and it was great.
All the people that are worthit.
I'm still like.
I feel like it's still myfamily.
I see them every time and Ijust nice opportunity for go and
visit them because yeah, I lovethem so much.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Yeah, that's great.
It's good that you can still beworking in the same sort of
sector in agriculture andwhatnot and still be able to see
those folks yeah, good awesome.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Yeah, what interested you in moving to extension in
Hawaii?
It's clear you were neverleaving Hawaii if you had a
choice, but what made you makethe transition over into
extension?
Speaker 4 (08:28):
I feel that I always enjoy and I had.
Really I was very, I'm very,passionate about educating
people.
Oh, nice, good, like share whatI?
The little bit that I learned.
I don't know anything.
Everything and something theyrealize.
The more they learn, the lessthat I learned.
I don't know everything.
And something that I realizedthe more that I learned, the
less that I know.
Right, so, just the little that.
(08:50):
I learned during school and justhands-on experience and working
in the vet and working in theranch, every time that we have
visitors, new people, or I hadto train employees.
That was my joy.
Then I always like, since I wasin in high school and and yeah,
(09:11):
I always knew there was thisextension program, I was not too
sure about exactly how we looklike and how we exactly work,
but I know that existed, yeah,because, yeah, also, the
extension is not big but peopleknow about that in Mexico.
So I was like, okay, I knowwhat it is.
But the reason that I decided totransition for working hands-on
(09:36):
in a ranch to extension isbecause it was this job
opportunity they opened up herewith the College of Tropical
Agriculture and UH Manoa theextension livestock extension
and one of my colleagues at thetime they told me I think you
(09:56):
will do great in this job, I cansee you doing this job.
And I was like, are you sure?
And I was like, yeah, because Iwas thinking about it the other
day.
Sometimes people see things inyou that you might not even see
it as you be really good at it.
That's how I did some researchabout extension in Hawaii and I
(10:20):
decided to apply.
I applied last year.
And yeah, thankfully I justjoined the team and I'm very
excited.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Oh, that's exciting.
I was like I'm sure they'reexcited to have you, yes, very
excited.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
It's nice to be able to have you on board and I can
see your passion for wanting toshare and educating and that
outreach within a community, Ithink, is such a big part of
extension and it takes a certainperson to be able to converse
across the different segmentswith producers, many different
people from different areas ofagriculture in our industry and
(10:55):
you have to be able to switchgears in how you're being able
to talk to different people.
So everybody builds theirextension program.
We all have sort of areas thatwe are responsible for of course
, all the different livestockspecies but there's always
things that are going tointerest us more or maybe we
have a little bit morebackground.
So can you share a little bitwhere you're planning to focus
(11:16):
some of your extension programon, and or if there's special
things that you were wanting tolook into?
Speaker 4 (11:30):
I want to go back to the question.
Doing some research on just anormal engine like Google and
things.
I was looking up for advice onhow to do things in a certain
way and most of the informationthat I've found is from mainland
and a lot of these things donot apply to the ecosystem and
(11:54):
just environmental conditions,because they have seasons and
they have all of that and eventhe animal species.
Sometimes they're not even thesame.
So I was like I wish it waslike someone that could just
give me more accurate advice.
I know I reached out to DrDanny and to Caleb from the
University of Hawaii, theprofessor, and to you as well,
(12:16):
melly, but I was like I think weneed a little more of this.
And now that I'm on the otherside, I understand there's so
much work to do in terms ofextension and I see the need and
I see all the things that wecould work in so many different
ways.
But at the time it was anotherthought that I had in so many
(12:38):
different ways, but at the timeit was another thought that I
had.
I wish it was more publicationsand things very specific to to
hawaii and oh, now in myposition to oahu, because
another thing that I've beenlearning now that I'm visiting
farmers and thing is that eventhough we're the same island, we
have differences it's verydifferent climate even depending
on which island and, like bigisland, has 11 different clients
(13:02):
, oh yeah, so yeah, somethinglike that, like here is more
urbanized so just having allthese constant.
We need more like food supplyand we need more things and also
we're fighting with the ag land, so all these things that is
changing all across the island.
So I was thinking, oh yeah, Iwish I could learn more about it
(13:24):
and with my education, myexperience and my backgrounds I
can just help more farmers thethe help that I that I got from
dr daddy and dr caleb or you,amelia, wish I could just help
all their farmers.
And even working at the ranch Iwas still connecting with some
farmers and things, but my jobit was just making sure we're
(13:46):
very productive and sustainableand just raising animals and
with all the products, aboutanimal welfare.
Yeah, I think now this job isthe extension is going to allow
me to contribute, like in abigger picture about sustainable
agriculture practices andhelping more producers with the
little things that I learnedthrough school and through my
(14:09):
work.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
It's a huge part.
I think that you like you saidit's hard because you get in
there and you're like, oh, weneed to do this and there's so
many things on the list that wewant to do you really got to let
things float up and prioritizewhat's going to be the most
beneficial for our producers andyou know I've had so many talks
already.
I think we have a lot of greatideas on where, a lot of
(14:32):
different things to work on andwhatnot.
But yeah, it's great when youhave a big team, or not even a
big team.
There's not a lot of us, no,there's at least there's two of
us in the state.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yeah, I was gonna say I'm sure Mellie's excited not
to be the only one left.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
But it's nice, yeah, you can.
At least you're always going tohave little areas that you have
a larger portion of youreducation or experience, and so
it's nice to be able to havesomebody to share
responsibilities in a sense, orwith or even just collaborate on
work, and sometimes it'stalking about different areas
and different things that aregoing on in the industry and how
we can work together witheveryone to guide and help our
(15:10):
producers and provide resourcesfor them.
So I think that's very good.
I'm very excited to be able tohave more agents and hopefully
we'll have more in the nearfuture.
There's more positions that aregoing to be opening up.
But, yeah, is there aparticular interest that you
have and look at, you want topursue with your extension
program or in how you can helpsupport some of our producers,
(15:32):
of our producers?
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Yeah, extension program.
What I would like to be is just, of course, tailored for
specific needs for Oahu.
I'm the Oahu livestock agent,so what I wanted to do is reach
out to people and get to knowthem and just learn from them,
and exactly what is what youneed to know them and just learn
(15:58):
from them.
And exactly what is what youneed.
However, with my education, mybackground, I always try to
target all sustainable practicesand community-based education.
But when I was working atColorado Ranch and all the
things that I've been learninglately is just, oahu has more
(16:19):
the capacity or will be morelikely to develop the swine
industry.
The pork industry has been thebiggest in Oahu, so I think
promoting that and just helpthose farmers still exist.
I think that will be one of mypriorities.
Same thing for poultry.
(16:40):
Poultry I find it veryimportant in O'ahu.
We have the largest egg farmshere in O'ahu and, and I think
overall, culturally, people havetheir laying hands, so why not
promote more backyard orhomestead laying hands?
(17:02):
I think that will be the mainapproach.
And the other thing that is nowmore and more popular is the
use of small ruminants likesheep and goats to maintain your
lawn or help with invasivespecies and because, again, we
are the most populated island,it makes sense to have a smaller
(17:24):
species and of course, there'ssome cattle ranchers that are
still around and they have thisheritage Paniolo heritage that
we want to protect andacknowledge.
But, yeah, I think sheep andgoats will be a big area, I feel
, to develop for sure.
Now, the other thing that we'vebeen hearing in social media and
(17:47):
just all about is aboutregenerative agriculture and
pasture-raised farming.
I think is very relevantnowadays and I think I would
like to just also include thosetwo approaches because it lands
into sustainability andsilvopasture.
Yeah, all of that, the maingoal overall is just to improve
(18:13):
and just have more food security.
So, always having that in mind,so the main goal is just be
more, less depending of imports.
Now it's more and more.
I think 80 or 90 percent we'redepending of food from overseas
and I think the other twoaspects I want to include in my
(18:34):
program is making sure we aremaking part of the Hawaiian
culture is part of it and thePaniolo culture.
All those are very importantvalues that need to be preserved
and acknowledged and respected.
I think all of that is going totry to be included somehow in
my programs.
I don't know how, but this isthe intention and I think at the
(18:59):
end, what I find it veryvaluable and it's kind of part
of my job description is tosupport the kinky and the youth
to learn how, to learn the nextgeneration farmers how to be a
farmer, how to take care of youranimals and just trying to put
(19:20):
the seed of love and passionabout raising animals and the
importance of it in foodsecurity.
Yeah, all of that, of course,with animal welfare, emphasizing
animal welfare too.
Okay.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Yeah, it's a lot to think about when you're putting
your program together, becauseyou know you want to incorporate
a lot of things to be able tosupport our industries, and it's
amazing how it does cometogether in the end and you're
like, oh okay, that's reallygreat.
So you do have someresponsibility, or some of your
program will be with the 4-Hgroup as well, or working with
some of the youth in workshops.
(19:54):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
I'm primarily working with producers, all kinds of
small livestock producers inOahu.
However, I believe the Collegeof Tropical Agriculture and UH
Manoa find and me as well.
They're just promoting all ofthat.
Also, the younger generationsis very valuable.
Yeah, it's built into myposition, so I'm going to be
(20:19):
working with some workshops,some trainings.
You're gonna see me I don'tknow helping in the in this, the
county fair and the state fair.
I'll be around.
I'll be around for sure.
Like I said, this is my secondmonth in the position, so I'm
still learning all of that andthere's very specific protocols
(20:40):
to follow and very specifictechnical words that I need to
just learn for that.
Yeah, I'm excited.
I'm going to learn from all thefour H's for sure.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Yeah, yeah.
We have a lot of paperworkbehind the doors that we have to
do that and reporting that.
It consumes us time, but it'sgot to get it done.
So do you currently do you haveany programs you want to share
that's that are coming up orthings that you want to, yeah,
share with any of yourstakeholders that are?
Speaker 4 (21:12):
I kind of use this channel to begin People get to
know me, to get where I'm comingfrom, what I care, what I value
, what I want to do.
I'm in an exploratory phaseright now, when I'm just.
I met a lot of not a lot, but afew ranchers and farmers through
my career and working at FullerRanch, but the ones they
(21:34):
haven't met yet, um, I wouldlike to just meet in person,
talk, story, learning about howthey became farmers and what are
the many challenges.
So I'm in that phase right now.
After that, probably what'sgonna happen?
I'm gonna, after I gather allthe information for farmers,
stakeholders, people that arerelated in the industry, I'm
(21:57):
going to try to assess all theneeds and just try to prioritize
.
There's a lot of needs andthere's a lot of work that needs
to be done, for sure, but weneed to just go one step at a
time.
So we're going to do the main,the things things are impacting
the most to ranchers and farmersnow.
So there's gonna be a prioritylist and, yeah, all of that,
(22:21):
like I say, community-basedprogram.
And after that I'm doneassessing all the needs,
probably all simultaneously, I'mgonna start coordinating some
workshops, some training, some,some webinars, seminars.
So that's in the works.
So right now I'm being incontact with the Hawaii Sheep
(22:41):
and Goat Association and alsothe Hawaii Pork Industry
Association.
They've been very great.
I've been learning a lot and,just as in a group setting,
sometimes you can get moreinformation than individual
settings.
So just it's me going tomeetings and just going around
the island and, yeah, so forfuture workshops and trainings,
(23:03):
probably I don't have anythingplanned as of right now, but you
will be able to see in theInstagram and Facebook of the
new Instagram that is calledLivestock Extension Oahu, so you
guys can follow us and thisepisode is going to be posted
(23:23):
there for sure.
If I get the after, I get thelink.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think rightnow is well lately.
Social media is the way to goin terms of connecting with
people, so we're going to do alot of Instagram and things like
that.
Yeah, it's exciting.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Yeah, that's good.
Yes, and we will, for sure,share any type of workshops and
things.
We've always shared it on ourLivestock Extension group on our
Facebook page, as well as ourpodcast, our Lifestyle Palau
podcast, instagram page.
So definitely be on there.
And yeah, we look forward toworkshops and putting on events
and things with you, you know,because it's a lot easier and to
(24:07):
try and do these thingstogether as a group than
individually sometimes.
Yeah, we look forward to that.
It's great, and I think ourproducers in Oahu are looking
forward to be able to having anagent there on the ground.
We've never had an with someextension time, so to have
somebody that's going to be 100%of their time being extension,
I think it's going to be a greatbenefit to have you there for
(24:29):
our producers and I think theyalready have enjoyed meeting the
ones that you've been able totalk to and stuff.
It's been great to get involvedwith those associations and
help them as well to continuetheir progress that they've done
over the years and continue tostay involved.
Yeah, very good.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Yeah, and I'm very grateful that Oahu County and
the University of Hawaii.
They see agriculture andlivestock very important.
They have this position openand I was able to get this
position, so I'm very happy.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Well, definitely like to have you come back on
another episode and we can talkmore about.
You and I were talking aboutsome of the pastured pig
operations and looking at thatstuff and some civil pasture
things, so we'll have to haveyou back, so we can have a
little bit more focused talk onone of those areas for sure.
Speaker 4 (25:20):
Yeah, they'll be great.
Yeah, for sure, I love that.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for joiningus today, and we hope our
listeners found this informativeand that it will be useful to
them.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Yeah, make sure to follow us on our social media
pages.
The Livestock Follow be usefulto them.
Yeah, make sure to follow us onour social media pages.
The livestock follow out andlivestock extension group.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
If you haven't already be sure to visit the UHC
tar extension website and ourYouTube channel listed in the
show notes for additionalinformation about this topic,
see the show notes of thepodcast, like Melee said, in the
description box or our YouTubepage.
Thanks for listening to thelivestock followout Before we go
, show some love for yourfavorite podcast that's us by
leaving us a review anywhere youlisten to this, and then stay
(26:01):
tuned for next month's episode.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Thanks again to our sponsors, the livestock
extension group or theuniversity of Hawaii Manoa
college of tropical agricultureand human resilience, the center
for ag profitability of theuniversity of Nebraska, lincoln,
and the Western sustainableagriculture research and
education program.
Mahalo for listening, a hui houA hui hou.
Aloha.
Today's episode is sponsored bythe Livestock Extension Group
of the University of HawaiiManoa College of Tropical
Agriculture and Human Resilience, the Center for Ag
Profitability out of theUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln
and the Western SustainableAgriculture Research and
Education Program, Aloha andwelcome to Livestock Bala'au, a
podcast aimed to provideeducational support, information
(00:35):
, guidance and outreach to ourlivestock stakeholders in Hawaii
and the US.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
We are your hosts, Mele Washiro and Shannon Sand,
and today we are talking withYunuen Bastamante, who is our
new assistant livestockextension agent in Oahu County.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Yeah, thank you guys for having me.
I'm very excited.
I usually listen to yourpodcast here and there and I see
all these people from CTAHR andjust all this interesting
information and I was like oh,I'm going to be there, oh it's
exciting.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Yeah, we're very excited to have you join CTAHR
and Extension and for having youhere today to come and talk a
little bit and share witheverybody, so it's exciting for
us to be able to do this.
So maybe I don't know you wantto share with us a little bit
about your background and howyou came to be here yeah, of
course I would love to again.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
My name is Yunan Bustamante.
I was born and raised in Mexico.
The city where I'm from iscalled Puebla, is right below
Mexico City, so it's a beautifulplace.
Of course I'm from there right.
There's a really nice weather.
It's kind of Manoa type ofweather all year round it's just
rainy but then dry season.
So yeah, so I'm from there.
(01:49):
I have my undergrad educationthere.
I have a bachelor's degree inagronomy, agriculture and
livestock management.
So for one of the biggestuniversities in Mexico is very
specific about agriculture, soyeah.
I was very grateful to getaccepted in the university and
(02:11):
get a scholarship, becausegetting education nowadays is
not affordable.
So just having a scholarshipand giving me the opportunity
for me to be educated.
So after they finished myundergrad, one of my advisors
said I will highly recommend tojust go ahead and do your
master's and now that you're inthe track.
(02:31):
So I was like that's a goodidea.
But I was like what kind ofmaster's degree I want to do?
Because I learned all aboutbasic agronomy, agriculture,
animal science, basic agronomy,agriculture, animal science and
(02:51):
I was thinking I feel that Iwant to do more that is more
sustainable, more natural.
So one of the and the sameuniversity.
One of the programs it wasagroforestry for sustainable
development.
So I was like, okay, what isthat?
What is for sustainabledevelopment?
So I was like, okay, what isthat?
What is agroforestry?
So I talked to several advisorsand they said this is a great
opportunity because agroforestryis gonna be the new kind of,
(03:13):
the new type of research.
It's been there forever.
Indigenous communities havedone agroforestry for like
millennials, but this is gonnabe fancy new name.
Yeah, let's go to forestry.
So, yeah, they started to.
Yeah, I really love understandand preserve our culture as a
Mexican and but also I lovefarming and then those
(03:35):
technologies that we can applyto all these things combined.
So I was like, yeah, I thinkthat's a great opportunity for
me.
Again, I applied and, yeah, Iwas so nervous to get in the
program and, yeah, I wasaccepted.
I was also very lucky.
So then, yeah, because mybackground is animal science, so
(03:56):
it's when I decided to do morespecific research regarding
silvopastures.
Research regardingsilvopastures it's the
combinations with trees, grass,soil and the animals.
So, yeah, I did.
My research was forestry andtraditional silvopasture systems
in the semi, semi arid areas inMexico.
(04:21):
So, yeah, that's kind of likeyeah.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Because there's some really cool projects in Hawaii
that are looking at some of that.
So I was like that's neat thatyou have some experience with
that.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Shannon and I are actually on a project for a
civil pasture.
looking at Lucina in Hawaii andwhatnot, yeah, I think it's a
especially in our tropical areas.
I feel like that's an area thatis not as well utilized, and
then I feel like some peoplemight already be doing it and
not even realize that's the kindof system that they can take
(04:53):
advantage of and use it moreefficiently and effectively
their operations.
But so you also have a littlebit of experience, I know,
because we talked about yourveterinary technician and your
background and livestockmanagement here in Hawaii.
You want to share a little bitabout that yeah, of course.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
So then, because life takes you from many different
ways that sometimes you don'teven know yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
No, you never know where you're gonna end up.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
Yeah, yeah so then for I have some family here.
They used to live here in oahu.
Now they're in Big Island, inthe Hilo side they invited me
into vacations and I ended upstaying.
That was how I ended up.
Wow, this place is beautiful,it's magical.
I have family here and Hawaiianculture and Mexican culture are
(05:38):
so aligned.
We care a lot about family andjust community and all of that.
So I was just like this isgreat.
So then I moved here.
I moved to Oahu around likeeight years ago and one of my
first jobs it was as aveterinary technician.
It was just this hospital, veryspecialized for feline health,
(05:59):
so it was just for cats, mostlyfor cats.
I learned all the basics aboutinjections, medications and all
of that for small species.
They apply to bunnies, to cats,to dogs, to all different
species and companion animalsoverall.
So that was that I stayed for acouple of years.
I was very lucky.
(06:20):
Also, I met a lot of greatpeople.
I learned a lot from theveterinarian.
It was great.
So then, because of mybackground in animal science and
agroforestry, I was just in thesearch for something a little
more.
And having all this nowknowledge about the medical
field I was searching for a joband I had the opportunity to
(06:43):
work at Ballora Ranch.
So I was hired as a.
I started as a lead and then Itransitioned to livestock
specialist because my backgroundmade sense at the time.
So I was there for over threeyears, three years where I
learned a lot and also we grew alot.
(07:05):
I remember we started with 30,20 laying hens and now, when I
left, we have 400 hens.
I was like gosh, how did thathappen?
Yeah.
So we grew a lot.
Also, we have a small flock ofsheep and then also got twice as
big too.
While I was there, One of thethings that I learned that I was
(07:27):
like why didn't they teach mein school back in Mexico it was
about Korean natural farming.
Coalura Ranch have a great,great piggery.
They have all figured out howto raise pigs and litter.
But yeah, I learned a lot andeven even next, we expand that
and we started doing somepasture pigs.
(07:48):
They're still doing somepasture pigs.
Yeah, a lot of learning, a lotof developing and it was great.
All the people that are worthit.
I'm still like.
I feel like it's still myfamily.
I see them every time and Ijust nice opportunity for go and
visit them because yeah, I lovethem so much.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Yeah, that's great.
It's good that you can still beworking in the same sort of
sector in agriculture andwhatnot and still be able to see
those folks yeah, good awesome.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Yeah, what interested you in moving to extension in
Hawaii?
It's clear you were neverleaving Hawaii if you had a
choice, but what made you makethe transition over into
extension?
Speaker 4 (08:28):
I feel that I always enjoy and I had.
Really I was very, I'm very,passionate about educating
people.
Oh, nice, good, like share whatI?
The little bit that I learned.
I don't know anything.
Everything and something theyrealize.
The more they learn, the lessthat I learned.
I don't know everything.
And something that I realizedthe more that I learned, the
less that I know.
Right, so, just the little that.
(08:50):
I learned during school and justhands-on experience and working
in the vet and working in theranch, every time that we have
visitors, new people, or I hadto train employees.
That was my joy.
Then I always like, since I wasin in high school and and yeah,
(09:11):
I always knew there was thisextension program, I was not too
sure about exactly how we looklike and how we exactly work,
but I know that existed, yeah,because, yeah, also, the
extension is not big but peopleknow about that in Mexico.
So I was like, okay, I knowwhat it is.
But the reason that I decided totransition for working hands-on
(09:36):
in a ranch to extension isbecause it was this job
opportunity they opened up herewith the College of Tropical
Agriculture and UH Manoa theextension livestock extension
and one of my colleagues at thetime they told me I think you
(09:56):
will do great in this job, I cansee you doing this job.
And I was like, are you sure?
And I was like, yeah, because Iwas thinking about it the other
day.
Sometimes people see things inyou that you might not even see
it as you be really good at it.
That's how I did some researchabout extension in Hawaii and I
(10:20):
decided to apply.
I applied last year.
And yeah, thankfully I justjoined the team and I'm very
excited.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Oh, that's exciting.
I was like I'm sure they'reexcited to have you, yes, very
excited.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
It's nice to be able to have you on board and I can
see your passion for wanting toshare and educating and that
outreach within a community, Ithink, is such a big part of
extension and it takes a certainperson to be able to converse
across the different segmentswith producers, many different
people from different areas ofagriculture in our industry and
(10:55):
you have to be able to switchgears in how you're being able
to talk to different people.
So everybody builds theirextension program.
We all have sort of areas thatwe are responsible for of course
, all the different livestockspecies but there's always
things that are going tointerest us more or maybe we
have a little bit morebackground.
So can you share a little bitwhere you're planning to focus
(11:16):
some of your extension programon, and or if there's special
things that you were wanting tolook into?
Speaker 4 (11:30):
I want to go back to the question.
Doing some research on just anormal engine like Google and
things.
I was looking up for advice onhow to do things in a certain
way and most of the informationthat I've found is from mainland
and a lot of these things donot apply to the ecosystem and
(11:54):
just environmental conditions,because they have seasons and
they have all of that and eventhe animal species.
Sometimes they're not even thesame.
So I was like I wish it waslike someone that could just
give me more accurate advice.
I know I reached out to DrDanny and to Caleb from the
University of Hawaii, theprofessor, and to you as well,
(12:16):
melly, but I was like I think weneed a little more of this.
And now that I'm on the otherside, I understand there's so
much work to do in terms ofextension and I see the need and
I see all the things that wecould work in so many different
ways.
But at the time it was anotherthought that I had in so many
(12:38):
different ways, but at the timeit was another thought that I
had.
I wish it was more publicationsand things very specific to to
hawaii and oh, now in myposition to oahu, because
another thing that I've beenlearning now that I'm visiting
farmers and thing is that eventhough we're the same island, we
have differences it's verydifferent climate even depending
on which island and, like bigisland, has 11 different clients
(13:02):
, oh yeah, so yeah, somethinglike that, like here is more
urbanized so just having allthese constant.
We need more like food supplyand we need more things and also
we're fighting with the ag land, so all these things that is
changing all across the island.
So I was thinking, oh yeah, Iwish I could learn more about it
(13:24):
and with my education, myexperience and my backgrounds I
can just help more farmers thethe help that I that I got from
dr daddy and dr caleb or you,amelia, wish I could just help
all their farmers.
And even working at the ranch Iwas still connecting with some
farmers and things, but my jobit was just making sure we're
(13:46):
very productive and sustainableand just raising animals and
with all the products, aboutanimal welfare.
Yeah, I think now this job isthe extension is going to allow
me to contribute, like in abigger picture about sustainable
agriculture practices andhelping more producers with the
little things that I learnedthrough school and through my
(14:09):
work.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
It's a huge part.
I think that you like you saidit's hard because you get in
there and you're like, oh, weneed to do this and there's so
many things on the list that wewant to do you really got to let
things float up and prioritizewhat's going to be the most
beneficial for our producers andyou know I've had so many talks
already.
I think we have a lot of greatideas on where, a lot of
(14:32):
different things to work on andwhatnot.
But yeah, it's great when youhave a big team, or not even a
big team.
There's not a lot of us, no,there's at least there's two of
us in the state.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yeah, I was gonna say I'm sure Mellie's excited not
to be the only one left.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
But it's nice, yeah, you can.
At least you're always going tohave little areas that you have
a larger portion of youreducation or experience, and so
it's nice to be able to havesomebody to share
responsibilities in a sense, orwith or even just collaborate on
work, and sometimes it'stalking about different areas
and different things that aregoing on in the industry and how
we can work together witheveryone to guide and help our
(15:10):
producers and provide resourcesfor them.
So I think that's very good.
I'm very excited to be able tohave more agents and hopefully
we'll have more in the nearfuture.
There's more positions that aregoing to be opening up.
But, yeah, is there aparticular interest that you
have and look at, you want topursue with your extension
program or in how you can helpsupport some of our producers,
(15:32):
of our producers?
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Yeah, extension program.
What I would like to be is just, of course, tailored for
specific needs for Oahu.
I'm the Oahu livestock agent,so what I wanted to do is reach
out to people and get to knowthem and just learn from them,
and exactly what is what youneed to know them and just learn
(15:58):
from them.
And exactly what is what youneed.
However, with my education, mybackground, I always try to
target all sustainable practicesand community-based education.
But when I was working atColorado Ranch and all the
things that I've been learninglately is just, oahu has more
(16:19):
the capacity or will be morelikely to develop the swine
industry.
The pork industry has been thebiggest in Oahu, so I think
promoting that and just helpthose farmers still exist.
I think that will be one of mypriorities.
Same thing for poultry.
(16:40):
Poultry I find it veryimportant in O'ahu.
We have the largest egg farmshere in O'ahu and, and I think
overall, culturally, people havetheir laying hands, so why not
promote more backyard orhomestead laying hands?
(17:02):
I think that will be the mainapproach.
And the other thing that is nowmore and more popular is the
use of small ruminants likesheep and goats to maintain your
lawn or help with invasivespecies and because, again, we
are the most populated island,it makes sense to have a smaller
(17:24):
species and of course, there'ssome cattle ranchers that are
still around and they have thisheritage Paniolo heritage that
we want to protect andacknowledge.
But, yeah, I think sheep andgoats will be a big area, I feel
, to develop for sure.
Now, the other thing that we'vebeen hearing in social media and
(17:47):
just all about is aboutregenerative agriculture and
pasture-raised farming.
I think is very relevantnowadays and I think I would
like to just also include thosetwo approaches because it lands
into sustainability andsilvopasture.
Yeah, all of that, the maingoal overall is just to improve
(18:13):
and just have more food security.
So, always having that in mind,so the main goal is just be
more, less depending of imports.
Now it's more and more.
I think 80 or 90 percent we'redepending of food from overseas
and I think the other twoaspects I want to include in my
(18:34):
program is making sure we aremaking part of the Hawaiian
culture is part of it and thePaniolo culture.
All those are very importantvalues that need to be preserved
and acknowledged and respected.
I think all of that is going totry to be included somehow in
my programs.
I don't know how, but this isthe intention and I think at the
(18:59):
end, what I find it veryvaluable and it's kind of part
of my job description is tosupport the kinky and the youth
to learn how, to learn the nextgeneration farmers how to be a
farmer, how to take care of youranimals and just trying to put
(19:20):
the seed of love and passionabout raising animals and the
importance of it in foodsecurity.
Yeah, all of that, of course,with animal welfare, emphasizing
animal welfare too.
Okay.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Yeah, it's a lot to think about when you're putting
your program together, becauseyou know you want to incorporate
a lot of things to be able tosupport our industries, and it's
amazing how it does cometogether in the end and you're
like, oh okay, that's reallygreat.
So you do have someresponsibility, or some of your
program will be with the 4-Hgroup as well, or working with
some of the youth in workshops.
(19:54):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
I'm primarily working with producers, all kinds of
small livestock producers inOahu.
However, I believe the Collegeof Tropical Agriculture and UH
Manoa find and me as well.
They're just promoting all ofthat.
Also, the younger generationsis very valuable.
Yeah, it's built into myposition, so I'm going to be
(20:19):
working with some workshops,some trainings.
You're gonna see me I don'tknow helping in the in this, the
county fair and the state fair.
I'll be around.
I'll be around for sure.
Like I said, this is my secondmonth in the position, so I'm
still learning all of that andthere's very specific protocols
(20:40):
to follow and very specifictechnical words that I need to
just learn for that.
Yeah, I'm excited.
I'm going to learn from all thefour H's for sure.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Yeah, yeah.
We have a lot of paperworkbehind the doors that we have to
do that and reporting that.
It consumes us time, but it'sgot to get it done.
So do you currently do you haveany programs you want to share
that's that are coming up orthings that you want to, yeah,
share with any of yourstakeholders that are?
Speaker 4 (21:12):
I kind of use this channel to begin People get to
know me, to get where I'm comingfrom, what I care, what I value
, what I want to do.
I'm in an exploratory phaseright now, when I'm just.
I met a lot of not a lot, but afew ranchers and farmers through
my career and working at FullerRanch, but the ones they
(21:34):
haven't met yet, um, I wouldlike to just meet in person,
talk, story, learning about howthey became farmers and what are
the many challenges.
So I'm in that phase right now.
After that, probably what'sgonna happen?
I'm gonna, after I gather allthe information for farmers,
stakeholders, people that arerelated in the industry, I'm
(21:57):
going to try to assess all theneeds and just try to prioritize
.
There's a lot of needs andthere's a lot of work that needs
to be done, for sure, but weneed to just go one step at a
time.
So we're going to do the main,the things things are impacting
the most to ranchers and farmersnow.
So there's gonna be a prioritylist and, yeah, all of that,
(22:21):
like I say, community-basedprogram.
And after that I'm doneassessing all the needs,
probably all simultaneously, I'mgonna start coordinating some
workshops, some training, some,some webinars, seminars.
So that's in the works.
So right now I'm being incontact with the Hawaii Sheep
(22:41):
and Goat Association and alsothe Hawaii Pork Industry
Association.
They've been very great.
I've been learning a lot and,just as in a group setting,
sometimes you can get moreinformation than individual
settings.
So just it's me going tomeetings and just going around
the island and, yeah, so forfuture workshops and trainings,
(23:03):
probably I don't have anythingplanned as of right now, but you
will be able to see in theInstagram and Facebook of the
new Instagram that is calledLivestock Extension Oahu, so you
guys can follow us and thisepisode is going to be posted
(23:23):
there for sure.
If I get the after, I get thelink.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think rightnow is well lately.
Social media is the way to goin terms of connecting with
people, so we're going to do alot of Instagram and things like
that.
Yeah, it's exciting.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Yeah, that's good.
Yes, and we will, for sure,share any type of workshops and
things.
We've always shared it on ourLivestock Extension group on our
Facebook page, as well as ourpodcast, our Lifestyle Palau
podcast, instagram page.
So definitely be on there.
And yeah, we look forward toworkshops and putting on events
and things with you, you know,because it's a lot easier and to
(24:07):
try and do these thingstogether as a group than
individually sometimes.
Yeah, we look forward to that.
It's great, and I think ourproducers in Oahu are looking
forward to be able to having anagent there on the ground.
We've never had an with someextension time, so to have
somebody that's going to be 100%of their time being extension,
I think it's going to be a greatbenefit to have you there for
(24:29):
our producers and I think theyalready have enjoyed meeting the
ones that you've been able totalk to and stuff.
It's been great to get involvedwith those associations and
help them as well to continuetheir progress that they've done
over the years and continue tostay involved.
Yeah, very good.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Yeah, and I'm very grateful that Oahu County and
the University of Hawaii.
They see agriculture andlivestock very important.
They have this position openand I was able to get this
position, so I'm very happy.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Well, definitely like to have you come back on
another episode and we can talkmore about.
You and I were talking aboutsome of the pastured pig
operations and looking at thatstuff and some civil pasture
things, so we'll have to haveyou back, so we can have a
little bit more focused talk onone of those areas for sure.
Speaker 4 (25:20):
Yeah, they'll be great.
Yeah, for sure, I love that.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for joiningus today, and we hope our
listeners found this informativeand that it will be useful to
them.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Yeah, make sure to follow us on our social media
pages.
The Livestock Follow be usefulto them.
Yeah, make sure to follow us onour social media pages.
The livestock follow out andlivestock extension group.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
If you haven't already be sure to visit the UHC
tar extension website and ourYouTube channel listed in the
show notes for additionalinformation about this topic,
see the show notes of thepodcast, like Melee said, in the
description box or our YouTubepage.
Thanks for listening to thelivestock followout Before we go
, show some love for yourfavorite podcast that's us by
leaving us a review anywhere youlisten to this, and then stay
(26:01):
tuned for next month's episode.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Thanks again to our sponsors, the livestock
extension group or theuniversity of Hawaii Manoa
college of tropical agricultureand human resilience, the center
for ag profitability of theuniversity of Nebraska, lincoln,
and the Western sustainableagriculture research and
education program.
Mahalo for listening, a hui houA hui hou.
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