Much like the environmental stance of ridge to reef for the entire state of Hawaii, Kyle Caires approaches his cattle herd with a ‘conception to carcass’ mentality. As the only registered Angus breeder in the state of Hawaii, he can’t afford to think any differently. 

This holistic approach as a cattleman was handed down to Caires from his grandfather, Joseph Freitas Caires Sr., who first moved from the Big Island to Maui in the early 40s. He began working at the sugar plantation while building the homestead that would serve as the backdrop for grandson’s upbringing as a cattleman. 

“I was my grandpa’s shadow growing up,” Caires says. “When I got tired of playing with toys at grandpa’s house, I had two options, Scientific American or The Cattleman Magazine. I probably read those magazines front and back four or five times over as a kid.”

Caires’ mom, Marlene Caires Apuna, and her siblings were all involved in 4-H, which included livestock and meat judging. It was never a question if Caires would be part of the operation. 

It was only a matter of when. 

A strong foundation

“My grandfather was a sugar boiler by trade, but he kept a solid herd of crossbred cattle,” Caires says. “Grandpa taught me about selection and mating systems because he had a few purebred animals, including Angus, Brahman and Herefords, and a plan for using them in crossbreeding.” 

Brangus were popular at the time, but the top animals in the breed associations came from the show ring which were suited for high inputs and climates with less variation than Hawaii. This prompted Caires’ grandfather to develop first-generation Brangus cattle using a three quarter-blood bull to breed back on Angus to get the desired 5/8 and 3/8 registered Brangus. Many of those original Angus cows on Maui trace back to Emulous, Rito, Jorgenson and Canadian bloodlines.

“He then used homemade Brangus bulls on Hereford cows to make super baldies,” Caires explains. “Many had ‘tiko-tiko faces,’ a local slang for a brockle face, and the ones with roaning on their necks were called Lei necks.”  

It would be these foundational lines of crossbred cattle that would set the tone for the Angus genetics that could and would find success in The Aloha State.

“Those Lei necks were tough as nails and weaned heavy calves, but they lacked uniformity,” Caires says. “When those Lei necks were bred to a purebred Angus bull, uniformity improved while keeping performance in their calves. That mating produced my first 4-H steer, boosting my interest in Angus cattle. Grandpa always said the most important thing in a cow herd is longevity. Less females to replace, more calves to market, money in the bank. That’s always stuck with me.”

Fed on vs. bred in 

After graduating high school in 2001, Caires made his way to the mainland where he studied animal science at Oregon State University (OSU). As an OSU livestock judger, Caires got a first-hand look at what animals survived and thrived in different regions, forage types and feeding programs as he traveled across the country.

Caires began selectively adding genetics from Tehama, Van Dyke’s, Green Garden, Dale Davis and Rishel Angus programs through shipped semen and embryos. 

“We slowly put those pieces together like Legos to fit our objectives and environment,” Caires says. “They didn’t all work but through selection and rigid culling, those additions contributed to the successful herd we have today.”  

In just a few miles, the microclimates that make up the island of Maui can go from high altitudes with lots of rain to almost sea level with drought-like conditions and everything in between in terms of forage and soil types. There’s truly no better place to test out environmental adaptability than Hawaii. 

“What I’ve learned over time is keep it simple, our environment will dictate mature cow size and their ability to thermoregulate and re-breed,” Caires says. 

Finding cattle that can thrive in variable forage and weather conditions hinges primarily on avoiding extremes. 

“Maternal traits are a pass or fail quality that’s bred in not fed on,” Caires explains. “This isn’t a beauty contest. Selecting for frame size or fleshing ability doesn’t guarantee productivity, reproductive performance or a desirable eating experience. Fleshing ability and moderate are terms thrown around as indicators of fertility. Truth is, there are plenty of small, fat cows and big, moderate cows that are not as fertile and neither of those work here. My grandfather used to say, ‘Find ones that make you money and learn to like what they look like.’” 

While everything in Hawaii might look like a grazer’s paradise, there’s a lot going on beneath the surface. Most of the pastures contain African couch grass, various paspalums or guinea grass. 

“These roadside grasses are lush and green with high water content and lots of lignin,” Caires says. “Because of the high fiber and lignin, protein and energy availability in the grass is low, and some of the paspalums and digit grasses have very high endophyte levels. The relative forage quality [RFQ] is between 70 and 85 on a good day while cool season grasses at higher elevations on Maui, or within improved pastures on the mainland, easily have RFQs between 100 and 130.” 

Couple that with increased drought frequencies and you have a real feast or famine situation. That forage is suited for maintenance of a mature cow, but it’s not ideal to develop replacement heifers or grass finish an animal for market. Even still, Caires persists. 

In addition to selecting for environmental adaptability, a strong focus to improve end-product traits has been paramount to building and sustaining the herd. 

“We started collecting carcass data and working with the local processing facility and federal grader when I was in high school,” Caires says. “I met with him before school to evaluate carcasses. Then in college I learned more about meat science and saved money to purchase a WBSF instrument for tenderness testing.” 

The summer before Caires started graduate school, he developed an image analysis algorithm to evaluate spinalis scores and seam fat levels taken at the sixth and twelfth ribs. Collectively, he’s utilized that data for more than 20 years in selection approaches to improve meat quality and boost sub-primal yields. It’s a slow and costly process, but proven to be effective. 

A self-proclaimed road rancher, Caires has cattle spread out between multiple land leases all with their own microclimate. It’s paramount he knows every single detail about each of his animals so he can match them first to the right environment and then to a complimentary bull. 

“This is very different from what I grew up in because back then, the ranch was all one continuous property, even the leased pasture wasn’t far off,” Caires explained. “Then those fires last fall took quite a bit of agricultural land. We only lost one pasture to it, but it’s definitely had an impact on everyone.” 

While the forage available on Maui isn’t exactly ideal, it’s sustained the Caires herd through multiple generations, droughts and fires. 

From the ashes

It wasn’t until 2016 that Caires made his way back home to Maui after living a lot of life on the mainland, in Oregon, Washington and Georgia. A severe, widespread drought coupled with the passing of his stepfather, Charles Apuna Junior, in 2012 resulted in a complete herd dispersal for Caires and his mother. 

“We kept five head that would be the foundation for rebuilding from the ashes, so to speak,” Caires says. “Many of those purebred animals were sold to commercial cattlemen. My mom manages a commercial outfit consisting exclusively of those genetics. Under her management, those cattle get more than 60% Prime every year regardless of drought and are mostly grass finished.” 

Even if those Angus aren’t working for Caires directly, they’re still a testament to the herd his grandfather built. Caires attributes the genetic selection of his cattle to disciplined selection and extensive use of linebreeding.  

“The herd is built on females that worked 15 to 22 years in the program; maternal traits and longevity are bred in,” he adds. “Many of our cows carry a 25-50% inbreeding coefficient, that yields consistency.” 

Complimentary outside genetics are added at times, but they aren’t trying to make big changes. 

“We’ll bring in new blood through a bullet-proof female, and that works for us in the middle of the Pacific Ocean,” Caires says. “I love the Angus breed: they make cows and market cattle that gain and grade on grass or in the feedlot without the inconsistency of crossbreeding. Angus is the little engine that can. It’s our duty to keep them practical and problem free.” 

Even though they no longer boast the neck roaning that brought about the name Lei necks, Caires’ cattle are very much in a league of their own as a collective herd. 
Editor’s note: Lindsay Humphrey is a freelance writer from Choctaw, Okla.