Ed Boteilho, whose family has owned and operated Cloverleaf Dairy since 1962
“You’re looking at the last dairy standing,” Boteilho said. “And I think what we’re seeing is the final destruction of the dairy industry in Hawaii, as it was.” Clover Leaf Dairy is a family operation, owned by Ed and his six siblings and their mother, Josephine. It is the last of the old-time farms in Hawaii.
At a Department of Agriculture meeting yesterday, he reluctantly asked for a waiver to lower his prices below the minimum allowed by state law. That’s because otherwise the state’s ONLY milk processor, Meadow Gold is threatening to stop buying local milk. Meadow Gold is willing to pay prices that match California’s. That means a price cut from about $35 per 100 pounds to $27.
Watch the video at KITV http://www.kitv.com/news/could-it-be-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-one-of-states-last-largescale-milk-producers/33914936