The water buffalo of Kauaʻi.
KOA’s dairy water buffalo support an integrated farm through grazing, fertility, food production, draft power and memorable farm learning experiences.
Dairy with a distinct heritage.
Buffalo milk is valued for its rich butterfat and is used around the world in foods such as mozzarella and gelato. KOA is developing local dairy pathways through appropriate herd-share arrangements and community relationships. Our dairy store is currently under construction.
Multipurpose by nature.
Dairy
Water buffalo milk provides a more nutrient-dense alternative to standard dairy.
Meat
Excess bulls not retained for breeding can support local meat.
Draft Work
Trained animals provide draft power for plowing, wagon tours and farm tasks.
Grazing & Soil Fertility
The herd’s manure returns organic fertility to the land.
A herd with a new island story.
Water buffalo were once on Hawaiʻi’s list of restricted animals. After roughly three years of work with the state Department of Agriculture, the first four—pregnant females—arrived from Arkansas in 2019. Don Heacock called it “a dream come true.”
KOA’s herd began on January 1, 2020 with four pregnant buffalo cows, carrying offspring from three dairy water buffalo bulls. The first calves included three heifers and one bull, Kekane, who became the farm’s first sire bull.
Our small herd has since grown to around 50, and new animals have been brought in to widen the bloodlines and keep the herd genetically strong. Moved paddock to paddock, the buffalo graze down invasive grasses, press seed and nutrients back into the earth, and build living soil that stores carbon—while pointing toward a future of island-raised dairy that never has to be shipped across an ocean.
