J. Gordon Cran
Year Inducted: 2002
S.C. Ranch | Hawai'i
Kapapala Ranch | Hawai'i
Kona rancher Herbert Shipman once told him that he’d have to be in the cattle business 10 years before he’d know enough to manage a ranching operation. Now that J. Gordon Cran has been in the industry for more than 50 years, it’s fair to say he’s built up some expertise.
After starting his career at Shipman Ranch in 1945 and working at ranches around the Big Island and Oahu, he found his biggest challenge was still ahead of him, when he established his own family cattle operation, Kapapala Ranch, on 30,000 acres in Ka’u in 1977.
The first years of catching and selling wild cattle at Kapapala were fun, he recalls, but after that job was done it was time to really get down to work and run the ranch like a business. Today, Gordon fills just about every position on the ranch himself – “owner, manager, laborer, farrier, goat herder, cook, fence mender.”
Gordon says he and his family are able to keep the ranch running because of their hands-on experience and knowledge.
“We know about cattle, we know about dogs,” he says. “If you don’t know about cattle you better get out of the business, because they tell you everything you need to know.”
Even though running his own ranch is the hardest thing he’s attempted during his long career, he also says it’s a high point for him. Because cheap imported beef is making it harder than ever to make a profit raising cattle in Hawaii, Gordon calls Kapapala “the greatest test” of his career, and he welcomes the challenge.
“Looking forward, that’s the highlight,” he says. “Looking back, that’s just history.”