Sherwood R.H. Greenwell
Year Inducted: 2002
Kealakekua Ranch | Hawai'i
When Sherwood Greenwell took over Kealakekua Ranch in 1951, he was inheriting one piece of the sprawling cattle operation his grandfather had started a hundred years before. From 1938 when he came home from high school to 1989 when he sold the ranch, Sherwood was ensconced in Kealakekua.
Over the years, he kept his eye on how the ranching industry was developing, always on the lookout for a new technique that would make the process better. One of the innovations was a cattle chute that became known around Kona for its efficiency.
It contained a sump to collect and reuse the insecticide that was sprayed on the cattle, a branding table, a surgical chute and a scale to weigh the heifers. Maybe its best feature was its circular design.
“As one animal goes in, the animal behind it only sees it go around a corner, so he follows,” he says. “It’s a great chute for getting animals to enter.”
Sherwood has been recognized as an innovator – twice he was awarded Soil Conservation Rancher of the Year for his techniques, once for developing a pumping system that brought water up more than 6,000 feet from Kealakekua Bay, and again for developing a rotation grazing system that used pastures more efficiently.