HONOLULU -- Hawaii's ranching industry is recovering from several years of crippling droughts. It still faces a number of hurdles.

Ranchers said Saturday more than 80 percent of the state's calves are shipped to pastures on the mainland and that needs to change.

“We currently supply less than 10 percent of the beef consumed in Hawaii. A lot of our cattle are going out of state. We would like to keep more of those cattle in state,” said Alan Gottlieb, with the Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council.

To raise awareness to their issues, ranchers invited state lawmakers to take a break from city life for a barbeque at Kualoa Ranch Saturday.

“If we don’t support our local agriculture, what’s going to happen if there’s a tsunami and we wipe out our ports and we don't have food coming in here for a number of weeks, months,” said Gottlieb.

The Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council said one set-back is a lack of free range for ranches to expand. The state also doesn't have the infrastructure necessary to process local beef.

“If Oahu, which has a million people, doesn’t have a sustainable slaughterhouse, the cost of beef and pork and other slaughtered animals rises exponentially,” said Sen. Clayton Hee.

The House Agriculture Committee passed a bill which would give the state ownership of a slaughterhouse in Kapolei. The measure now goes to the House Finance committee for its final hearing.