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| "A lot of bull" Florida State Archives |
By Jane Feehan
Having
recently read Patrick D. Smith’s A Land
Remembered, a tale of early settlers and cattle ranchers in Florida, I was eager to research the genesis and current status of the beef business in the Sunshine
State. It’s big, but often takes a back
seat to citrus endeavors.
According
to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (see https://www.freshfromflorida.com), the
Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon brought the first cattle and horses to
America in 1521. Mortally wounded in a skirmish with Indians in southwest
Florida, Ponce de Leon most likely left the expedition’s livestock and horses there before returning to Cuba where he died. Another Spanish group left cattle and horses in the
Pensacola area in 1540 after failing to meet up with explorer Hernando de Soto.
By the
late 1800s, the shipping of cattle to Key West and Cuba was a
thriving business in several areas of the state with much of it developed by William
H. Towles. In 1870 this Perry, FL cattle rancher moved to the Fort Meyers area
seeking new opportunities. After a brief stint in retail with James E. Hendry, Sr., Towles returned to what he knew best: cattle. His business, which included a lodge for drivers, and passengers on his schooner was centered in Punta Rassa (part of today’s Fort Myers-Cape Coral area). Captain Billy, as he became known, is considered the first pioneer cattleman in southern Florida.
His decision
to return to the cattle biz was a good one. Towles Company expanded trade to
Cuba where herds had been diminished by decades of warfare. The company also shipped
cattle to northern states. By 1916, Towles modernized the beef industry with
improved feeding. He cultivated grasses planted in Moore Haven (southern tip of
Lake Okeechobee) that supported three or four head per acre instead of the 10
acres required per cow in western states. (Today 1.8 acres is rule of thumb.) Thereafter, a fattened steer was expected to fetch $80-$100—a considerable increase from the
usual $18 before then.
Today,
more Florida farms are dedicated to raising beef than to growing citrus.
According to the Florida Cattleman’s Association, the beef business generates $2.1
billion annually and provides about 17,000 jobs. Most of the industry here involves cow-calf
operations. Calves born in Florida are generally shipped to other states for grain feeding and processing.
More interesting
facts from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services:
• Florida
is home to five of the top ten largest cow/calf operations in the US (2009). •
Florida was ranked 10th in the nation in number of beef cows in 2011. • Nearly
one-half of all Florida Agricultural land is involved in cattle production.
And it all started in Florida ...
For more on
today’s cattle market (prices) and other commodities, see https://www.agriculture.com/markets/commodity-prices
For more
on Punta Rassa history and William H. Towles, see:
For more on
Ponce de Leon and Florida, see: The Everglades:
A River of Grass by Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1947).
Other
sources:
Florida Star, Feb. 16, 1900
Ocala Evening Star, Sept. 29, 1900
News-Press (Fort Myers), May 8, 1916
News-Press (Fort Myers), Aug. 1, 1970
Tags: Florida beef industry, Florida cattle, southwestern Florida, William H. Towles, Fort Myers, Punta Rassa, Jane Feehan
