Florida's pioneers were cowhunters. Cattle and other livestock had been left behind by the Spanish Explorers on early expeditions to Florida. For hundreds of years they roamed the scrub and palmettos. If a man could corral them, they were his to keep!
Currently,
Florida ranks 4 nationally (behind Texas, Montanna and Nebraska) in the number of herds with 500 or more brood cows.
Florida ranks 10th nationally in the number of beef cattle with more than a million head spread among 18,000 herds. Okeechobee County leads the state in beef production with 122,400 beef cattle according to Florida Dept. of Agriculture. Florida has 4 of the nation's 10 largest cattle ranches including the largest ranch in the country with more than 35,000 cows on 300,000 acres!!
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