AGRICULTURE
2018-2019 2017-2018 Change
ST. LUCIE 18,124 20,562 -11.9%
INDIAN RIVER 15,708 19,228 -18.3%
OKEECHOBEE 3,597 3,664 -1.8%
MARTIN 1,289 1,995 -35.4%
BREVARD 360 771 -53.3%
PEARCE CATTLE CO.
Tending the herd in Okeechobee, Florida’s top cattle county.
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upon by cattle, because of
the relatively low-impact and
“nearly pristine” nature of
ranchland including its hammocks
and ponds and sloughs.
“That’s where people want
to live,” Pearce said. “We’re losing
more ranchland every day”
in south and central Florida.
In Florida, Pearce said, cattle
ranching means birthing calves
in October and November to
be ready by spring, the prime
time for grass grazing, brought
up to 500 to 700 pounds and
shipped to feedlots in Texas,
Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado
where they grow to about
1,250 or 1,300 pounds before
being slaughtered and sent to
meat processing plants.
In 2008, Pearce said,
Okeechobee County had
90,000 beef cattle compared
with 82,000 a decade later.
St. Lucie County had a headcount
of beef cattle in 2008
of 27,000 and 28,000 in 2018,
Pearce said, and Indian River’s
beef cattle totaled 15,000 in
2008, and dropped to 12,800 in
2018. v
1
CITRUS ACREAGE
Source: USDA
PEARCE CATTLE CO.
Just as in decades past, cowboys and their dogs move cattle at the Pearce Cattle Company Ranch in Okeechobee County, a multi-generational cattle operation.
/TCBusiness.com