The cattle and beef industry contribute to our everyday lives in the form of jobs, food, and great economic impact, both for our local community and the state of Florida. At Dark Hammock Legacy Ranch, we’re excited to be part of those numbers, and to help contribute to ranching education. We’ll break down the incredible impact cattle and ranching have in today’s blog. For more, follow along on our website.
By the Numbers – Economy
Overall, cattle sales and the ranching industry accounts for a good portion of Florida’s economy. In 2018, cattle generated about $985 million for the state’s economy. Cattle and ranching supported about 4,570 jobs in the state. In 2017, the state’s Census of Agriculture listed calf and cattle sales at $522 million and dairy sales at $478 million. The industry as a whole could support as much as $1.39 billion in revenue and 6,902 jobs each year when considering various multiplier effects. That’s money that’s being generated here and contributed right back into our community.
Production Numbers
How many cattle does it take to generate those totals? In 2021, the cattle and calf population in Florida totaled 1.63 million, with 929,000 of those as beef cattle. That 1.63 million is about 1.7 percent of the total cattle and calf population in the United States. Our state also contributes serious numbers to cattle sales because of our esteemed pedigrees and superior genetic breeding. Approximately 450,000 calves alone are shipped all over the world from Florida.
Ecological Impact
Ranching also greatly contributes to our environmental success in Florida (you can read more about that here). Ranchers choose to raise their cattle on three different types of pastures: improved, unimproved, and native. All three help contribute to the environment and cultivate species in different ways. Land managers introduce and manage high production grass species in improved pastures, while unimproved pastures have introduced species but are not highly managed for maximum production. Native species pastures have a mixture of native species, carefully managed by controlled burns.
Dark Hammock Legacy Ranch, and everyone who’s part of our team, is working hard to provide a great contribution to our community. We invite you to come visit us on an agritour.
