Naturally Central Florida Meeting – May 16, 2005

DISCOVERING THE DESERET RANCH

Many people may be surprised to learn that Central Florida is home to one of the largest working cattle ranches in the United States.

The myregion.org Naturally Central Florida Committee corralled at the Deseret Ranch, which occupies more than 300,000 acres across portions of Brevard, Orange and Osceola Counties, on May 16 for their regular meeting.
 

The Deseret Ranch is a vast environmental landscape that features pastures, citrus groves and natural wildlife habitats. It also includes 1,000 miles of canals, 250 miles of roads and 1,400 miles of fences.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased most of the ranch during the 1950’s. It is part of the church’s agriculture investments, serving as a resource to the church welfare program to feed people in times of need. Deseret Ranch is also a for-profit taxable operation and an equal opportunity employer. The word Deseret means honeybee and signifies industriousness and hard work. The ranch uses a “beehive” for its brand.

 
Following the regular business meeting, James Payne, a member of the myregion.org Board of Directors and Property Manager for the ranch, lassoed committee members and moo-ved them on a bus tour of a small portion of the vast property. Ranch headquarters are located in the Southeast part of the land in Brevard County. The Visitor’s center showcases the rich cowboy history depicted through maps, aerial shots and pictures of its former and present residents and ranch hands.  An intimidating and sizeable alligator, that once inhabited the property’s orange groves, crouches next to the leather couch, while a few deer, wild hog and a hollowed-out beehive decorate the adjacent wall. 

More than 75 employees and their families live in houses across the ranch. Among the amenities of the property is a small swimming hole, which provides relaxation and heat relief for everyone in the community, as well as campgrounds and a rodeo arena.

There are currently 44,000 cows, including replacement heifers and purebred cows, on the ranch. They are broken into 14 cattle units and spread across the 300,000 acres. A foreman and a couple cowboys operate each unit. The cattle is rotated from pasture to pasture to maintain grazing quality. Each cattle unit consists of several pastures with a variety of water and food options, including a sweet molasses supplement during the lean winter months when dormant grass lacks nourishment.

Molasses drum

While cattle operations are the primary focus of the ranch, portions of the property are used in other ways. As part of the wildlife management plan, 45 hunt clubs lease portions of the ranch and harvest white-tail deer, turkey, wild hog, dove and quail, thereby maintaining optimal habitat conditions and herd size.  Timber, including pine, cypress, palm, wax myrtle and hardwood trees, is also harvested to allow for regeneration while maintaining wildlife habitat and also serves as cool coverage and cow-lounging on hot Florida days. Other site leases include TV and radio towers.

NCF PUBLICATION NEARING COMPLETION

The myregion.org Naturally Central Florida committee has been working for several months on a publication that will showcase the need for land acquisition in the region. Seven environmentally sensitive areas have been targeted and will be featured in the publication. Keith Schue of The Nature Conservancy has been coordinating the publication, which will include articles about the significance of each of the seven areas, not just from an environmental angle, but also as they tie to economic and growth issues in the region. The publication is scheduled to be unveiled at the myregion.org Board of Director’s meeting on August 12.