Development Of Cattle & Citrus Industry In Florida
Florida's hot, humid climate and not well drained or nutritious soil doesn’t sound very appealing to ranchers and farmers perhaps. However, in the 1800’s cattle ranching and citrus farming did exceptionally well, which lead to a lot of agriculture and farming. This, making Florida attractive to people searching for a place to settle and to make a living. Florida has the longest history of ranching of any state. But how exactly did this come to be?
In 1521, Ponce de Léon, on his last voyage to western Florida, brought a small number of cattle to feed the colony he was trying to establish, this failed due to The Calusa Indians. The Calusa Indians attacked this attempt of settlement, and Ponce de Léon died from the wounds received by the Indians. Thus, abandoning a herd of Andalusian cattle. This is believed to be the first domesticated cattle in America! Another settler that goes by the name of Hernando de Soto, found his way to western Florida and with him, he brought more cattle. As Hernando moved North many of his cattle were left behind or strayed. Though many of them then roamed free, some were caught and bred once they were domesticated by the Indians. The Indians then sustained cattle raising.
The founding of St. Augustine in 1565 is when structured ranching started. St. Augustine was colonized by Spaniards and as their people started to grow, so did the demand for cattle. Cattle breading increased, and landowners began raising cattle as well. This became critical as a source of food, for most communities' cattle was primarily thier food. By the time the 1700’s came around, Florida had over 30 ranches and over 20,00 cattle. Most of them were left to graze, unfenced. The cows would roam together mixing with other farms, this led to branding. When the cows were rounded up, the branding was the distinct mark to show whose cow was whose.
In the mid 1800’s, as more settlers came to Florida, creating a cattle industry seemed wise. As the civil war approached, Jacob Summerlin was the confederate armies prime suppler of beef. Jacob Summerlin, also known as the king of crackers, was one of Florida's richest men through raising cattle. He is believed to be the first born in Florida after it became US territory. Jacob Summerlin accomplished outstanding things and was known as a legend for his time5 He supplied the confederate armies with about 20.000 cattle, for food. As the civil war continued, livestock became scarce.
The cattle industry remained low until the 1920’s as a lasting effect from the war. Unfortunately, nutritional deficiencies and tick fever became a problem, taking 15 years to get rid of. The benefit from this was the separation of the cattle through fencing which lead to the improvement of pastures, breeding, and research. In 1949, it became law to have cattle confined within a fence, this caused a huge spike in cattle and ultimately caused the growth of beef production. This improvement of pasture lead to cross breading, thus creating new species of cattle, the most well-known being the “cracker cow”
Yet, cattle weren’t the only thing that drew Farmers and Ranchers to Florida. The citrus industry in Florida is like no other, the introduction of citrus came to the New World in 1493 by Christopher Columbus. However, it is believed that it was brought to Florida by Ponce de Leon. Ponce de Leon planted orange trees in St. Augustine sometime between 1513- 1565 this was just the beginning of an industry that made billions. Florida’s sandy soil and hot climate was ideal for oranges to grow, and not only oranges but grapefruit as well. Grapefruit didn’t arrive in Florida until 1806. Odet Philippe planted the first grapefruit groves in Tampa in 1823, by this time, the north had established a business within citrus. As the 19th century came around, Florida was blooming with citrus trees.
