Bring on the beef
... if 13 ranchers have their way
Cattle ranchers band together to bring more state-grown beef to a market near you.
Coming soon to your grocery store and dining table: Steak from cattle born and raised in Florida.
Making Florida-grown beef more available is the hope of 13 cattle ranchers who have formed Florida Cattle Ranchers LLC. Among its members is Lightsey Cattle Co., which owns several ranches, including one in Osceola County.
Demand for local beef inspired the ranchers to join together, said Cary Lightsey, co-owner of Lightsey Cattle. People called his ranch looking for beef products. Most were millennials, he said, or 18 to 34 year olds.
Florida-grown beef is a departure from the relatively recent practice of sending young cattle to feedlots in Western states before slaughter.
“We want it homegrown,” Lightsey said.
Consumers want food that they perceive as natural and fresh, said David Portalatin, an analyst with market researchers NPD. The trend is one of the biggest movements in the way consumers eat today.
“You can charge a premium if the perceived value is there for the consumer,” he said.
To further connect with millennials and their families, Florida Cattle Ranchers is developing a special bar code for each of its products. The code will link customers to a video that will show where the cattle was raised, down to the ranch’s owners.
“Every producer would love to be able to showcase their own product,” Lightsey said. “It’s always been in the back of our mind, butwe didn’t have the ingredients to do it before.”
Florida’s history as a beef-producing state dates to the 1500s with the arrival of Spanish explorers and their cattle.
By the 1950s and 1960s, however, it becamemore efficient to send cattle to Western feedlots and processing plants, said Dusty Holley with the Florida Cattlemen’s Association.
It was cheaper to ship cattle to the grain than vice versa. The dry, sometimes cooler climate outWest also made it easier for cattle to fatten quickly.
Today’s high moisture corn, good genetics and quality beefmake it possible to raise cattle in Florida, Lightsey said.
The Florida Cattle Ranchers’ products will have the “Fresh from Florida” designation.
Other Florida cattle purveyors with that designation include North Florida Natural Black Angus in Lake City, Deep RootsMeat in Greenville, the Seminole Tribe, andBuckhead Beef in Auburndale.
To be “Fresh From Florida,” the cattle must be born and raised in Florida, and fed on Florida produce. They can leave the state for up to 21 days, to be slaughtered and processed.