DepositPhotos image
The Florida Cattle Enhancement Board is playing a vital role in sustaining and improving the beef cattle industry in the Sunshine State. Through strategic investments in research, promotion, and education, the board works to ensure the long-term success of cattle ranchers and the land they manage.
To get a deeper look into the organization’s mission and progress, we sat down with Wes Williamson, Chair of the Florida Cattle Enhancement Board.
“It’s been real exciting. It’s been just a tremendous way to get research money out for the things that we need to keep the beef industry vital and doing well in the state of Florida.”
Williamson explained that the board funds research projects annually, often in partnership with universities and environmental experts.
“Well, every year we have researchers, many of them from the University of Florida, but we’ll take research applications from almost any entity, but oftentimes they’ll have to do not just with beef production, but how that beef production affects the environment.”
He emphasized the importance of environmental awareness and benefits in beef production.
“We have to be very cognizant of environmental effects that our beef production has, and we also look at this as a way to maybe highlight some of the tremendous environmental benefits that beef cattle ranching has.”
Scientific data and informed decisions are crucial, Williamson added.
“I think very important, good research by good researchers, by scientists, by college staff and professors and all is just so important to everything. We’ve got to know the facts. You can’t make decisions if you don’t have facts, because if not, then you’re just kind of relying on your emotions to make decisions.”
The stakes are high for Florida’s beef producers.
“In an industry like the Florida beef cattle industry, which is a business, those cattle ranches have to make a profit or they will not be able to stay in business, and if they can’t stay in business, then guess what? In Florida, where we have probably a thousand people a day still moving in, a lot of those ranches unfortunately will be turned into houses, and that’s what my father, who’s now 95 years old, always called the final crop.”
Audio Reporting by Dale Sandlin for Southeast AgNet. Florida Cattle Enhancement Board Works To Improve the Florida Cattle Industry
This is a segment from the Grazing The Facts Podcast where we take a look within the Florida Cattle Industry. To listen to the full interview, search your favorite podcast platform for Grazing The Facts.