Cows in Florida

[tink1969]

Okay, this is going to sound really dumb. I noticed on my way to MCO the other day (I noticed last August too) that along the highway there are many fields. In these fields are cows. But I don't see barns anywhere!
Who do these cows belong too? Is there such a thing as wild cows?
I saw one big bull with horns and what looked like two smaller cows laying beside it. I just thought it was strange. Like I said, I noticed it going to the Florida airport last August as well. Anyone know?

 

[sorcerormickey]

Haha!!! There are cows EVERYWHERE here. Usually no barn. They are used as natural lawnmowers by the land owners.

 

[Art 1]

I have heard that there are more cows on Fla. than any other state, don't know if it's true or not. But you are correct, there are fields of cattle all around the airport.

 

[GeorgeG]

I'm here almost five years and see tons of cows, but now that you mention it, I don't see a lot of barns and half the ones I do see are falling down.

 

[Wall-E1]

Some investors buy large plots of land. Property taxes are lower on land deemed for agriculture than residential land. The investors are required to have cows on the land for a certain period of time each year to qualify for this tax break. So, they basically move the cows from one plot of land to another in order to save on property taxes. Then, when they are ready to sell, they convert it back to residential land.

 

[PebblesMK]

In Wisconsin, some farms own hundreds of acres of land and the cows roam around grazing so you don't always see the barn. Perhaps that's the case in Florida and they really do have a home.

 

[sunshinesahmom]

They don't need barns.
If they're dairy cows they are herded in to be milked & taking care of, then turned back out to the fields. Some fields have shade/covers. Most have trees used for shelter.

 

[skiingfast]

I have heard that the Mormon Church's biggest asset is a cattle ranch in FL. I've also heard that FL is the number one state for raising cattle. I don't know about this though. If given a choice cows won't stand in water, and there isn't that much open land in FL compared to large states out west.

Here's a ranking by value, giving that beef is a commodity it doesn't look to bad. But type of cattle per region varies and price per head depends on bread.

http://www.stuffaboutstates.com/agriculture/livestock/cattle.htm

FL is #26 by heard value.

Also Cows don't require barns. In fact in the west barns are rare. Mostly because they are being raised for beef instead of Milk. On a cattle ranch a barn is where you keep tools and equipment. On a dairy ranch it's where you milk the cows.

 

[java]

I live in dairy country- when we went to Florida and saw those measly little cows we wanted to herd em up and bring them back with us.

 

[Art 1]

I have heard that the Mormon Church's biggest asset is a cattle ranch in FL. I've also heard that FL is the number one state for raising cattle. I don't know about this though. If given a choice cows won't stand in water, and there isn't that much open land in FL compared to large states out west.

Here's a ranking by value, giving that beef is a commodity it doesn't look to bad. But type of cattle per region varies and price per head depends on bread.

http://www.stuffaboutstates.com/agriculture/livestock/cattle.htm

FL is #26 by heard value.

Also Cows don't require barns. In fact in the west barns are rare. Mostly because they are being raised for beef instead of Milk. On a cattle ranch a barn is where you keep tools and equipment. On a dairy ranch it's where you milk the cows.

The Mormans own much of the land between the airport and the east coast.

 

[Golf4food]

Florida has looooooooong been a huge cow state. The Spanish brought them over before America existed (remember, St. Augustine is a good bit older than Jamestown or Plymouth - we were here first!).

"Cowboys" started in Florida, not Texas. "Cracker" comes from the sound their whips would make - hence Florida Cracker - they were cattle herders.

At the outbreak of the Civil War the population in Florida was about 5-to-1 cows to people. Florida provided so much beef to the Confederate armies in Virginia and Tennessee/Georgia that one aim of an 1864 Union campaign into Florida was partly to disrupt the flow of beef so that Grant could have a better chance of defeating Lee in Virginia (it didn't work, the Confederates won the battle of Olustee and stopped that particular invasion and the flow of beef continued).


Florida is no longer the largest cattle state, but I do believe we are still in the top few. (Hard to beat out Texas - it is the size of most of the rest of US combined, after all...)

So anywhere you drive outside of the big Florida cities you will find cows - and lots of them.

Moo.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We have a lot of free-range cows in California, too. You can see them grazing along highways all over the state. And as we all know, the happy cows live in California!!!

 

[Feralpeg]

My neighborhood is surrounded by farms with cows. Only one, that I know of, has barns for the cattle. At dusk, you'll see them all walking in a line toward the barn. No one is herding them. They just head back on their own. We have Hereford, Black Angus and some Brahmas nearby.

 

[Art 1]

My neighborhood is surrounded by farms with cows. Only one, that I know of, has barns for the cattle. At dusk, you'll see them all walking in a line toward the barn. No one is herding them. They just head back on their own. We have Hereford, Black Angus and some Brahmas nearby.

Just north of you a few miles is a heard of Buffalo. At least there was a few years ago.

 

[Had2stopLurking]

I'm pretty sure that those are the cows they bring in from Mexico to serve the only authentic Mexican food you can find in the U.S. at Epcot.

 

[Planogirl]

Most sources say that cowboys actually originated in Mexico but they aren't consistent. Big cattle drives did originate in Texas though.

Beef cattle don't have barns. They just live outdoors.

 

[Planogirl]

I'm pretty sure that those are the cows they bring in from Mexico to serve the only authentic Mexican food you can find in the U.S. at Epcot.

 

[sunshinesahmom]

I know of at least 3 Buffalo farms in FL.

I'm sure there are more.

 

[SandrA9810]

Down in Davie, they used to have a huge dairy farm (the largest one that far south), and in about 2004-2005 it got sold to be turned into homes.

Many acres of land will have a handful of cows on it to keep it as agriculture use, and pay less in taxes. Many of the ones you see don't use the cows for beef or anything else.
If you head down 441 south of 192, that's where you find the cattle ranches for beef. And I'm sure they're else where in the state too... but I head down that road often and see the signs all the time "beef is what's for dinner"...

 

[Had2stopLurking]

You know, the more I think about it, they may not even be real cows. They could be animatronic cows that are used for the sole purpose of hiding cell towers in the their cowbells and radar guns used to capture people speeding through the streets of the areas around WDW.


You never know what a random cow sighting could mean in this day and age.

Did the cows have tin foil hats on?