Florida: An Ideal Cattle State

by Florida State Live Stock Association

Now, of course, I am fully aware that Florida and all the South has long had an extensive cattle industry based on the natural grasses of the prairies and of the piney woods. In general, this has been a profitable industry, especially on free range. Without hurting anyone's feelings, we will, I think, agree that this has not been a very high grade of live stock ranching. Indeed, the ordinary Northern or Western man, who is, of course, a superficial observer, has gotten the idea from the scrub cattle and razorback hogs that he saw, that there is something in the South that is inimical to good live stock. Usually he has decided it is the climate. Fortunately we know from the work of every Southern experiment station, as well as of a few good live stock ranches, that the South can raise just as good cattle and hogs as the North. It isn't a matter of climate, at all, but purely one of breed and feed.

I have spoken thus candidly because I feel that I am a friend among friends, and because I have very much faith in the industry you represent. If I were not so optimistic as to the future of the live stock industry in Florida I should be afraid to lay bare any weak factors that exist. I believe with Huxley in the wisdom of facing things as they are, rather than indulging in make believe.

Perhaps it will be most helpful in discussing the forages adapted to Florida to proceed from the viewpoint of the man starting a cattle ranch. The basis, of course, of any profitable cattle ranch is permanent pasturage, the cheapest of all feeds, and, to supplement this, a supply of feed, which may be hay, ensilage, or in Southern Florida, green feed, to bridge over the season of short pastures. If one is to produce highly finished beef, grain feeds and other concentrates must be raised or purchased.

In discussing pasturage it will be convenient to recognize three types of lands, namely, piney woods, prairie, and mucks, realizing, of course, that this is a very rough classification.

Piney Woods Lands.

In the piney woods the natural pasturage is composed mainly of broom sedge and wire grasses. During the growing season, from spring till late fall, these grasses furnish fair pasturage, but through the rest of the year they merely enable animals to exist. What can be done towards converting these poor native pastures into good permanent pastures? There are three possibilities in the light of our present knowledge. On better soils good Bermuda pastures can be developed, or where the lands are moist, as on most flatwood areas, carpet grass may be used. On the drier and poorer soils, Natal grass is the only one that has given much success.

How can Bermuda or carpet grass pasture best be established? The sure method is to stump your land and plow it, and then plant the Bermuda by the vegetative method in spring, or any time thereafter in summer, during the rainy season. At the McNeill station in Mississippi, located on land much like that of the northern tier of counties in Florida, they have developed the following method: Plow furrows about ten feet apart between the stumps in spring, and stick in a root or sprig of Bermuda about every ten feet. At McNeill it is found necessary to use a little fertilizer to insure the growth of these Bermuda plants. During the following winter the stumps are removed, and then in spring the land is plowed and Lespedeza seed sown. Enough Bermuda has grown in the furrows to insure a stand of Bermuda, and this is supplemented by the Lespedeza. Indeed, the first season the Lespedeza will furnish more pasturage than the Bermuda. Lespedeza is rather a tricky plant in Florida and is hardly worth consideration except in the northern part of the State.

On most of the Florida flatwood soils carpet grass is much more aggressive than Bermuda, and in time will, if left alone, completely replace the Bermuda. To a large extent this can be obviated by plowing the pastures whenever the carpet grass seems to be obtaining the upper hand. Unfortunately, we do not know the relative values of equal areas of Bermuda grass and of carpet grass where the latter is most aggressive. Carpet grass does not grow so tall, but is green for a longer period. It may, indeed, be found more economical not to try to save the Bermuda after the carpet grass crowds it. From observations, I am inclined to believe that neither the carrying capacity nor the feed values per acre of the two grasses is greatly different on most flatwood soils. If this be true, it would not be economy to go to any particular trouble to retain the Bermuda instead of the carpet grass.

At McNeill the pasturage on areas that have long been closely grazed is carpet grass. Unfortunately, no experiments have been conducted to compare these two grasses as to ease of establishment and as to carrying capacity. Carpet grass produces abundant good seed, and therefore spreads much more rapidly than Bermuda, which rarely produces seed in humid regions.

It is found necessary to remove the stumps at McNeill, because for the first year or two on the plowed ground, weeds, especially "fennel" or "Yankee weed," appear abundantly, and must be mowed or they will kill the grasses by shading. Mowing with the stumps on the land is impracticable, as the weeds conceal many of the stumps.