FEATURE | e d i t i o n
HOLDING STEADY Polk County Cattle Industry Doing Well Despite Challenges With Growth, Inflation by PAUL CATALA
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EVEN THOUGH THE TOTAL NUMBER OF CATTLE in inventory throughout the United States and Florida was down in 2021, the industry has been holding steady throughout Polk County. According to a United States Department of Agriculture, cattle and calves in the United States as of January 1 totaled 92 million head, 2 percent below the 93.8 million head on January 1, 2021. Statewide cattle inventory decreased 4 percent from the previous year to 1.63 million head — cows, calves, and bulls — from January 1, 2021, to January 1, 2022. Florida ranked 10th in beef cows on January 1, 2021, with an inventory of 929,000 — that’s 3 percent of the U.S. total, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services.
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There are approximately 15,000 beef producers across the state tending to Florida’s cattle, resulting in cash receipts from cattle and calf sales of more than $502 million annually over the past five years. The primary livestock enterprise in Polk County is commercial beef cattle. Last year, the county was fourth in production behind Okeechobee (175,000), Highlands (120,000) and Osceola (97,000) and ahead of Hardee (70,000). And according to the UF/IFAS Extension Office, for 2021 and so far through 2022, the coun-
ty’s cattle numbers are a combined 91,000 for all cattle and calves — nearly 95 percent of total livestock numbers in Polk County. Some of the largest cow-calf operations in the United States are in Polk County, and four of the nation’s top 10 cow-calf operations are in Florida. More than 97 percent of U.S. beef cattle ranches are family-owned, with about two-thirds of them under the same family ownership for two generations or more. One of those families is Dave Tomkow, who along with his brother, Mike, owns Lakeland’s Cattlemen’s Livestock Auction. Now 60, Tomkow is a Lakeland native who also runs a cow-calf operation. During his lifetime, he’s personally seen Polk County range and pasture acreage continue to decrease because of increasing urban development and sprawl. He
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