Between The Beaches Podcast

Anything that could have been a distraction or interruption during the recording of this episode absolutely was with my bloodhound pup, June, deciding to ramble about the camphouse rather than lying quietly and sleeping. Hope y'all can laugh along with us because, as cowboys do, we pressed on through it and made the most of presenting a historical overview of herding culture. However, it was kinda like wrapping a lovely gift and not tying it up with ribbon because at the height of distraction we forgot to bring it all together by sharing the economic impact herding has on Florida's economy so here are key figures: $16.8 billion industry revenue...$7 billion plus in gross state product...and over $4.5 billion contributed in state labor income.  Herding drives our state's economy while keeping it wild and green!

On this week's episode we offer some opinion, historical context, along with a sprinkling of cowboy poetry to take a look at the impacts the 4 D's listed in the title are having on Florida ranches, and agriculture as a whole, here in the state.

Brucellosis, a devastating bacterial disease, wreaked havoc on the Florida cattle industry for many years until a federal eradication program was instituted.  Instituting the eradication program was the first step, but had the right people not been in the right place at the right time, the Brucellosis eradication effort could have failed miserably.  On this episode, we discuss the history of the program in Florida and hear firsthand accounts from Linda Crane and Evelyn Tiencken, two ladies who served as field technicians in the fight against this costly disease. Most importantly, these two ladies used their natural grit and grace to navigate what was widely considered a man's domain winning over the respect, trust, and admiration of the cattlemen in the process and paving the way for a successful outcome for the eradication effort.

Veteran Florida cowboy BJ Johnson shares his philosophy of humility coupled with a constant desire and willingness to learn and why that approach is so crucial to being successful in Florida ranching. BJ also shares quite a few engaging stories about working at various ranches all across South Florida.

Spring is synonymous with cow work in South Florida and Episode 7 digs into the ancient origins of the ritual to explain why this work is done at this time of year and then we cover what the workload entails in modern times.  Jacqueline and Jared Phares join me in reflecting on early childhood memories of Spring cow work to round out this episode.  

In this episode, we seek to find some normalcy and order in what's otherwise been a wild week due to the Covid-19 Virus. We do so by remembering family fundamentals both in our Gaelic past and our ranching present while also presenting another round of humorous ranch recollections from my wife.

In this episode, current Florida Cattlemen's Association President Matt Pearce sits down to discuss our family ranching and leadership legacy as well as conservation efforts to preserve Florida ranch lands.

Florida cowman Clint Raulerson shares in our common mission of preserving and protecting Florida's ranching heritage through poetry and storytelling.  We take a cursory look at how the ancient past continues to shape our values and lifestyle today, Clint recites a few of his poems, and we touch briefly on the challenges we face in today's time.

Episode 3 examines the many things that encapsulate Old Florida charm thought the eyes of former Miami Herald columnist and author Al Burt's book "The Tropic of Cracker" along with a lost chapter accidentally left out of author Brad Phares' book, Celtic Cowhunter.  We make the case that old ways can often be the best ways forward and should form the foundation of Florida's future.

Quite often, women marry into ranching families not fully aware of what they might be wading into when they utter those wedding vows.  In this episode, my wife and I share a few laughs remembering some of the more unexpected events she's encountered around the ranch in our 25 years of marriage.