Day 6

Grazing cattle in wide open pastures was a welcome sight to the South Dakotans after a week in Florida. Leigh Ann Lightsey Wynn and her father Cary Lightsey welcomed the group to Tiger Ranch near Lake Wales, FL. Cary provided an overview of the family and the extensive cattle operation. The Lightseys started in Buford, North Carolina in 1712 as cow people with the tradition continuing Leigh Ann is the seventh generation.

“Florida is a good cow state, there is plenty of good dirt and good grass. You can raise a lot of cattle per acre. We are as conservation-minded as you could get and work to protect what we have.”

Some of the animals in the pasture had been purchased from cattle producers in South Dakota. Cary said he had bulls from Jorgenson’s Cattle at Ideal, Wienk Charolais at Lake Present and John Christensen at Wessington. Cary said South Dakota cows lose their winter coats when they come from South Dakota and do well. The animals are crossed with a bit of Brahman to help the animals cope with the heat and insects.

Our group climbed into pickups and a side-by-side to see the ranch. We dove through the forest grove of live oaks where once Native Americans lived. Jon Nelson jumped out to open gates as we wound our way through the pastures to see the animals grazing on native grasses. Cary said the animals are fed three lbs. of feed per animal three times a week. The cattle graze on pastures filled with lush native grasses and palmetto palms. The Lightseys are careful in spraying for weeds as they have a lot of bees. Some of the beekeepers from South Dakota bring their bees to Florida for the winter. 

The Lightseys said that during the hurricane cattle are left in pastures. They will turn in a circle, trying to put the wind at their back. Lightsey said seven of their structures went down in the storm.

Cary and his brother Layne decided in 1989 to start doing conservation easements. Now 85 percent of the land is in easements. The family retains ownership of the property and the right to continue using it as they always have. Government agencies or conservation groups buy the rights to keep the land from being developed. “It’s been a win-win for us, with no restrictions,” Cary said. 

Currently at the ranch, Cary and his workers have been marking and branding cattle for the last five weeks, putting in 12-hour days in the saddle. Now they are starting to burn which keeps the pastures healthy. The scrub jay will only nest in areas that have been burned. It is hard work but it’s what needs to be done. They burn pastures every three years and marshes every year. 

The South Dakotans were surprised to learn that Lightsey uses several byproducts to supplement the diets of his animals. They use the yeast left from the brewery process, bakery feed (cookies, cake, etc., that have been heated) cotton gin trash, and vegetables/fruits from Walmart which are ground up and mixed with the other items. Cary said, “When we bring in byproducts, we test everything. We want healthy animals.”

The biggest killer of animals on the ranch is lightning. Coyotes kill calves. Wild pigs are a real nuisance and about 4,000 are trapped each year.

“I consider you all pretty tough people, I don’t know how you do it up there,” Cary said.