You know, yesterday was Mother’s Day and what a good time we all had. We were all there except for my sister and her family as they live in North Carolina. But besides them, we were all there, and we got to see all the grandkids.
We hope each and every one of you experienced exactly the same.
One thing I did notice was my Dad was really beginning to age. Little as you think though, he’ll be 77 this July. Where does the time go?
We were watching the grandkids play and I told my Mom, that it wasn’t that long ago that was it us out there playing like that! She just shook her head and said, isn’t that the truth!
In my last article I was talking about the tremendous effect agriculture still plays in regards to our economy here in Florida today. I also stated that I’d start doing some articles on agriculture and its role, and even discussing the old days of Florida and its early history in regards to the cattle and citrus industries.
Rexx commented that I couldn’t talk about the ole Cracker cows, and Cracker horses, without talking about the ole Florida Cracker as well, and he is spot on in his assessment of this! I promise you this Rexx, we surely won’t, but I didn’t forget to mention them, I just run outta breath!! LOL!
By the way, I read your essay, “Growing Old,” and honestly your story helped encourage this one today! Thanks my friend. Shoot, give us a holler, I’d enjoy speakin with you!
Today I’d like to use my Dad and his story as hopefully and inspiration to one of you guys, or possibly for you to share it with a young person to show them the opportunity our great Country provides. You only have to set some goals for your life, and don’t ever accept the word NO as an alternative!
This is my Dad’s story, and kinda a little thank you from me, for instilling such great values into my life as well. We always haven’t seen eye to eye, but we’ve worked through any differences along the way, and every sacrifice you’ve made through the years we all appreciate.
I guess what I’m trying to say today is simply, I love you, and you’re the best! It’s amazing to me how through the years as I’ve gotten older, how smart you really are…and were all along!
My Dad was born on Catfish Creek. He’s told me of the little frame house where he spent many years with my Granddaddy Troy, Grannie Margaret, along with his two brothers and two sisters. This little house was built out of wood, and had little cracks in the walls.
Dad has told me of every evening, Granny having to set little piles of leaves and moss on fire to help smoke the mosquitos from around the house.
Granddaddy, God bless his soul, never had a lot, but they always had food on the table. I’m sure many, many of our readers can relate to that simple statement in regards to their own lives.
Granddaddy commercial fished for many years, and often hunted to help feed his family.
Dad has told me many times of going off gator hunting with Granddaddy at night, and wading through the swamps after gator. He used to go as a small boy and help Granddaddy run his trot lines, and of cleaning the catfish they’d catch.
He once told me that he’d eaten so many fish as a child, he’d feared he would drown! Back then times were tough, and the government didn’t supply handouts. You purchased what you needed, when you had the money. If you didn’t have it at the time, you did without, it was that simple.
As children you helped out…many times you had to. This hurt no one, and provided the beginnings of a work ethic. This wasn’t done as a punishment, or an act of abuse, but many times out of necessity.
Though not brought up as hard as my Dad was, I too was brought up hard. Six, seven years old, I was hoeing orange trees. I loved it. We were taught to work, and by this value instilled in me from a young age, it played a vital role in my own success in life.
All of our children were brought up this way as well, and all have turned out just fine.
Not just this, but my Dad in his own life became very successful, but NEVER gave to us, as kids or adults. What my Dad had done was exactly that, what he’d done. Me, my brother and sister all were firm believers in this fact. We had our own lives to live, and the success we knew would be ours.
My point once more is this. Dad had nothing, but through hard work, determination, and by setting his goals and working to achieve them, he literally has lived, “the American Dream!” His life story is a rags to riches story.
Not by a Rockefeller, Astor, or Vanderbilt example, but simply a story of hard work and perseverance which allowed him to be a financial success, and in turn, allowing him financial stability. Again, he has lived “the American Dream.”
He started off working for Lou Tarcai who owned a feed store in Kissimmee. He then went to work for the Ralston Purina Company, and it was here he earned his first real break.
He started off going around to the contract farms Purina had by day, then working most of the night either moving, de-beaking or fowlpoxing chickens. Back home early in the morning, a shower and an hour or two of sleep, then gone again.
In just a couple of years he was General Manager of the Southeast for Purina, and we moved to, Pelahatchee Mississippi. (My Mississippi days, Sandra) We lived there for two years, then moved back to Florida for Dad to start his own business.
There was a Vice-President of Purina Foods that took a shine to Dad. I won’t call his full name, but his first name was Donald. He took Dad along with four or five others and started a large broiler and egg business.
Long story short, Dad bought out his division of this company, and Bronson Farms was born, and it being only a layer production, no broilers at all.
He used to tell me, “You know son, I had many opportunities in my younger days to go to jobs in other fields other than agriculture, and to make much more money as a young man, than I did. But I always believed in agriculture, and stayed with it.”
“Agriculture is what allowed me to enjoy what success in life I have had, and I knew in my heart that this would be the end result if only I’d play the cards out. I stuck with it, never took no as an answer, and outworked any one around me.”
“You can do or be anything in your life you want to…If You Want It Bad Enough!”
“You can do or be anything in your life you want to…If You Want It Bad Enough!” You know what? He is exactly right!
One other philosophy of his was also, “People are going to ALWAYS drink orange juice, and eat chicken, eggs and beef!” He was right there as well!
Dad was involved with Bronson Farms in the egg business for over 40 years. He grew it from just a few contract farms to an operation of over 2,000,000 birds. He had his on feed mill, hatchery, and three processing plants.
Deb, the boys and I, ran one complex for him and we had 720,000 birds on it. There were twelve houses, and during full production each house ate between 12-14,000 pounds of feed per day…every day.
What does this mean in terms of manure produced daily? It means a lot! The complex I ran produced about 42 tons daily. We had another complex with 600,000 birds that produced about 35 tons per day.
The rest of our layers were on contract farms, meaning the contract farmers owned the land and the chicken houses, while Dad supplied them with the layers. Most of these were from 20 to 40,000 birds. These farms disposed of their own manure. Most had cows, or hayfields that they used their manure to fertilize their pastures with, just as we did.
The chicken business and the cattle business actually work hand in hand together. The complex I ran is on 800 acres between St. Cloud and Kenansville in Osceola County, and we call this place “the Chicken Farm.” Dad bought two more ranches down around Yeehaw Juction.
One we call the “Chesser Place,” has a little over 1,000 acres, and my brother Shane lives on this place, while the other is 3-4 miles south of his place, and we just call it “Yeehaw.” This lacks just a few acres of being 1,000 acres too.
You think this is a lot of land, and in reality it really is, but these are very small ranches in this area. Most are from 5,000 up to 50,000 acres or better, and most are owned by ranching families that have lived on, and worked their land for generations.
Dad bought these places for us to use our manure production as our pasture fertilize, and boy, oh boy, does it grow a pasture off! Honestly, the cows were growing off so well, that we were breeding our heifer calves at two years, while most bred theirs at three years of age.
You could literally tell where our fence lines stopped from the height and color of our grass. We’ve seen the cows grazing in grass almost belly deep. Chicken manure has other values as well, as it is an organic fertilizer and breaks down into the soil as organic matter.
Versus a commercial fertilizer it gives you much more benefit from another standpoint too. This being after a heavy rain the commercial fertilizer is washed into the ground and is gone.
Chicken manure doesn’t do this. It has some washed into the soil, but more is left, and this continues to leech into your pasture, providing much longer benefits for your grass. It’s like a slow time-release process that continues over a much longer period than commercial fertilizer.
It also allowed us to do away with a lime program, which helped with the Ph of our soil. Through this, it was a time, as well as money saver.
Dad sold the chicken business in Oct. of 1995, but kept the ranches. The complex he had that I ran we called “the Chicken Farm.” He sold an easement into the complex, and the land right around the chicken farm itself, but the rest we kept for a cattle ranch.
The poultry operation is in itself the basis for many stories, but these are for another time, and we will share some of these as time goes by, but for now it’s another story about another topic.
I felt you needed a little background into some of our family history. You now know of Dad’s involvement in the egg business and the cattle ranches. He also owns several hundred acres of orange groves as well. Remember… “orange juice, eggs, chickens, and beef.”
I’d talked about in the last column about the diverse agriculture interests in Florida and that we’d start a series of columns on these subjects, and what a big part they play in today’s economy. Now after hearing my Dad’s story, you’ll understand the importance of agriculture in regards to our own family as well.
I’d even like to go back and discuss the early days of Florida and its ranching and citrus history, and we will, just not today.
But tomorrow we’ll start off with a story of a modern day ranching family, and have a laugh or two in the process! It will be the story of a ranching family yes, and a true one to boot, but one of a family that had once again “bailed off into a venture,” they didn’t know like the back of their hand.
But through hard work, and learning as we went along, but most importantly, NOT taking No as an answer, we eventually became successful in this endeavor too!
I sure hope you guys enjoy these tales as much as I’m gonna enjoy recanting them to you! Thank you all for coming and God Bless!
Tomorrow’s story: “Don’t Worry Boys…She’s Got Foot Rot!”
Dub and Deb