Myakka City cattle rancher holds on to Florida’s past while riding into the future

MYAKKA CITY, Fla. - Blackbeard’s Ranch sits at the Manatee/Sarasota County line near Aracdia and it’s where Jim Strickland raises cattle.

"We try to work our cattle slow.  All our cowboys are really trained," he said. "They actually go through training with the University of Florida on how to treat cattle. Syringes, injections, vaccinations, what to do, how to dispose of all that."

FOX 13 Russell Rhodes recently caught up with Strickland as he was supervising cowboys, cowgirls and dogs gathering a young herd. 

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"You'll hear an old adage that says, ‘I'd rather have one good dog than three bad cowboys.’ The truth is that if you have good dogs, it'll save you a lot of time," he said. "Because this kind of country we live in in Florida, we want to be able to handle these cows and not have a bunch of stampeding into a swamp or into a slew where we can't find them," he said.

Strickland’s family has been in the cattle business since 1860 and he’s proud of it.

"Because the cattle industry has been going on in Florida for 500 years.  We're the birthplace of the cattle industry in North America," Strickland shared.

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Over the years, he’s seen a lot of changes as ranch land gives way to housing development. He says he’s not anti-growth, but he does hope for balance.

"So we have to save some of these cattle ranches, timberlands, agricultural areas for all those benefits we get from those greenspaces in those areas," Strickland said. "But one of the things that keeps it that way is agriculture.  The products we grow, but also the benefits to nature.  To water quality, to air oxygen, carbon recharge.  But the thing that’s going to be so paramount of importance in the future is water.  With so much development, you're going to have a bigger need for water."

Old Florida is evident at Blackbeard’s Ranch as Strickland does his best to hang on to it.

"I guess what old Florida means is history," Strickland stated.  "Those that came before us. And we are trying to preserve part of old Florida for a lot of different reasons. There's species that we've lost through what we as human beings have done to Florida.  I think that we need to save a lot of animal species, flora and fauna.  But we also need to keep old Floridians and keep the old Floridians in the mix and recognize where we came from."