Endless white beaches, sunshine, orange juice, and of course,
Disney; these are the items most often associated with Florida.
As you drive through Florida though, did you happen to notice
the 1 million beef cows? Did you know the largest beef cattle
ranch in the United States is in Florida? How about dairy cows.
Did you see any of the more than 100,000 dairy cows? In fact,
Florida ranks eleventh in the nation in total cattle numbers.
Interesting
Florida Cattle Facts:
- Cattle
were first introduced to North America in Florida in 1521, by
the Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de Leon.
- One Florida
ranch owns the largest brood cow herd in the United States.
- Florida
is home to seven of the United States’ twenty-five largest cow-calf
operations.
- Florida ranks
12th in the nation in number of beef cows
- Nearly one-half
of all Florida Agricultural land is involved in cattle production.
- Florida has
4 million acres of pastureland and one million acres of grazed
woodland.
- Much of
“Natural Florida” remains in the working landscape of Florida’s
cattle industry.
- Open Range
grazing was ended by laws passed in 1949 by Florida’s Governor,
Fuller Warren who ran on the ticket “I’ll get the cows off the
Road”.
Along
with the cattle, Florida’s livestock inventory includes 26 million
poultry, 500,000 horses, 100,000 swine, 30,000 goats, 10,000 sheep,
and millions of companion animals.
Among the state’s most stable businesses, agricultural industries
have a combined annual economic impact of more than $69 billion
dollars; generating more then 725,000 jobs and $2.27 billion in
tax revenues. These industries also benefit residents and visitors
by providing amenities associated with "green space"
including biodiversity, wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation,
eco-tourism, and aquifer recharge.
Sales
of Florida livestock and livestock products totaled over $1.48
billion in 2004, accounting for nearly 22 percent of cash receipts
for Florida farms and ranches. All of this keeps the Florida area
office of Veterinary Services busy.
You
may not think of the busy ports in Florida, but in fact there
are twelve international airports and fourteen seaports in Florida.
Miami is also home to the USDA APHIS VS Miami Animal Import Center
(MAIC). Each year over two thousand horses primarily from South
America and the Caribbean move through MAIC. In addition numerous
shipments of exotic birds and other animals transit through MAIC.
Florida is also home to a thriving tropical fish industry, and
the Port of Tampa is a key center of this activity.
About
Us
Service
Area: Florida
Hours
of Operation: Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Eastern
Hours
for Health Certificate Endorsement:
Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 11:30 am and 1:00 pm
-3:30 pm (appointments desired)
Office
Email:
Main contact: VSFL@aphis.usda.gov
Accrediations & Exports: VSPSFL@aphis.usda.gov
Imports: VSPSMIA@aphis.usda.gov
Telephone Numbers:
Main Phone: (352) 313-3060
Fax: (352) 313-3062 (Programs)
Fax: (352) 313-3061 (Exports)
Physical and Mailing Address:
USDA, APHIS, VS
8100 NW 15th Place
Gainesville, FL 32606-9137
Ports:
Miami Animal Import Center, Miami International Airport,
Miami, FL
For more information: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/area_offices/states/maic_info.html
Limited-use Ports:
- Jacksonville, FL
- Port Canaveral, Cape
Canaveral, FL
- Port Everglades, Ft.
Lauderdale, FL
- Port of Miami, Miami,
FL
- St. Petersburg-Clearwater,
FL
- Tampa, FL
Get
Directions to our office on the Internet:
Directions
to our office from Google Maps *
Directions
to our office from MapQuest *
Directions
to our office from Yahoo! Maps *
FL
Animal Agriculture Related Links*:
State Veterinarian: http://doacs.state.fl.us/ai/ *
FL
Department of Agriculture: http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/ *
*
Links are not official USDA websites, USDA does not have
control over content on the external pages.
