Young Rayburn Smith only had one goal for his life: to live the American dream. To him, that dream was to raise cattle along the Red River, “ranching Louisiana style.”

JB Ranch in Immokalee, Florida, comprises roughly 10,000 acres in south Florida’s humid, subtropical climate. Russell and Liesa Priddy manage roughly 600 Brangus and Beefmaster cattle on the ranch, with calves being sold to operations in the Western part of the U.S. once a year.

As ranching comes under near-constant fire for being ecologically disruptive, the FR Ranch Preserve of southwest Louisiana utilizes cattle to continue the mission of wildlife preservation and surface ecology dictated by their founders.

Efficiency of production, quality of product and sustainability are the intuitive goals of the cattle industry. Producers and consumers alike are interested in the economy of scale and acceptance of beef.