Ranch News

Pasco County welcomed cattle ranchers from across the nation Tuesday as it showcased the region’s beef producers for those attending the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association convention. The convention, which opens today, is being held at the Tampa Convention Center. The pre-convention tour held Tuesday included visits to

Barthle Brothers, a long-time Brahman operation in Florida, owns two of the twelve Vanguard females: $BB Ms Manso 87 and $BB Empress Berch 286. “It is an honor knowing we have two of the twelve cows that have qualified for this award,” says Larry Barthle, an ABBA member from Florida.

The Barthle family name also began appearing in Florida’s cattle records in the 1930s and 1940s. “At that time our cattle, like most, were open-ranged in the eastern part of our county. Cattle intermingled with neighbors,” said Larry Barthle, a member of the third generation of the ranch. Though this may have fostered a lack of incentive to breed up to improve genetics, it did run straight into a barbed-wire fence and the importance of the Barthle family’s need for the Brahman breed.

There’s always plenty to do on the Barthle Brothers Ranch, and this particular spring day is exceptionally hectic. In addition to recordkeeping, checking cows, monitoring mineral levels, fixing fence, rotating pastures and other chores, Larry is also hosting a media tour of his four-generation family ranch and expecting a video-marketing crew to come shoot footage of calves for an upcoming auction.

Region II winner Barthle Brothers Ranch, San Antonio, Florida, is increasingly penned in by urban sprawl. The 8,250-acre ranch, started in the 1930s by J.A. Barthle, is now operated jointly by several descending families, including Jeanette and Jim Sutton, Randy and Patty Barthle, Jan and Ed Dillard, Steve Barthle, Kathy and Steve Paige, Larry and Lynn Barthle, and Mark and Tammy Barthle.

The Barthle’s 8,000-acre ranch, north of State Road 52 near Ehren Cutoff, was selected by a panel that included the Nature Conservancy, the state’s water management districts, and forestry, citrus, dairy, cattlemen’s, and fish and wildlife agencies and associations.

The family-owned and operated Barthle Brothers Ranch of San Antonio, Florida, was formed in the 1930s by businessman J.A. Barthle. His sons, Joseph and Albert, from whom the ranch takes its name, carried on their father’s work. Today, J.A. Barthle’s grandsons and daughters carry on the family tradition with the help of their children.

Jeanette T. Barthle was “Woman of the Year in Agriculture” for 1990. She is the sixth recipient of the award, which recognizes women who have made outstanding contributions to Florida agriculture. As a wife, mother of seven, businesswoman and community leader, Barthle’s life is a striking reminder of the countless women who make differences in Florida agriculture.