Dawn of a New Age

by Taylor Shackelford

Each year brings women and men closer to equals in the workplace. 2016 saw massive crowds and high traffic in the mainstream media celebrating women. In today’s current job market, women are taking a larger share of entry-level career positions and leadership platforms. In rural America, there is an equally exciting, grassroots revolution stirring.

With the rampant influence of social media, the United States is seeing increasing numbers of young people getting involved in the agricultural conversation. Many times, the ones leading these efforts in advocacy are talented young women. Social media is a living, changing marketing landscape. More importantly it’s an ongoing conversation and the way the Lettelier women came to my attention.

Planning a series of ranch visits through the northern half of central Florida via Facebook trails, Lettelier Brangus seemed an obvious stop just 30 minutes southeast of Gainesville, Florida, and promoting a consistently high-performing set of cattle. Joe Lettelier is the family patron, serving the Brangus® breed, the livestock industry, and youth stock shows on several boards. However, it’s when Joe and his wife, Beverly, had their two daughters, Lauren and Emily, that a flame of pure entrepreneurialism was started, and as a family they’ve continued to fan the flames.

Tucked back in the Spanish Moss and just down the road from where American Pharaoh trained to win the Triple Crown, Lettelier Brangus began in the 1980s. The family has called Citra home for generations. Joe and Beverly live just inside the regal, green iron gates in a beautiful home on the hill, while Lauren and Emily reside just a quarter-mile to the west in the original homestead; both homes built by Joe, by hand, stand as testaments of hard work and determination flowing through the Lettelier blood.

Their agricultural roots run deep as well. Both girls grew up exhibiting Brangus® cattle. Their herd has since grown from a show string, to a full-fledged premier seedstock operation. They retain a percentage of bulls and females to progress the herd, but make their profit selling show-quality cattle and maintaining a perennial bull market. Though they’re almost all purebred, there are a few token diversities like white-faced bulls and club calf genetics running around, at the request of customers.

Lettelier Brangus is a premier exhibitor in the Florida open show circuit but during their junior show days, Lauren and Emily made several trips west to succeed in International Brangus Breeders Association’s (IBBA) national shows. Due to their success in the ring and presence on social media, the Letteliers have a healthy market for their cattle and their preparation doesn’t hinder. On the farm, cattle run on irrigated Tifton 85 in clean pastures with multiple sources of water and mineral. Cows must make their own way in the pasture, but while they’re on the show string, the family produces a custom ration with a cottonseed/molasses base for them. Lettelier Brangus’ dedication to genetic performance speaks for itself with more than a few ex-show heifers at a mature weight over 1,500 pounds wearing their age and frame well.

Lauren attended the University of Florida in Gainesville and now works for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office as their Public Information Officer, charged with releasing breaking news to the public. Prior to being the face of crime fighting, she served as the 2008 IBBA Queen, and exhibited champions up and down the Florida show circuit.

Younger sister, Emily, attended Santa Fe College in Ocala, Florida, before taking on the role of owner/operator at Lettelier Brangus. Today, Emily calls many of the shots regarding breeding decisions, production methods, and sales.

The Lettelier entrepreneurial spirit is most evident in Emily’s endeavors. At just 24 years old, she’s artificial insemination (AI) certified, exhibits cattle annually on the open show circuit, maintains the family hay sales, runs a 200-head cattle operation, and somehow finds time to train three german shorthaired pointers (GSP) for her blooming bird dog business.

At Lettelier Brangus, everything has a purpose and generates profit. With Florida’s climate, the grazing pastures make ideal hay fields. Even in the drought experienced by the Southeast this year, Lettelier Brangus produced several cuttings of horse-quality coastal grass from their Tifton 85. In the horse capital of Florida, that means money. While every cow on the farm has a name and a story, Emily does have three actual pets. Her GSPs are her hobby. She and several Brangus® breeders raise these dogs to be hunting companions; it’s practically a miniature community within the already close-knit Brangus® family.

It is not shocking that so many beef producers raise other species. It’s a market that they already know and when it comes to selling quality animals, the right genetics and proper management will go a lot further than all the money in the world. For this reason, Emily is just as careful with her calves as she is with her puppies. From the moment they hit the ground, the family is involved and watchful, day and night. Like any operation, there are cows who possess that fiercely protective maternal instinct. However, the time put forth results in docile, show-ring-ready cattle.

No concern to consistency is the capability of Lettelier cattle to produce the red gene. This recessive trait has surfaced twice in the show string since the beginning of the operation. As with the young leadership of Lettelier Brangus, so is the modern embrace of change and diversity. Emily and Lauren are excited by the chance to raise and exhibit red cattle.

Similarly, Lettelier Brangus welcomes people from stark, non-ag backgrounds to tour the farm or join them at the stock show. In fact, one family moved from their suburban life on the coast to be nearer to the farm and the cattle they are investing in for their young son to show. This influence is a direct result of the encouragement emitted by Emily and Lauren at a stock show when a young boy walked behind a show animal and got kicked. Rather than let the situation get out of control, the Lettelier women nurtured the situation into an opportunity for education and animal husbandry. For this reason, Joe and Beverly have full confidence in the girls to take the operation and cultivate it’s reach as the next generation.