Slideshow of Southern Accent Farm in Okeechobee, Florida

Hope Surles, a 16-year-old agvocate, has been visiting farms as part of the Florida Farms & Ranches Beef Tour. Here is a slideshow and her description of her visit to Southern Accent Farm in Okeechobee, Florida.

“Meet Allen & Nicki Smith of Southern Accent Farm in Okeechobee, Florida. Southern Accent Farm is a Purebred Brangus Breeder, as well as a South Florida Commercial Cow-Calf Producer operating on 824 acres. Southern Accent sells 60-80 registered Purebred Brangus bulls a year. 65% to 85% of calves born each year in the registered herd are Artificially Inseminated and have been for over 20 years. Every cow and herd sire owned and used by Southern Accent has a DNA profile. Also all bulls owned by Southern Accent Farm have a color coded ID tag matched to their sire. Mr. Allen keeps very accurate and up to date records of all his bulls history through a database that also ranks each bulls EPD’s. Southern Accents commercial herd rotates from Brangus bulls to Braford bulls every 4 years to maintain hybrid vigor. Southern Accent breeds their commercial herd naturally, not artificially inseminated. Southern Accent has been using BMP’s to clean the farms water and preventing runoff for over 15 years. Southern Accent has a very high population of wildlife, Cara Cara, bald eagles, whitetail deer, and Osceola turkeys to name a few. Mr. Allen showed me one of the many natural water sources such as Taylor Creek that runs right through Southern Accent.

“In 2012, Allen and Nicki Smith were presented by Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam the Commissioner’s Ag-Environmental Leadership Award. Southern Accent is located in the heart of cow-country and lives up to their name of quality and commitment to Florida’s beef. Thank you Allen and Nicki Smith for you contribution to the beef industry!”