ST. CLOUD, Fla. — Osceola County officials project the number of residents who will move to the area will to increase in the coming years, and amid the growth and construction of new housing, some residents are pushing for agriculture and land preservation efforts.

What You Need To Know

  • Agriculture is one of Florida's top industries, and Osceola County specifically has a rich history of cattle ranching

  • Agricultural workers say new developments and population growth throughout Florida have sparked the need for land preservation, including through urban renewal boundaries and other regulations

  • Cattle ranchers say they hope to see development handled in a way that also preserves their industry

Osceola County’s population sits at nearly half a million people, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That is nearly double the size of the 2010 population of 268,685.

“We do have a lot of residential and commercial growth happening in the county. I mean, Disney came here in 1971, and I think that was probably the catalyst for a lot of things that happened in Central Florida,” Osceola County Commissioner Ricky Booth said. “We're still one of the top beef cattle producing counties, not only in the state but in the United States as well.”

Booth is one of the advocates and community members who hopes to see agricultural land preserved for generations, especially given his own family’s history of cattle ranching. He’s a partial owner of the Doc Partin Ranch in St. Cloud.

“I think the Partin family was very influential in not only the growth and the development of Orange County, but also Osceola County,” Booth said. “Obviously, my great grandfather, Henry O. Partin started the Heart Bar ranch around the turn of the last century, and was just credited with bringing the Brahman breed into Florida and kind of propagating those cattle and selling those genetics around the state.”

Generations later, Booth and other family members have carried on this tradition and continu9e to contribute to one of Florida’s top industries.

“We run about 100 head of purebred Brahman cattle, and we sell those genetics all over the southeastern United States, and some internationally as well,” Booth said.

Though in recent years, the county’s growth has sparked the need for new job creation and implementation, developments, housing and more. Booth said there are a handful of initiatives already in place to preserve certain land spaces in Osceola County.

“Something unique about Osceola is that we do have an urban growth boundary that says a development is going to happen north of this line, and about two thirds of the county is outside that urban growth," he said. "So, there's a lot of state-owned land, preserved land."

Booth also noted programs like “Save Osceola,” “Florida Forever” and “South Florida Water Management” as a few examples of ways that people are trying to balance land preservation in a time where the population keeps rising. His ranch participates in the South Florida Water Management District.

“I think always over time, as a community grows, there's going to be pressure to expand urban sprawl," he said. "I think we've done a really, really good job of holding firm on keeping that north of that line here in Osceola County."

“I mean, I don't think my, my great grandfather or even or even his, parents or grandparents, if you want to go back that far, could have ever dreamed that Central Florida would look the way it does today,” Booth added.

In the future, Booth said he and other county leaders anticipate federal, state and local investment in Osceola County. He said he hopes to see responsible management of the influx of people moving to the area while preserving land.

“Balancing growth has been one of the top priorities of my constituents and District 5," he said. "Maintaining some of our rural character, maintaining, policies that, you know, will bring in quality growth."