Carlton & Carlton Ranch

I was fortunate that I'm never really worried about what I was gonna do because I always wanted to be in the ranching business more than to have cattle didn't know quite how we were going to do it but that's what my goal was from as far back as I can remember although he was the son of a renowned surgeon and grew up within the city limits of Tampa Dennis Carlton always dreamed of a life in agriculture he looked forward to spending his summers and rural Wauchula working on his uncle's ranch and venturing off into the countryside with his cousin Doyle Dennis started coming down and spending some time on this place and time with my immediate family when he was about eleven years old he had a passion for this lifestyle of when I say the lifestyle I'm talking about the AG business but also with the hunting the fishing the love of the land the business that goes along with that the cattle the citrus and it was just obvious at a young age that that is what he wanted to do if he were able to him today Dennis Carlton is a rancher in fact his company Carlton and Carlton ranch based in Hillsborough County is comprised of several ranches spanning six counties in Southwest Florida but achieving this childhood dream didn't happen overnight by reclaiming lost farmland improving pastures and restoring wildlife habitat Dennis Carlton has spent a lifetime piecing together a mosaic of properties that stands as a showcase of agricultural stewardship in 1952 Dennis's father dr. Levey Carlton and his grandfather levy M Carlton senior bought the limestone ranch in Hardy County from a cousin this partnership running a cow-calf operation existed until 1978 when the land was sold that same year Dennis bought his grandfather's interest in the cattle leased the land back and together with his father established Carlton and Carlton ranch in 1985 Dennis Carlton purchased wild cattle found in eastern Hillsborough County on property owned by the Tampa Electric Company while the livestock would increase his herd size Dennis became more interested in the rough countryside they grazed on the parcel of land known as Turkey Creek was actually the remnants of a depleted phosphate mine from the 1930s through the 50s this part of Florida was heavily mined for phosphate when the mines were closed the old excavation pits became a series of steep peaks and pools of water to most Turkey Creek was an agricultural wasteland but - Denis Carlton it was an opportunity in the 1980s the state of Florida created the Florida non-mandatory land reclamation program to incentivize the reclamation and rejuvenation of old phosphate mines eligible for the program Carlton and Carlton purchased the land in 2003 and began the ambitious task of restoring Turkey Creek the reclamation of this abandoned phosphate mine was one of the largest wetland restorations by private ownership in Florida's history Dennis successfully converted the 1200 acre parcel of land into pine forests wildlife corridors and lush pastures ideal for rotational grazing bountiful lakes were created to capture and filter stormwater they wanted to emphasize agricultural function but they wanted to have a balance with nature and they wanted a piece of land that would be sustainable but have economic utility then this is a very unique man and that he has the work ethic and the mindset of a rancher farmer but he has the brain of a businessman and he's able to balance those two and cross between those two worlds very effectively for more than 20 years he has leased property from Hillsboro County for a large cow calf and haylage operation known as Audubon ranch previous lessees left the property a massive invasive plants with the pastures unsuitable for grazing cattle but with the help of his son-in-law Pat Thomas Dennis was able to find the right balance of herbicide and mowing to restore the property to a healthy and economically viable state able to sustain not only cattle but grass production as well there's three main different types of grasses that we grow at Audubon ranch mainly its behavior grass that's just the normal cow pastures and then we have two different types of hay fields and they're all good for different types of uses we try to grow for its good forage and if you have a good healthy forage good healthy cow women we're gonna this is gonna be super this year in the mid 1990s the county called for more than 1,000 acres of pasture on the Audubon ranch to be converted to a slash pine plantation Dennis always had a good working relationship with Hillsboro County so while this effectively reduced his available acreage for livestock Dennis readily adapted his cattles grazing pattern to accommodate the trees today it's a win-win situation the mature pine stands have been incorporated into the herds rotational grazing and the cattle helped control unwanted undergrowth and vegetation as Dennis was incorporating new parcels of land into Carlton and Carlton ranch an opportunity arose that he could not pass up when limestone ranch came up for sale in 2000 the same ranch his father had sold 30 years earlier Dennis didn't hesitate to buy the property today limestone ranch is the largest of the Carlton's cow-calf operations and the family-run ranch is managed by Dennis's son Dennis jr. I'm 30 years old and I think it's important for people my age to work in agriculture especially cow-calf operations because someone has to carry the torch I think that there's less and less people my age doing what what we do in the AG business you know you hear a lot of stories of other families whether AG businesses or not AG businesses not being able to get along and work together and we are blessed and fortunate to have a good relationship with my brother-in-law with my father that we we work good together and mesh well and we overcome obstacles every day that we face one of the largest obstacles the Carleton family had to face came in 2004 in a span of two months hurricanes Charlie Francis and Jean pummeled Hardy County limestone ranch was devastated pine stands and ancient oak hammocks were uprooted and scattered leaving the ranch with little to no shade for the cattle not to be deterred the Carlton's replanted new oak and pine stands to help restore damaged pastures and wildlife corridors having this fence up where you can let them in and then take them out where they don't hurt them till I get til that stuff really gets big and then you can open it up like we've done some of these other blocks that have been planted new fences were built to keep cattle away from the young trees following best management practices the Carlton's also revamped their rotational grazing patterns to help improve the different pastures of limestone ranch in the year since the pine stands have become established and wildlife is enjoying the habitat that has been created I think what makes it unique with the wildlife is we're on the Peace River corridor which is a real real wide River Basin which holds a lot of wildlife and we have a huge population of whitetails and we're blessed to have that we counted a privilege to manage them and take care of them on the ranches there's always wild turkey a few bobwhite quail are coming back but the deer is something that we try to really really take care of and manage and we we feel that to be kind of a privilege just a few miles from Plant City and Tampa in the town of Dover sits the Carlton family homestead and although the house is located near heavily populated cities wildlife is abundant on the Carlton's residence as well Denis brings the same stewardship from his Carlton and Carlton properties to his own home working with the Natural Resources Conservation Service he implemented a conservation plan that included the conversion of former citrus groves and pasture land into 80 plus acres of strawberry fields to reduce the use of groundwater for irrigation and frost freeze protection for crops Denis installed a pump and well irrigation system on a 43 acre lake that sits on his property with this system he is able to maintain both the water quality and the water level of the lake even though he oversees several properties spanning six counties Denis still takes time to serve his local community one of his most cherished roles is that of trustee for the first Free Will Baptist Church of Tampa what makes Denis a good role model is that he's a servant he serves others and a person of his stature you wouldn't think would have to serve anybody but he serves as I said he's a humble person he's a giver and and so many people love and respect him for the the servant's heart that he has you're here because Dennis's buy the identity believes in FCA and as the friend of FCA he's using what God's given him to to bless our ministry and we're very thankful for everything a man of strong faith Dennis Carleton also opens his limestone ranch to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for a weekend of hunting and fellowship will host them for basically a weekend and we'll have a hog hunt and we'll have stands up and feeders out and they come down and shoot the Hogs and the older men guys you know will share the gospel with it with with those folks and it's just it's a good time it's good for them give those people an opportunity those young men an opportunity to see things that they've never had the opportunity to see and we're able to share that with them but it's important to also for people to understand what we do so whenever we can bring some folks down here and let them look and see it's a positive it's a positive for all of Agriculture for Dennis promoting agriculture is more than hosting groups on his ranch it's bringing all aspects of the industry together and making sure everyone is on the same page Dennis has held numerous leadership roles in his community throughout the years he is vice chair of the Hillsborough County agricultural economic development council he has been a longtime member and has served on the board of directors of both the Hillsborough County Farm Bureau and Farm Credit of Central Florida mr. Carlton is a longtime borrower member and has served on our board of directors since 2011 and served in leadership roles on our board and been a leader in our organization for over eleven years dennis provides very good insight into the industry he understands the importance of a sustainable source of AG lending or AG finance for Florida agriculture and he's a valuable resource all right every community needs a Dennis Carleton Dennis brings a lot to the table when it comes he looks beyond his fencepost and sees what needs are for the community he's a successful businessman and he's a proven conservationist and he has a reputation of putting the needs of the community even though there's only expense so he comes with a lot of credibility and when he speaks people listen if you're gonna be in business you've got to be proactive and you've got to be heard if you don't do it somebody will be at least if if I'm there I can can help control the conversation and where it's headed it's kind of a civic duty that you do and that's the reason I'm involved and I do what I did Dennis Carlton has spent a lifetime achieving his dream and while being a rancher takes up most of his days Dennis and his wife Alice never miss a chance to be grandpa and grandma to six grandchildren I'm a blessed guy cuz all the children live within two or three miles in the house all the grandkids we have a family unity there everybody loves everybody everybody gets along it couldn't be any better and the land that helps that along give everybody a place to come home to well this is where we spend a great deal of time it's in our DNA it's in my soul you know the land it's just part of you you

Channel: Dan Peeri

Views: 175,025

Rating: 4.776135 out of 5

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Id: Gt1cCss6v9s

Length: 16min 33sec (993 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 21 2015