OKEECHOBEE — Terry Daniel did not grow up on a ranch. “I got a late start,” she explained, as she came from a family of medical professionals. But she loves cattle and horses and, when she had the chance to learn about ranching, she paid attention. On Saturday, a group of women who share her love of cattle ranching were also paying close attention as she led a tour of Buck Daniel Ranch.

The Florida Cattlewomen’s Ranch Tour was in Okeechobee County on Saturday, visiting ranches with women owners and/or managers. First stop was the Buck Daniel Ranch, 2,500 acres near the Kissimme River.

“My husband purchased this ranch in 1984,” she said. “He was a sixth-generation Florida cattleman.” Over the years, they tried different things on the property, including growing vegetables and raising horses.

Horse trainer Jason Hanchey said “Mr. Buck” brought him to Okeechobe in 2005.

“At one time we had 700 horses on this place,” he said. One champion rodeo horse, Smokin Reata, won close to $4 million in prize money over his lifetime. “We just keep a handful now,” he continued. Jason still trains horses and gives lessons five days a week. Any horse that comes through their program has been used on the ranch as well as trained for competitions.

“Mr. Buck set the ranch up well,” he said, so the daily ranch work is also a trainable situation for the horses.

He said women are now competing in breakaway roping events, and he is proud to see women riding horses he trained.

Terry took over running the ranch when her husband had a debilitating stroke in 2011. Two years later, he died and she inherited both the ranch and some big challenges.

Terry decided to concentrate on raising cattle, and keep the horses as a sideline. In 2011, she explained, the ranch was in debt by $5 million. She sold 1,000 acres (the ranch was originally 3,500 acres) to pay off part of that debt and, through careful management, after nine years, the mortgage has been paid off.

“In 2012, we had 128 babies,” she recalled of the days when the horse herd was large. She said raising that many foals made it difficult to give each one the attention it needed. The ranch is now down to about 15 horses, and they have three to four foals born each year.

Terry said she worked with Pete Clemons at the Okeechobee Livestock Market for 20 years so she knew a lot about the cattle business.

“I just love cows,” she said. “I even considered being a vegetarian ... but not really,” she said with a laugh.

Terry keeps a careful eye on her cows. She keeps the “2018s” in the front pasture, which she can see from her house. She likes to keep a close eye on them in case a young cow has trouble with her first calf. Everyone who works on the ranch drives right by that pasture, she explained. They all watch for any signs of an animal in trouble.

A tour member asked whether the ranch has trouble with hogs and other wild animals. “The biggest nuisance animals are coyotes,” Terry responded. “Two years ago they were very bad.” She said they even came to the pens behind her house and killed a calf. Trappers killed one coyote as big as a wolf, she continued.

Over the years, she has seen a lot of wildlife on the ranch, including bobcats, otters, all kinds of birds and, of course, alligators. Flocks of migrating birds stop by the ranch each year. Eagles nest nearby. She’s even seen a whooping crane.

Maintaining a healthy environment is important to Terry. She said she rarely uses fertilizer or herbicides, following the strict best management practices (BMPs) required by the Florida Department of Agriculture and the South Florida Water Management District.

The headwaters of Limpkin Creek are on the Buck Daniel Ranch. Terry said airboaters sometimes come up the creek onto the ranch. “They’re very respectful,” she said. They don’t leave any trash and stay away from the cattle.

Shell mining is another source of income for the ranch. Terry explained the mining company takes care of handling the engineering and the state permits. When a shell pit is closed, they are required to grade the edges into a slope and the former pit fills with water to become a lake. These lakes total about 200 acres, with the largest lake covering about 112 acres. It doesn’t take long for these new lakes to become healthy ecosystems.

The mining operation offers a glimpse into Florida’s past, she explained. Occasionally visiting the digs, she has amassed a vast collection of shells and fossils.

She has worked with different mining companies over the years. Mohawk Construction is currently digging a pit. The pits are dug about 25 deep, explained Josh Williams, of Mohawk Construction. Each layer of material is piled up separately. Various materials are used for construction and road projects.

“Mining can be bad for the environment if people don’t care,” said Josh. That won’t happen on the Buck Daniel Ranch. Berms are used to protect wetlands.

The ranch is also a site for a scientific study to control invasive Brazilian peppers with thrips.

“Like all ranchers, my biggest challenge is to get a healthy and profitable calf to market, every year from every cow, and use that money to pay my bills, so I can afford to stay here on one of God’s most beautiful pieces of real estate that I call home,” Terry explained. “I married late in life and have no children, so within that goal I also count having to earn enough to make a good life for the people who work the ranch and love it as I do. I love my life. I love my work and I know I have received a lot of help getting here.”