Deseret Ranches in Florida: History, What It Raises, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Deseret Ranches is one of the largest working cattle ranches in the eastern United States, covering about 295,000 acres in parts of three Central Florida counties between Orlando and Melbourne. Its roughly 45,000 beef cattle and more than 1,600 acres of citrus make it a clear scale leader, and its Jug Island Reservoir won a Florida Commissioner of Agriculture environmental award for water quality.
| Location | Between Orlando and Melbourne, across parts of three Florida counties |
|---|---|
| Founded | Operating for about 65 years as of 2016, according to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints newsroom |
| Sectors | Beef cattle; citrus; conservation and hunting leases |
| Scale | About 295,000 acres; roughly 45,000 beef cattle; 1,600+ acres of citrus with about 200,000 trees |
| Why it is elite | Among the largest ranches in the East; Jug Island Reservoir received the Commissioner of Agriculture's Environmental Leadership Award for Water Quality |
| Ownership | Owned by an affiliate of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as reported by the church newsroom |
| Official website | Deseret Ranches official site |
History of Deseret Ranches
Deseret Ranches has operated in Central Florida for about 65 years as of a 2016 church newsroom article, which places its start in the early 1950s. The ranch is affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which reports that it balances agriculture and conservation across a very large landscape.
For decades it has been a working commercial ranch rather than a show property. Media coverage of the ranch's size, including Orlando television and Florida Trend, has followed its land use as growth moved toward the Osceola County area, while the ranch has continued to manage cattle, citrus and conservation lands side by side.
What Deseret Ranches Grows and Raises
The core business is beef cattle, with a herd of roughly 45,000 head grazed across improved and native pasture. Cow-calf ranching on this scale in Florida depends on managing heat, wetlands and seasonal flooding, and the ranch has invested in water management.
Citrus occupies more than 1,600 acres with about 200,000 trees, mostly Valencia oranges for juice. The church newsroom reports that Jug Island Reservoir, a 500-acre retention area, earned the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture's Environmental Leadership Award for Water Quality, showing how storage and treatment of runoff can be built into a working ranch.
How Deseret Ranches Makes Money
Beef cattle
Calves and cattle raised on the ranch are the primary agricultural product. A herd of about 45,000 allows the ranch to sell in volume to feeders and packers, which is the standard cow-calf revenue model.
Citrus
Valencia orange production on more than 1,600 acres supplies juice markets. Citrus is a second crop line that does not depend on cattle prices, though Florida citrus carries its own disease and weather risks.
Land stewardship and water
The ranch's retention reservoir and wetland management are part of its public story. Large landholders can combine production with conservation programs, and the ranch presents this as a core operating principle.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Deseret Ranches
The first lesson is that scale rewards system thinking. On hundreds of thousands of acres, water control, fencing, labor and herd health are engineering problems as much as animal husbandry.
Second, pairing cattle with a perennial crop such as citrus spreads income across different cycles. Third, publishing conservation results, as the ranch has done through its award-winning reservoir, builds credibility with regulators and neighbors when land use is under public scrutiny.
A ranch with roughly 45,000 cattle and enough acreage to be seen on a map of three counties surely has a few cowboys who have lost a truck in the back pasture, and found it again a week later. For the quiet moments between gate checks, farm.FM offers farm satire, farm humor, ranch humor and farm jokes, and nobody will ask you to count the herd.
farm.FM, the nation's first satirical farm site, also runs Tractor Tunes, a country music lineup for farmers. For a sample of the writing, try the archive of one of its staff humorists.
How to Contact Deseret Ranches
Website: http://www.deseretranches.com/
The official site address was reported by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints newsroom. Phone and address were not confirmed in the sources reviewed; use the contact options on the ranch's own site and confirm before traveling.
Deseret Ranches Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Deseret Ranches official site - The ranch's own website
- Church newsroom on the ranch - Acreage, herd size, citrus and the Jug Island award
- ClickOrlando overview - Local news coverage of the ranch's size and land plans
- Florida Trend: The Church's Ranch - Business magazine feature
- FDACS summary of the 2022 Census of Agriculture - Florida farm, cattle and citrus statistics
Deseret Ranches FAQ
How big is Deseret Ranches?
About 295,000 acres across parts of three Central Florida counties, according to the church newsroom.
How many cattle does it run?
Roughly 45,000 head of beef cattle.
Does it grow citrus?
Yes, more than 1,600 acres with about 200,000 trees, mostly Valencia oranges.
What award did it receive?
Its Jug Island Reservoir received the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture's Environmental Leadership Award for Water Quality.
Deseret Ranches shows what scale and stewardship look like together in Central Florida. For the wider picture of Florida cattle, citrus and sugar, read the Florida farms guide and the other operations profiled with Deseret Ranches.