“We're waiting for FDEP to confer verification; after that, our agency will do the rulemaking and adopt it, which could come early next year. Producers will then be free to sign up,” Bartnick says.

Of the experience, Bartnick calls it “a very good process. It is the way government is supposed to work. I wish every agriculture group was this involved because we'd have a better product.”

Milicevic says one of the highlights of this experience has been the working relationship that's developed “getting to know these people and agencies, and them getting to know us. It's led to a lot better relationship, but it didn't happen overnight. It took years to get to that point. We didn't trust them and they didn't trust us, but now we trust each other and work better together.”

His advice to all cattlemen's associations around the country is to get proactive in writing their own state manuals.

“Everyone in the country is going to have to follow a similar manual eventually, because we're all going to be under the TMDL (total maximum daily loading) for water quality. The Environmental Protection Agency is working on that, so it's just a matter of time.

“So you might as well write it now and have it sitting on the shelf so that when someone comes knocking, you can hand it to them and say, ‘we're already working on it.’

“And I'd love to see other states take our manual and use it as a template to design their own, to fit their state needs.”

Editor's note: Watch a video on Milicevic and the Lykes Bros. Ranch at beefmagazine.com.

A piece of Florida history

One of the largest contiguous tracts of land in Florida, the Lykes Bros. Ranch was founded in the late 1800s by physician Howell Tyson Lykes. He left his medical career to begin raising cattle and citrus at the family homestead in rural Hernando County. By the turn of the century, the operation was shipping cattle to Cuba aboard a three-masted wooden schooner.

Incorporated in 1910, the Lykes family has remained active in its management. Today, the operation is home to a 20,000-head cowherd — the fourth largest cow-calf operation in the U.S. Its other enterprises include forestry, landscape trees, turf, sugarcane and citrus, as well as recreation.

Since the property covers many different land types and is crisscrossed by miles of ditches and dikes, Lykes Bros. employs multiple land-use practices to make the most efficient, economical and appropriate use of the land. Stewardship is an important component, attested to by the operation's selection in 2000 as a finalist for the industry's national Environmental Stewardship Award.

The operation is also home to more than two dozen rare or federally protected animals or birds.

“If we manage for habitat, we also make land more productive for our cattle. It's a careful balance, but it can be a win-win situation,” says Charlie Lykes, a third-generation family member who serves as executive vice president.

Steering committee

• Mike Adams, Adams Ranch

• Bill Bartnick, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS)

• Pete Deal, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

• Wade Grigsby, private consultant

• Rick Hacht, H&H Liquid Sludge Disposal Inc.

• Jim Handley, Florida Cattlemen's Association

• Matt Harrison, private rancher

• Pat Hogue, University of Florida (UFL)

• Clegg Hooks, FDACS

• Flint Johns, Lykes Bros. Inc.

• Billy Kempfer, Kempfer Ranch

• Jim Lefils, Lefils Cattle Co.

• Mike Milicevic, Lykes Bros. Inc.

• James Payne, Deseret Ranches of Florida

• Wes Williamson, Williamson Cattle Co.

Working group

• Brian Boman, UFL

• Benita Whalen, South Florida Water Management District (WMD)

• Lance Laird, Northwest Florida WMD

• Mark Luchte, Southwest Florida WMD

• Vince Singleton, St. Johns River WMD

• Mike Thomas, Florida Department of Environmental Protection

• Glen Horvath, Suwannee River WMD

See past Trailblazer award winners