Attention Highlands County

We’re bringing
true Florida beef
to Floridians.

Wabasso Ranch is building a USDA-inspected meat processing facility and retail butchery in the heart of Florida cattle country. No more questioning where your meat comes from. True Florida beef — Raised here. Processed here. Sold here.

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Why we’re building this

You want to know
where your food comes from.

Florida is one of the top cattle-producing states in the country, yet almost none of the beef on local grocery shelves was processed here. It was shipped in from Texas, from Nebraska, or from a country on another continent — with labels that tell you almost nothing about the animal or the ranch behind it.

We’re fixing that.

Our facility will feature a retail butchery and café where every cut has a story we can actually tell you. The ranch. The rancher. The animal — and how it was raised. Our Florida beef will always be on the counter, alongside cuts from trusted partners who share how we do things: people we know by name, raising cattle the way we’d raise our own.

We’re building a supply chain that is short enough to see end to end, and honest enough to tell you exactly where every pound came from.

The build

More than a meat plant.
A face to our farm.

We want this to be a place the community gathers — not just somewhere to pick up groceries. A place where parents come with their kids, where neighbors grab coffee before a long day, where shoppers actually know the person cutting their steak. The store will feature a full retail butcher shop with glass meat cases, a quick-service food counter, and friendly rocking chairs on the porch. The USDA-inspected processing facility sits quietly behind it, out of sight. This isn’t a big, scary industrial operation — it’s the front door to our ranch and the marketplace for our community.

Timeline

Steps to Opening

Here’s where we’re at and how it’s going.

Mar 10, 2026
Planning & Zoning — Approved 7-0
Unanimous approval from the P&Z Board, with 32 letters of support from the community.
Apr 21, 2026 · Just in
County Commissioners — Approved 7-0
Final zoning hurdle cleared. The facility is approved from a zoning standpoint.
2026
Permits & site plan review
The unglamorous middle stretch — engineering, state environmental, and USDA paperwork.
Q1 2027 · Target
Construction complete
Steel goes up. Coolers go in. The retail counter gets built out.
Q2 – Q3 2027 · Target
Doors open
Wabasso Beef in the display cases. Coffee on the counter. Burgers in the kitchen. Come see us.
Frequently asked

Questions we keep getting.

Where exactly will it be?

The facility will sit on our farm in Avon Park, FL — a 10-acre parcel where CR 64 E meets E Avon Pines Road, right behind the volunteer fire station. The storefront will be accessible from both roads.

When will it open?

Zoning and county commissioner approvals are in hand. Ahead of us: commercial site plan review (at least another six months), construction, and USDA pre-operational review. Join the list and you’ll be the first to know when we nail down a grand opening date.

Will it be open to the public?

Yes. The front of the facility is a retail butcher shop and agritourism center — meat cases, a small quick-service restaurant with limited seating, and a family-friendly open lawn farmers market area. The back of the facility, where processing and slaughter happen, is closed to the public for food-safety and USDA reasons.

Can local ranchers bring their animals here?

Yes — USDA-inspected and custom-exempt processing for other ranches, hobby farms, and county fair customers is a core part of the business. Serving other ranchers and livestock raisers in the area is part of why we’re building this in the first place.

Will you sell online / ship meat?

That’s the plan. Direct-to-consumer online, farmers markets, Florida restaurants, and wholesale to grocery and hospitality.

Grass-fed or grain-fed?

Both. We understand and appreciate what each one offers, and we want our customers to be able to choose what suits their taste, their cooking, and their budget. Grass-fed runs leaner with a more pronounced flavor from the pasture. Grain-fed finishes with more marbling and the rich, buttery profile most Americans grew up on. Neither is better — they’re different, and we’ll carry both so you can pick the one that’s right for the meal you’re making.

Will you have more than just beef?

Yes. The butcher shop will carry a full lineup of meats — beef, pork, poultry, and more — so it can be a one-stop shop for your protein needs. Alongside the meat case, you’ll find locally produced dairy, seasonal produce, and other ag products from farms we trust.

Will there be jobs?

Yes — the facility will create new jobs across meat processing, sanitation, retail, kitchen, sales and distribution, and administration. Hiring will ramp up as we get closer to opening, and more roles will open up as we scale.

What about odor, noise, and traffic?

Fair questions — and ones the zoning approval took seriously. The approval came with 19 specific conditions addressing all three. Among them: refrigerated byproduct storage with sealed containers emptied biweekly, an enclosed inedible room with negative-pressure ventilation, an on-site USDA inspector, a traffic management plan, acoustically shielded outdoor equipment, and full-cutoff downward lighting with no stadium-style fixtures. Everything stays fully enclosed and climate-controlled, with a clear separation between the public spaces out front and the commercial operations behind them.

How can I support this?

Join the list. Tell your friends. Share the post. When we open, come buy beef. The support from Highlands County so far has been the reason it’s happening.

Be the first to know.

Construction updates, opening-day alerts, processing slot openings, and the occasional photo from the farm. No spam — just real updates every few months until we open.

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