- December 15, 2025
The Florida Agricultural Museum recently welcomed a newborn calf, Sparky, to its herd of cracker cattle. The Florida cracker is one of the oldest breeds of cattle in the United States, descending from Spanish cattle brought to the New World beginning in the early 1500s.
As one would expect of cattle adapted to the heat, Florida cracker cattle are small, with cows weighing 600 to 800 pounds and bulls 800 to 1,200.
The Florida Agricultural Museum has joined with the state of Florida in the conservation and promotion of the Florida cracker breed. The museum’s herd currently consists of a bull, two cows and the new addition. There are approximately 1,000 cracker cattle registered in the state today, and it is one of the rarest livestock breeds in North America.
