Florida Roots

New Florida Cattlemen President Cliff Coddington: ‘Let’s Ride Together’

- PAUL CATALA

CLIFF CODDINGTON RESTS HIS FEET in his home in Myakka City, but it’s on 9,000 acres on the northeastern corner of Sarasota County he kicks it with boots on.

Coddington is a sixth-generation Floridian who has spent his life the same way the generations before him did in the Sarasota and Manatee area – among cattle, bailing hay and cultivating and harvesting vegetables.

Those years of tending to livestock, along with his extensive cattleman’s experience, helped land him in the saddle as president of the Florida Cattlemen’s Association. Made up of about 3,700 to 4,700 members statewide — depending on the cattle market cycle — the FCA is a nonprofit organization established in 1934 devoted to promoting and protecting the ability of its members to produce and market their products.

Coddington, 62, says he’s enthusiastic about his new role, which started June 17.

He has been a member of the organization for 44 years. Coddington joined the local and state FCAs at 18 years old and has served on various committees and capacities, including animal health, as marketing chairman and Florida Beef Council chairman. He was the Florida representative on the national Cattlemen’s Beef Board from 2018 to 2021.