BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
BY GREGORY ENNS
The Adams Ranch Inc. management team consists of, from left, Mike Adams as president, LeeAnn Simmons as secretary, Lee Adams as vice president, and
Robbie Adams as director.
24
FROM PASTURE
TO DINNER PLATE
Adams Ranch branching out
to the restaurant industry
The Monday after their father’s death Sept. 22,
brothers Lee, Mike and Robbie Adams gathered
in the Adams Ranch headquarters ready for work,
Must another day at the oce.
It was a scene their father, Alto Lee “Bud’’ Adams Jr.,
who held forth at a large desk in the corner of the room,
would have relished. After all, he had set the example for
the ranch’s work ethic in the seven decades he spent running
the Fort Pierce ranch, working with his sons to ensure
a smooth transition when they took it over.
ED DRONDOSKI
Adams, 91, who died a week after suͿering a stroke, had
remained active in the operation of the ranch until his illness.
His father, Alto Lee Adams Sr., purchased the ranch in
1937 and Bud developed it as a model for conservation and
agricultural practices in the state and the Southeast.
Today, Adams Ranch Inc. consists of some 40,000 acres
of cattle ranches, including the 14,000-acre home ranch in
St. Lucie County, a 24,000-acre ranch in Osceola County,
a 1,500-acre ranch in Madison County, a 500-acre ranch in
Okeechobee County and a 700-acre ranch in Burke and >>