In 1540 Don Diego Maldonado brought a large herd of Spanish cattle and horses to the Pensacola Bay area to supply the expedition of Hernando De Soto. Don Diego was unable to make contact with the conquistadors and it was reported that many of the cattle were lost to run wild in the timber of north Florida or left with the Indians.
In 1565 Pedro Menendez De Aviles founded the city of St. Augustine and soon had cattle and horses shipped from Spain to begin producing beef for the garrison.
Ranching was born when Jesuit and Franciscan Friars set up a system of missions across north and north-central Florida. Their mission was to convert Indians to Christianity but the Friars also used Indian labor to tend livestock and crops. These were the first established ranches in North America. Note that the pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock had not yet been born!
By 1618 Florida's Spanish Governors were seriously expanding cattle production on local ranchos. The Spanish herds, as well as those kept by the Indians and many cattle running wild, flourished on the immense prairies and rangeland of Florida. The result of this herd increase was that Spanish Cattlemen in Florida began to ship cattle to the large trading center of Cuba. This was the first industry to develop in the New World and trade with Cuba would continue for the next three hundred years.
Link (here) to a more lengthy article.
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