Environment, Health and Safety -
Ranching

The Matador Cattle Company, a division of Koch Agriculture Company, operates three ranches: Beaverhead in Montana, Matador in Texas and Spring Creek in Kansas. The ranches total about 425,000 acres.

Safety programs held annually at the Beaverhead and Matador ranches include horsemanship clinics that focus on both the rider and the horse.

Koch Industries’ Market-Based Management^® business philosophy encourages employees to act like principled entrepreneurs – an approach that has translated into a firm commitment to environmental stewardship. Regardless of where they work, at a plant, an office, or a ranch, employees strive to continuously improve operations, increase efficiency and reduce waste.

For the ranches, that commitment has resulted in a safety record that is among the industry’s best as well as improved wildlife habitat and grazing for livestock. Employees at the ranches completed 2010 injury-free, with no recordable or lost-time incidents as defined by the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration. Employees have worked two years without a recordable incident and three years without a lost-time incident. In 2002, Beaverhead Ranch was the first ranch to achieve national Wildlife Habitat Council certification for its natural resources stewardship. It was recertified in 2010.

All management decisions at the ranches are made to ensure long-term viability of vast natural resources and to create long-term value for customers. Ranch personnel work with many different organizations to develop and share management approaches aimed at improving overall performance.

In Texas, the Matador team works closely with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, the Noble Foundation and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. In 2010, the ranch received two prestigious stewardship awards: The Lone Star Land Steward award from Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, and the Outstanding Rangeland Stewardship award from The Texas Section Society for Range Management and the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.
At the Montana ranch, management works with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; Bureau of Land Management; Beaverhead County Weed Department; U.S. Forest Service; Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks; and Montana Department of Natural Resources.
At the Kansas ranch, where controlled burns are used to manage noxious weeds in the pristine Flint Hills, leadership works with Kansas State University and the National Resources Conservation Service.