Matt Etheredge


Matt was raised in the Texas Panhandle where he attended Texas Tech University and graduated in 1998 with a B.S. in Agriculture Communications. Following graduation, Matt worked for a cattle order-buying business, then for a feedyard in the Texas Panhandle sorting cattle to fit a premium-based meat grid. Matt moved to the King Ranch in April of 2003 where he served as a Unit Manager on the Norias Division. Matt then accepted the opportunity and decided to join the King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management because of his interest in learning about the systems approach to managing and solving problems.
After graduating from the King Ranch Institute at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, he hired on with Spade Ranches, headquartered in Lubbock, Texas, as the assistant manager and remained there for a little over a year. He recently took a position working for Edwards Ranches and T Bar Ranch.
Matt’s passion is seeing animals such as cattle, horses, and wildlife growing and thriving in a range environment; knowing he can be a part of that success is a rewarding part of his life. One of his favorite saying is “always remain open-minded and willing to learn, because a closed mind is a closed door by which progress cannot enter.”

Dave Genho
Deseret Ranch, FMC
13754 Deseret Lane
St. Cloud, FLA 34773-9381
(407) 892-3672

Dave joined the KRIRM in the summer of 2004 from Iowa where he worked for Smithfield Foods. He joined Smithfield Foods after obtaining a B.S. in Animal Science and a minor in Business at Brigham Young University. David grew up on Deseret Cattle and Citrus where he cowboyed on the ranch during summers and other school breaks. David credits his ranching background and childhood experiences for giving him a passion for cattle ranching and production agriculture. Since that time, David has gained additional experience in the industry through several impressive jobs. He spent 2 years in Colorado working on a feedlot, where he supervised the processing crew, feeding program, and feed mill. After enrolling in school at BYU, he ran a 2000-head feedlot in Utah. David’s 2005 summer internship was on the King Ranch where he conducted an analysis of the heifer-development program, helped to develop a model on trophy vs. quality deer management, and served as a Unit Manager. David graduated in August 2006, and accepted a position as Area Manager with the Deseret Ranch in Florida.

Craig Payne, DVM
University of Missouri
A331 Clydesdale Hall
Columbia, MO 65211-5110

Craig came to the KRIRM from Sedalia, Missouri where he was a practicing veterinarian and a partner at the Sedalia Veterinary Center for 10 years. He obtained a B.S. in Biology from Southwest Baptist University in 1988 and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Missouri in 1993. Craig then entered private practice and began to immediately focus on production medicine for beef cattle operations, which he continued to do until his acceptance into KRIRM program. During his career he also served as a Technical Services Veterinarian for a major animal health company. In this position he functioned as an information source for cow/calf and stocker operations, feedlots, and other veterinarians across the United States. He was also a featured speaker at numerous cattleman meetings and state/university sponsored programs. While in the program, Craig developed a detailed plan for the implementation of an electronic identification system on the King Ranch, worked with King Ranch range and wildlife personnel during the summer of 2006, and for his final case study, conducted a financial analysis of dual, fall, and spring calving seasons using King Ranch financial and production data. Craig graduated in August of 2007 and accepted a position as the state Beef Veterinary Extension Specialist for the University of Missouri and is also a Clinical Assistant Professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Clint Richardson
Deseret Ranches of Florida
5880 Deer Park Rd.
St. Cloud, FL 34773

Clint Richardson joins the KRIRM from Florida where he was working for Deseret Cattle and Citrus. He went to Florida after obtaining a B.S. degree in Animal Science from the University of Kentucky in 1998. While in Florida, he worked for two years as foreman in heifer development and for the past three years as seed stock foreman at the ranch. His responsibilities included detailed record keeping of four seedstock herds, genetic selection and improvement of the cowherds, plus their daily care and husbandry. He was also responsible for the development of replacement heifers and bulls. Clint grew up ranching with his family in eastern Colorado and central Kentucky, and also worked with Thoroughbred horses at Killian Farms. During his early exposure to ranching, Clint developed a profound love for cattle and the ranching industry. This helped Clint to commit to the future of ranching, which coincides with the mission of the KRIRM. Clint spent the Fall 2005 semester evaluating how a ranch manager can successfully incorporate fire into a ranch management plan. While this might look easy on paper, Clint learned about the complexities of prescribed fire planning and logistics such as timing, moisture, wind, fuel load, fire control, and pasture management. In addition, he evaluated costs and cost benefits, and found that prescribed burning is as much an art as it is a science. He graduated in August 2007. Clint went back to work with Deseret Cattle and Citrus in Florida as an area foreman.