Dale Goetz
Dale Goetz is the creator of the Cattle Mat, a woven rubber mat made from discarded tire treads, and owner/operator of Double D Family Mat Shop, Inc. He is also the creator of the Double D Sled ‘n Sling. The only product of its kind used to remove a large downed animal safely and efficiently.
Dale grew up on a farm outside of Park, Kansas, where he started working on his father, Jerry Goetz’s, feedlot at an early age. Starting at age 12 he fed and processed cattle, farmed corn, wheat, milo, and chopped silage. As he grew older he developed an interest in welding, mechanics, and engineering and he became the feedlot’s main mechanic.
At 36 he and his wife of 13 years decided to strike out on their own. They purchased Jerry’s parents’ farm and built a 2,000-head backgrounding lot of their own where they raised five children. They owned and farmed 1,500 acres of land with corn, milo, and wheat. Dale also baled hay, hauled manure and distiller’s grain, did woodworking, and welded to support his family. Yet they still needed an additional revenue stream to supplement the feedlot and farm income. They purchased a tire cutting machine and Dena and the children built and sold doormats made from tire sidewalls to the local community and at craft fairs around the region.
In 1995 Dale and Dena had a growing pile of tire treads on the farm and they wanted to come up with some way to use them. A colleague in the feedlot industry asked Dale if he could come up with something to prevent cattle from slipping on the brand new concrete he poured throughout his processing barn. Dale spent a couple months working with the treads and ultimately came up with the woven rubber Double D Cattle Mat we still build to this day.
The Cattle Mat was a word-of-mouth success and Dale and Dena were able to grow the business out of their garage and living room for many years. They hired their first employee to build Cattle Mats a couple years later. Since those early days Double D has employed over 50 people and saved approximately three quarters of a million tires from being buried under the ground in their home state of Kansas. They have had the privilege to serve almost 2,500 customers. Today Dale drives his custom-fitted tire truck to 85 car repair shops in the state of Kansas collecting 1,000 tires per week to be brought back to Double D to be turned into one of the many recycled products his business creates and sells to farmers, ranchers, packing plants, sale barns, feedlots, construction crews, universities, and cemeteries.
In 2011 two of Dale’s daughters joined the business and to-date his third daughter has joined, securing the business for a second generation of family ownership and management.
Dale has been active in his community as a former member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church Parish Council for two years and District 292 School Board for 12 years. He was also a member of his church’s Family Ministry team for eight years and is currently a member of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the Kansas Livestock Association, and the Kansas Cattlemen’s Association. He is also building an RV park in Park, Kansas.
As a family man Dale prefers to spend his free time with his wife of over 35 years, seven children, two sons-in-law, one daughter-in-law, and nine grandchildren. They have traveled all over the United States, often camping out. He also enjoys watching Nascar and serving as crew chief for his sons’ go-kart races.
Dale continues to develop new ideas for the business and has a personal goal of finding a use for every piece of scrap rubber that enters his facility.