In today’s Beef Buzz, senior farm and ranch broadcaster Ron Hays speaks with Colin Woodall, Chief Executive Officer of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Woodall addressed ongoing criticism from a segment of producers surrounding NCBA’s role in the dollar-per-head Beef Checkoff, calling much of that criticism “misinformation” and laying out how the system actually works.

Woodall emphasized that NCBA does not control the Beef Checkoff, noting, “First and foremost, everybody needs to understand NCBA is not the checkoff. We are a contractor to the National Beef Checkoff.” He explained that all projects must be pitched annually to the Beef Promotion Operating Committee — a group made up of cattle producers — and approved by both the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and USDA before moving forward. “We don’t just go out and start doing projects,” Woodall said. “Everything has to be approved before it ever sees the light of day.”

Pointing to long-term results, Woodall highlighted the success of 40 years of checkoff-funded nutrition research, saying it helped reshape federal dietary guidance. “This was driven by science,” he said. “For the first time in my 22 years at NCBA, we had an actual scientific process at play… and they made it very clear that beef fit the bill for real food.” That research, he added, helped put beef “at the center of the plate.”

Addressing claims that NCBA profits from the Checkoff or uses those dollars for lobbying, Woodall pushed back firmly. “It works on a cost recovery basis,” he explained. “We can get reimbursed for costs, but we cannot make any profit — that’s in the act and the order.” He added that by law, Checkoff funds cannot be used for lobbying, noting, “All of our policy work in Washington, D.C. is funded by dues dollars, not checkoff dollars.”

Looking ahead, Woodall said NCBA must do a better job telling its story and correcting false narratives. “We need to make sure we are doing a better job of talking about the facts,” he said, while also focusing on new services, efficiency tools, and supporting young and beginning producers. “We have example after example of people who work hard and get in,” Woodall said. “NCBA plays a role in that — and we just have to continue to maintain that high demand for beef.”

Coverage of CattleCon26 is powered by Farm Data Services of Stillwater, Oklahoma.

The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.

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