NCBA Hosts Beef Industry from “Pasture to Plate” Panel

In effort to educate key opinion leaders in the food and hospitality industry on the beef production cycle, from pasture to plate, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, held a webinar in partnership with the James Beard Foundation. The “Pasture to Plate” webinar highlighted the beef community’s commitment to raising cattle in a safe, humane and environmentally sustainable manner. The webinar was part of the James Beard Foundation’s Industry Support Webinar series, targeting chefs and other hospitality leaders.

The Sep. 22 webinar aimed to educate attendees about how beef is raised and used.  The panelists represented various parts of the beef production cycle and included Minnesota cattle rancher, Katie Brenny; Nebraska feedlot operator and NCBA Federation Division Chair, Buck Wehrbein; Josh White, NCBA executive director of producer education; Pitmaster Dr. Howard Conyers and Chef Lamar Moore.

The conversation focused on the following topics:

• The beef lifecycle
• Production practices
• Beef Quality Assurance program
• Common misconceptions about the beef industry
• Consumer concerns and expectations of food production
• Challenges and opportunities facing the industry
• How COVID-19 impacted the industry     

“It is important that the Beef Checkoff leads the charge to educate key opinion leaders about how cattle are raised and what steps cattle producers are taking to continuously improve industry sustainability,” said Wehrbein. “By investing our dollars in these types of events and introducing this audience to actual beef producers, we are able to share our authentic story with chefs, so they can proudly feature beef on their menus.”

In addition to the “Pasture to Plate” webinar, NCBA partnered with the James Beard Foundation for a second webinar held on Sept. 29. This webinar focused on how to use underutilized beef cuts across menus. 

In total, the webinars had 90 participants.

About the Beef Checkoff
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States may retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.

About NCBA, a Contractor to the Beef Checkoff
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) is a contractor to the Beef Checkoff Program. The Beef Checkoff Program is administered by the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, with oversight provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.