The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is a proud contractor to the Beef Checkoff. The work NCBA conducts on behalf of U.S. farming and ranching families is focused on the areas of Consumer Information, Promotion, Research and Industry Information. Programs from Promotion are highlighted here. 

The Promotion Authorization Request delivers content directly to consumers on behalf of the Beef Checkoff through the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. brand. Launched in 1992, the brand remains the cornerstone of the beef industry’s consumer marketing efforts. As a widely recognized and trusted resource, it inspires and educates consumers on all things beef. Marketing efforts focus on four strategic cornerstones — trust, ease, taste, and well-being — each aligned with the primary drivers of consumer demand. 

Marketing and advertising efforts must break through the clutter and reach consumers with a surround sound approach. To do this, the two core components of the Authorization Request (AR) — Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. marketing content and consumer advertising and social media — must work together hand-in-hand to ensure each Checkoff dollar is optimized. 

Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. marketing content includes the development of messaging, campaigns and creative assets such as video, audio, photography, recipes and website content. All Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. content is designed to give consumers the confidence to choose beef whether it’s knowing what cut to select, how to prepare it, its nutritional benefits or how it’s produced. This content is deployed across all consumer-facing channels and platforms, including the flagship website, BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com, which currently attracts millions of site visits each year. New this year, to support the overall brand effort the team rolled out a campaign to celebrate beef and the people who raise it, the bold flavor it creates, the ease it brings to everyday meals, and the nutrition it provides. The new campaign launched in April 2026. 

State Beef Council Extension - Assets and campaign development and guidance are available for state beef councils through campaign toolkits. Toolkits provide states with everything they need to support their local marketing efforts from large always-on brand campaigns to moments in time, like the holidays and summer grilling. During the first 8 months of FY26, 257 pieces of content have been created to be used for national and state advertising efforts. 

Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. consumer advertising and social media employ a wide variety of efficient media outlets to get the beef messages and content directly to targeted consumers where they spend their time. From connected TV to paid search, social media, event activations, partnerships and online advertising, this omnichannel approach enables beef messages to reach more consumers, more frequently. NCBA-led advertising, on behalf of the Beef Checkoff, reaches consumers more than 700 million times annually through a variety of platforms helping keep beef top of mind. 

State Beef Council Extension - In addition to amplifying the national Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. message, the media team supports state beef councils in their local marketing and social media efforts. By acting as a digital agency, providing custom media plans, quarterly social media toolkits, recommendations for local media buys and full support in executing online advertising, this tactic helps state beef councils be more cost-effective and innovative in reaching local consumers with relevant content. In FY26, the team placed media on behalf of 34 state beef council partners, saving them dollars that they would otherwise spend on agency fees. This cost-saving not only stretches Checkoff resources further but also ensures consistency of beef messaging and content assets across the U.S.