From the CEO
Colin Woodall
PLANNING FOR OUR FUTURE
In just a few weeks, we will be hosting CattleCon in Nashville. While CattleCon is known for great entertainment and the NCBA Trade Show, it is also where NCBA conducts its business. This year, the NCBA Board of Directors will be considering a new strategic plan for the association. The plan the board will be reviewing is the result of more than a year and a half of work.
Strategic planning is the process by which the producer leadership identifies where they want to take the association and then develops a roadmap to get us there. It is meant to look at the“ big picture” of the industry and NCBA’ s role in serving it. Through this process, NCBA leadership has looked at industry issues, association resourcing, and the structure needed to achieve our vision of being“ the trusted leader and definitive voice of the U. S. cattle and beef industry.”
Strategic planning can be tricky because it challenges us to look at the future knowing we don’ t have all the facts and can’ t envision every potential scenario. That is why a successful plan requires flexibility. The need for flexibility is captured in Mike Tyson’ s quote about everybody having a plan until they get punched in the mouth. We have too many examples we can point to where this industry has been punched in the mouth. When done correctly, the strategic planning process breaks through all the noise and clutter and allows us to focus on the things that really matter and will have the biggest impact on our effectiveness. It instills confidence and empowers NCBA to make bold decisions. The strategic objectives this plan identifies will help continue the legacy built by this association since our founding in 1898.
Our process began during the Richard McDonald Leadership Institute held during the 2024 Cattle Industry Summer Business Meeting. During that session, NCBA members, state partners, and stakeholders conducted a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This is an easy, but effective, exercise to evaluate what we are getting right, where we are falling short, and what more we can do to serve our industry. The SWOT exercise gave us hundreds of data points that we compiled for NCBA’ s Executive Committee to review.
In October of 2024, NCBA’ s Executive Committee began the process of building the new strategic plan. They discussed the SWOT results and began to formulate the strategic objectives which serve as the basis of the plan. NCBA’ s policy process influenced this plan through a directive passed that instructed
Strategic planning can be tricky because it
the strategic plan to prioritize, sustain, and enhance beginning and multi-generational, family-owned livestock production operations. This aims to ensure agricultural land stays in production, protecting the sustainability of the U. S. livestock industry and U. S. national food security by leading the effort to unify the livestock industry to secure the future of U. S. producers.
During their 2024 meeting, the Executive Committee made the decision to put a hold on the planning process until the Beef Industry Long Range Plan was completed. Just as a quick reminder, the Beef Industry Long Range Plan is a joint effort by NCBA and the Cattlemen’ s Beef Board to identify the cattle and beef industry issues and challenges we must collectively address. It is specifically used in the formulation of the annual Authorization Requests, or ARs, which direct Checkoff-funded work. The NCBA Strategic Plan, however, is specific to the work of NCBA, but the Executive Committee felt it was important to look at the final Beef Industry Long Range Plan to see how it could help build our plan. After the Beef Industry Long Range Plan was adopted during the 2025 Summer Business Meeting back in July, the NCBA officers appointed a task force to build us a draft strategic plan.
The task force was made up of NCBA officers, Executive Committee members, and a few NCBA staff. Throughout August, September and early October, this task force talked to representatives from all segments of the cattle and beef supply chain to get their thoughts on the state of the industry and what NCBA should focus on moving forward. After their interviews, the task force spent two days in person drafting a plan to present to the Executive Committee. After reviewing the draft during their in-person fall meeting, the Executive Committee voted to approve it and send it to our state affiliate partners, State Beef Council partners, and breed partners for review.
It’ s now been sent out to the board who will have the chance to discuss it and ultimately vote on its adoption while we are at CattleCon in Nashville. Once that’ s done, it will be up to us, as your staff, to execute the plan and report back on our progress. This is an exciting time and shows the thought and planning that our volunteer leaders put into protecting and growing NCBA. Our process has been inclusive, thorough and well-vetted. The 2026-2031 NCBA Strategic Plan will keep us focused and sharp as we build off our legacy while laying a solid foundation for a strong future.
challenges us to look at the future knowing we don’ t have all the facts and can’ t envision every potential scenario. That is why a successful plan requires flexibility.
6 JANUARY 2026 www. NCBA. org