Letter to the Editor: Beef checkoff has evolved from original intent

We read the Tri-State Livestock News from March 15, 2025 and the article “Some Urge DOGE to check Beef Checkoff”.
I came pretty close to just letting this go and not sharing; but maybe somebody else thinks like we do and I should share these thoughts.

Cow/calf production and ranching have been our fulltime, lifetime. We are fifth generation ranchers. We are now in our 60’s, way too old to read, listen and not respond to what Mr. Buck Wehrbein the NCBA President has to say about ranchers who do not necessarily support the current Beef Checkoff.
After reading that article Paul emphatically said “(Mr. Buck Wehrbein) needs to apologize to cattle producers and the ranching industry as a whole.”
We remember when the Beef Checkoff was first implemented; and in our opinion it started with good and noble ideas geared toward product awareness, science based nutritional facts, and advertisement of clean, humane, animal protein for family consumption. The Beef Checkoff soon became a mandatory charge, every time an animal changed ownership.
We were NCBA members for a time, but as the NCBA views evolved over and above the beef producer, we withdrew our membership and quit supporting NCBA. The Beef Checkoff continues to evolve today into something that, to us, is unrecognizable from the original doctrine and now they are wanting to increase the fees. We question why is NCBA and the Beef Check Off opposed to DOGE audit?

-Paul & Nancy Brence, Ekalaka, Montana