New appointments coming to Nebraska Brand Committee

The Nebraska Brand Committee quarterly meeting, June 10, 2026, was the first since the state legislature approved a bill to make big changes to the program.

TSLN spoke with Committee member Steve Stroup, who attended the meeting.

Stroup ranches in the southwest corner of the state, just 7 miles from the Kansas border and 20 miles from the Colorado border. He has served nearly four years on the NBC.

A new law passed during the 2026 session makes the following changes to Nebraska brand law, effective July 17.

1. The brand committee will grow to a seven-member board with five members coming from districts and whose principal business or occupation is raising cattle. Two of the five districts include segments of the non-brand area. The additional two members will be a feedlot owner or operator and a livestock auction barn owner or operator. (Current law is a five-member governor-appointed board from anywhere within the inspection area- three are cow/calf producers, one is a feeder and one must own cattle). Current board members will not be grandfathered in, but will be eligible for possible appointment.
2. The Governor must approve the board’s selection for a director to oversee the program. (Current law allows the board to autonomously select the director.)
3. The fees for Registered Feedlots (RFLs) will be 25 percent of the brand inspection fee multiplied by their one-time capacity. (Current law is 100 percent of the brand inspection fee multiplied by their one-time capacity).
4. The brand committee may audit RFLs twice per year, or more under certain conditions. (Under current law, audits are usually performed four times per year but the law didn’t specify how many times per year audits were to take place.) Audits will include up to 10 percent of the records on file, with the brand inspector selecting which files to review.

5. Cattle can be moved from a backgrounding lot into an RFL without inspection if they come from a non-inspection area or state, originate in a backgrounding lot and are accompanied by “satisfactory evidence of ownership” (brands, tattoos, approved nonvisual identifiers, the point of origin of the livestock, physical description of the livestock) or a brand inspection.
6. A registration process was added for dairy heifer development lots. They will be monitored similarly to RFLs.
7. A mileage surcharge will be implemented the current per-mile charge when inspector travel to the country.
8. The inspection fee cap will be raised from $1.10 to $1.50.
9. The brand registration fee increases to $400 for every four years. The current law requires a registration fee of $100 for every four years.

Registered Feedlots (RFLs) are NBC-approved feedlots that have historically been allowed the privilege of inspecting cattle “in” to the feedlot in lieu of inspecting them “out” when shipped for harvest.

Although legally, cattle must be inspected at a slaughter plants, the RFL rules allowed the flexibility of “in” inspections, coupled with audits, to save from the potential added stress of inspecting finished cattle at the point of shipping, and to allow those cattle to be shipped during the night if needed. (Brand inspections must be performed during daylight hours.) Until the 2026 law change, RFLs paid a one-time fee of the one-time capacity of their feedlot multiplied by the current inspection fee. This would generally equate to $.50 per head or less because feedlots can usually fill their pens twice or more each year.

Since the cattle aren’t inspected out, the NBC performs audits on the RFLs’ books in an effort to find and return any strayed or stolen cattle.

Stroup explained that RFL annual payments come due in June. He said the NBC discussed extensively how to handle those invoices, since the RFL fee structure will change on July 17. Ultimately the NBC decided it was most prudent to charge the RFLs at the current rate of $1.10 per head.

Stroup reminds all cattle owners in the brand inspection area (roughly the west 2/3 of the state) that inspection fees will increase to $1.40 per head and the brand renewal charge will go up to $200 for four years, starting July 17.

The NBC is now charging a flat mileage surcharge rather than a per-mile rate, when inspectors need to travel to conduct inspections.

The law change will remove the existing members of the NBC (one member, Chris Gentry of Hyannis resigned at some point before the June 10 meeting).

With the change in statute, anyone interested in serving on the NBC, which is now a seven-member board, must submit an application. By the new rules, one cow-calf producing member from each of the new five districts will serve. Two of the five districts do include some land area from outside of the inspection area. Additionally, a feedlot owner or operator and a livestock market owner or operator will serve at large.

The Governor will appoint the new five-member board, which according to law will take their positions Aug. 28, 2026. Current members may submit applications if they so choose. While he hasn’t decided for sure, Stroup said he is unlikely to apply for a position.

As for those who decide to apply, Stroup said those individuals need to understand it requires some dedication.

“You need an individual that is serious about it. This isn’t a ho-hum position. This is a position that carries a lot of responsibility and it’s not something to add to your resume. You need to take it seriously, we need serious-minded producers,” he said.

The NBC Executive Director resigned prior to the June 10 meeting. According to the change in law, the governor must now approve the NBC’s executive director selection.

The potential candidates for the Executive Director position must also come at this knowing it won’t always be easy, he said.

“Anyone interested in this position needs to be an advocate for the livestock industry. That is a huge part of it. You need to be on board with the reasons we have inspections and know the history of the program. He added that the right individual will be an aggressive leader, will bring some institutional knowledge of the program and a basic understanding of the legislative process,” he said.

Interested individuals can apply at: https://governor.nebraska.gov/boards-commissions-open-positions

As far as the changes to statute, Stroup had this to say:

“When that bill was brought up before the legislature, there were 324 people who testified against it. There were four who testified four it. The Ag Committee passed it and then it went before the full Unicameral and they passed it. My concern is, where are ‘we the people?’ If you are a Senator and you voted with the four – that wasn’t right.”

Stroup doesn’t believe the changes are positive for the industry. “A lot of the feedlots argued that they don’t have stolen cattle. I guess what I want to point out is: we have a functioning brand inspection program. Maybe that is why they don’t have stolen or strayed cattle.”

Stroup said by reducing inspections, inspection fees and audits, the state has “taken away a layer of security.”

“In my opinion, these changes only make it easier for someone to do something illegal. It’s like saying that reducing police officers or highway patrolmen will make the roads safer.”

The reduction in fees for RFLs puts more pressure on the cow-calf producer to fund the program, he said. He also expects the RFLs to return to the legislature to attempt to eliminate their inspection fees and requirements altogether.