National Cattlemen's Beef Association

Pennsylvania rancher Michael Cliver: "The work that you guys have done, it’s unexplainable how big it is for the American farmer, and the next generation that don’t have to headache, and don’t have to worry about the Death Tax... It’s absolutely spectacular."

Is there any drought relief on the way? 57% of U.S. cattle are in drought conditions, and the drought is getting worse for most. Where things stand today: West/Plains/Southeast: A major heat wave made dry areas worse, drying soils fast and fueling huge wildfires, including one in Nebraska. Drought spread and intensified, especially in Texas, the Plains and parts of the Southeast. Midwest/Northeast: Rain and a major snowstorm helped improve drought in places like the Midwest and Northeast, with some areas getting very heavy snow. Pacific Northwest/West: The Northwest saw helpful rain, but most of the West stayed hot and dry, so drought still worsened overall. Hawaii: Hawaii had historic flooding rains from a recent Kona Low. Where are we headed in the next few weeks: The need for sustained moisture goes without saying, but what are the chances and who stands to get the best precipitation in the next few weeks? This image shows the trend in moisture for the next four weeks; brown is less frequent moisture and green is more frequent moisture. For some, there is a bit of relief on the way but unlikely to shake the drought which is so entrenched across primary grazing regions. @MattMakens

NCBA leaders and members were on hand at the @WhiteHouse to celebrate the Working Families Tax Cuts included in the One Big Beautiful Bill. This event is the culmination of NCBA’s work to expand the Death Tax exemption and reform the tax code to help preserve family-owned cattle operations.

This weekend is the first stop on the 2026 Stockmanship & Stewardship Tour, kicking off in State College, Pennsylvania March 28th. There are three more in-person events this year—three more opportunities to participate in sessions that will equip you with real-world tools to improve your cattle handling skills. Don't forget to apply for the Rancher's Resilience Grant on NCBA's website to get your registration fee and hotel cost covered. Learn more at stockmanshipandstewardship.org #BeefCheckoff

Behind every strong and healthy cattle herd is a producer who never quits. This National Ag Day, we honor your effort and commitment. You work from sunup to sundown to put a nutritious and rich protein on the plate. Thank you for stewarding the land and livestock, always making improvements so we can continue to carry this exceptional industry forward. #NationalAgDay #AgDay26

🔥 Early-Season Heat Wave Ramping Up🔥 We’re looking at a very unusual pattern for March as a strong high-pressure system parks itself over the Desert Southwest. 🌡️ What to expect: Heat builds early this week across California & the Southwest. Expands into the Rockies and Plains by Thursday. Widespread highs in the 80s, 90s and even 100s. 📊 Records will fall: Daily AND monthly March records likely. Some areas could see their earliest 100° day on record. ⚠️ Impacts: Heat Advisories & Warnings already in place. Higher health risk due to how early-season this heat is. ⏳ Duration: Heat sticks around through the weekend. Gradual cooldown expected early next week.

This tax season marks the first under the One Big Beautiful Bill—one of the biggest tax reforms in years, delivering long‑term certainty cattle producers have been asking for. Tune into Beltway Beef as Mississippi cattle producer Jeff Magee and NCBA’s Kent Bacus break down Death Tax relief and more. Watch the full podcast show: youtu.be/TB9fsMP2XKE

The Working Families Tax Cuts included in the One Big Beautiful Bill delivered significant tax relief to rural America. This legislation ensures that U.S. cattle producers can continue planning, investing and transferring their operations to the next generation without unexpected tax burdens. NCBA thanks @realDonaldTrump @SpeakerJohnson and @LeaderJohnThune for passing this historic bill.

🚨 FALSE ALERT: There is a FALSE and BASELESS article claiming a “mystery respiratory virus” is devastating Texas Panhandle feedlots. No credible sources report any such outbreak. Trust verified updates from USDA APHIS - don’t spread rumors.

El Niño increasingly likely for 2026: La Niña is fading. Ocean conditions indicate the event is essentially finished, though some atmospheric influence may linger through March into April before transitioning away. Spring–Early Summer: The most likely pattern is ENSO-Neutral, which historically leads to more evenly distributed precipitation across the Central U.S., rather than strongly favoring one region. Late Summer–Fall/Winter: Forecast signals increasingly favor El Niño development, with odds exceeding 80%. Potential impacts if El Niño develops: • Improved moisture across some southern regions, including parts of Mexico • Higher drought risk across northern and northwestern areas extending into southern Canada • In recent decades, El Niño summers have sometimes coincided with drought in parts of the Central Plains and Corn Belt Important caveat: Current North Pacific patterns are reinforcing dryness, which could limit the typical wet signal from El Niño. Current data suggest less than a 15% chance that this reinforcing pattern breaks. More clarity on ENSO trends will come after March ocean temperature observations, with updated probabilities expected next month. @MattMakens #ENSO #ElNino #LaNina #ClimatePatterns

The Stockmanship & Stewardship tour is hitting the road with multiple stops nationwide where you can learn the latest and best industry practices. 2026 S&S Event Locations: March 28: State College, Pennsylvania May 21–22: Indian Livestock Days, Farmington, New Mexico September 15–17: Husker Harvest Days, Grand Island, Nebraska October 20–22: Sunbelt Ag Expo, Moultrie, Georgia These educational events are for producers, students, and industry professionals! Don't forget to checkout NCBA's website to apply for the Rancher's Resilience Grant that could cover your registration fee and hotel costs! 🎓 Learn more and register for the stop nearest you: bit.ly/3muYc1m #BeefCheckoff

Winter behaved largely as expected when it comes to drought. Conditions worsened across parts of the Central U.S., especially in Nebraska, the Southern Plains, and portions of the Central to Northern Rockies. As we move into spring, drought may continue to expand across the Central and Southern Rockies and nearby Plains, including parts of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and the Texas/Oklahoma Panhandles. There is some better news, though. Areas from Central Texas and Oklahoma, northeast toward parts of the Corn Belt could see some drought improvement in the months ahead. A big piece of the puzzle will be how quickly El Niño develops. If it ramps up quickly, history suggests the western half of the U.S. tends to see wetter conditions, which could help parts of the Southwest and Central Plains. However, if El Niño becomes established during the summer, historical patterns often shift the dryness into the Central Corn Belt, with the highest drought risk frequently centered around Iowa. If El Niño development is slower, or delayed into fall, history tends to favor more widespread summer moisture across the Corn Belt, which would be welcome news for many producers. @MattMakens

🌿150 pounds of opportunity. Healthy white clover can contribute up to 150 lbs. of nitrogen per acre back into your soil. That means improved fertility, stronger forage, and more productive pastures season after season. There’s only one product that controls broadleaf weeds without sacrificing white clover. That’s NovaGraz™ herbicide. Learn More at bit.ly/46uF8sY @CortevaPastures #ByTheNumbers #SoilHealth #GrowMoreGrass

🌦️ Active Pattern Ahead: Snow, Ice, Rain & Storms (March 2–6) A busy early-March weather pattern is setting up across the U.S., and it’s going to impact a lot of folks from the West Coast to the Mid-Atlantic. 🔹Sunday–Monday: Cold air settles into the northern tier while moisture rides over the top of it. That setup favors a stripe of plowable snow from parts of the Mid-Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley and possibly the Mid-Atlantic. Just south of the snow zone? A band of sleet and freezing rain is possible. Exact placement is still uncertain, so small shifts north or south will matter. 🔹Monday Night–Tuesday: Another system develops, this one looks warmer overall, meaning more rain than snow for many areas. Some wintry weather could linger from the Midwest into the Northeast, but rain coverage increases. 🔹Midweek (Wednesday–Thursday): A stronger southern stream system taps into Gulf moisture. That means increasing rain and thunderstorm chances across the southern Plains into the Mississippi Valley. Heavy rain and flooding could become concerns as the week progresses. 🔹Out West: Northern California into the Great Basin and Rockies see rounds of precipitation early week, with mountain snow continuing. Another system later in the week brings renewed cooling and additional precipitation to the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies. 🔎 Forecast Confidence Overall predictability is above average for the larger pattern, though the exact snow/ice line early week still has wiggle room. As always in early March, temperature placement will make a big difference. We’re transitioning from broad troughing in the East early week toward warmer Southeast/Atlantic ridging later in the week, so some areas will trend more springlike by the end of the period. Stay weather aware, especially if you’re in the potential snow/ice corridor. #Weather #WinterWeather #FloodRisk #StormTrack #MarchWeather

Today, @USFWS announced the delisting of both the Northern and Southern population segments of the lesser prairie-chicken under the Endangered Species Act. This decision follows years of work by NCBA and @PLCranching who challenged the 2022 listing for being legally and scientifically flawed. This is welcome news for ranchers in CO, KS, NM, OK, and TX and an important step toward practical, science based conservation. Read more: ncba.org/news-media/new…

Late winter precipitation is what many producers across the West are hoping for. @MattMakens talks with Cattlemen's Call host @talkinaglane about the effect of temperature on the moisture conditions this spring and how the shift from La Niña to El Niño may appear similar to 2023's. Hear the full conversation at: youtu.be/aTG6eH7Jo5A

📣 Northeastern cattle producers, we are headed your way on March 28! Join fellow cattlemen and women for a hands-on Stockmanship & Stewardship event designed to sharpen your skills and strengthen your operation. What to expect: ✔️ Practical, low-stress cattle handling demonstrations ✔️ Sessions on calving, euthanasia, and facility design ✔️ Opportunities to earn your BQA certification ✔️ Training from Curt Pate and Dr. Ron Gill 📍 Location: Snider Agricultural Arena 🎟️ Registration is open now: stockmanshipandstewardship.org/events/state-c… Whether you're a seasoned producer or just getting started, this event is built to help you take your stockmanship skills to the next level.

After a period of weakening La Niña conditions, we're seeing a significant shift on the horizon. While ENSO-neutral conditions are likely through early spring, the probability of El Niño developing is on the rise. 📈 Here's the Breakdown: • February-April: High chance (96%) of ENSO-neutral conditions. • March-May: Still favoring ENSO-neutral (90%). • April-June: El Niño chances up to 35%. • May-July & Beyond: El Niño becomes the MOST LIKELY outcome, with probabilities holding steady between 58% and 61% from summer through the end of the year. What does this mean for your operation? El Niño patterns can bring different weather impacts depending on your region, often associated with warmer, drier conditions in some areas and increased precipitation in others. Check out the latest National Cattlemen newspapers, in which Meteorologist @MattMakens has laid out some regional outcomes for you. It's time to start thinking ahead and preparing for potential shifts in weather patterns as we move later into 2026. Stay informed and let's plan together. #AgWeather #ElNino #LaNina #CattleProducers #CowCalf #Agriculture #FarmLife #WeatherForecast #ENSO #Ranching #PrepareAndPlan

Being a leader in the nation’s oldest and largest cattle industry organization takes dedication – as members volunteer their time and effort to ensure the beef business remains strong and sustainable. On this week’s episode of Cattlemen to Cattlemen, we’ll hear from Kim Brackett, an Idaho producer who will serve as the 2026 President-Elect of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. and learn why it’s been important for her to take on leadership roles in the beef industry. You can hear more of this interview, including details on the importance of NCBA’s grassroots policy making process, tonight on RFD-TV at 8:00pm ET or catch it on YouTube tomorrow.

Significant pattern shift this week across the U.S. The biggest impact will be in the West, where a strong Pacific system brings heavy rain and significant mountain snow. California (early–mid week): Heavy rain from near San Francisco south through Los Angeles and San Diego. Several inches possible in lower elevations. Sierra Nevada & Rockies: Multiple feet of snow in the Sierra. 1–2+ feet likely across parts of the central and northern Rockies. Meanwhile… Plains (midweek): A developing storm will bring strong winds from western Texas to Wyoming. Warm, dry air may lead to elevated fire danger Tuesday into Wednesday. Midwest to Great Lakes: A broad area of rain, with some snow on the northern edge. Temperature Trends: • Spring-like warmth across the south-central U.S. (70s & 80s in Texas) • Warmer conditions return to the East by mid to late week • Cooler than average in the West under clouds and precipitation Big week of contrasts coast to coast. @MattMakens