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Principles

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff

Founded in 1898, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) is the oldest and largest national organization representing U.S. beef cattle farmers and ranchers. NCBA serves the beef cattle industry through advocacy, education, and research, with a focus on supporting a resilient and responsible beef system that produces high-quality, nutrient-rich beef. 

As a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, a producer-funded program established by federal law, NCBA supports and invests in research across four primary areas: beef safety, sustainability, product quality, and human nutrition. This investment extends beyond funding investigator-led research to convening leading scientific experts, fostering collaboration, and contributing to the advancement of the evidence-based understanding of beef's role in health and wellbeing.


Research supported by NCBA, on behalf of the Beef Checkoff, is guided by principles that promote scientific rigor, transparency, and investigator independence, including:


  1. An independent, external peer review process is used in the selection of scientific research.
  2. Investigators retain the freedom - and responsibility - to publish findings.
  3. All funding sources and affiliations are fully disclosed in publications and presentations.
  4. Investigators maintain control over study design, methodology, data, analysis, and interpretation.
  5. Funding is never contingent on anticipated research outcomes, rather is awarded based on scientific merit
  6. Prospective registration of funded studies involving human nutrition is expected for rigor and transparency.
  7. Human research is conducted under the oversight and approval of an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or equivalent independent ethics committee, ensuring the protection of participant rights, safety, welfare, and informed consent. 
  8. Animal research complies with Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or equivalent standards.

U.S. beef farmers and ranchers are committed to producing a safe, high-quality, nutrient-rich protein food, and in supporting research to help advance the understanding of beef’s role in healthy dietary patterns. By upholding these scientific principles, NCBA seeks to foster a transparent, rigorous, and credible scientific process.

To learn more about our research programs, visit beefrearch.org at the QR code below.

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Reviewer Tools

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beefgrants Online Grant Portal

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, utilizes BeefGrants for managing the grants process and to facilitate the submission and review of grant materials. All reviewers will need to log in or set up an account to submit their review(s). 


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Reviewer Guidelines

Reviewers will rate each category according to the following scale:

4.0 - 5.00 = Fundable as is. 

2.5 - 3.99 = Fundable with revision and/or clarification. 

1.0 - 2.49 = Not fundable.

The general categories to be considered are:

  • Hypothesis and Objectives
  • Background, Rationale
  • Experimental design
  • Budget and timeline
  • Resources

Supporting Documents

Supporting documents are found at the very bottom of the application summary tab and are marked “supporting documents (optional)”.  “Optional” refers to the fact that principal investigators are not required to attach supporting documents, although most typically do. Please be sure and open and review any attachments found in this section as they provide review relevant information such as experimental design details, detailed methodologies, budget explanations and reference lists.