At CattleCon 2025 held in San Antonio, Texas, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays talked with the outgoing President of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Mark Eisele. Coverage of CattleCon 2025 is powered by Farm Data Services of Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Eisele is happy to have given his time and resources for the advancement of NCBA and said that it all began with a challenge by his predecessor at the ranch he now owns as a non-blood heir. “We ran into trouble with Cattle Free by ’93,” he said. “We thought we would lose our public lands. He was determined that it was going to happen; that’s probably why he let me buy in. He basically threw the gauntlet down at me and said, ‘You are never going to cut it, kid.’ I dug my heels in and said, ‘I will do whatever it takes now, no matter who I need to ask or network with.’”
Eisele has drawn motivation from that challenge ever since saying that he couldn’t do it alone and found that he had to work with his fellow cattle producers.
To deal with anti-animal agriculture groups, Eisele’s position is to meet their claims with solid facts backed by scientific research and examples of good stewardship.
During this past year serving as NCBA’s President, he described the experience as a delight. He has traveled from coast to coast, overseas, and to Hawaii.
“Folks are all the same, and they are all different because of where they are raising cattle,” Eisele said. “It has been enlightening and heartening to see where they produce cattle and the circumstances they do it in. I’ve been to places I normally would never have had access to, and I enjoyed every bit of it.”
Eisele is most proud of the association’s resolve in influencing policy with the previous Biden administration. He said, “We got some good decisions. We got some rein-in on some overly aggressive agencies and that makes a big difference. I feel very good about that, and we have maintained good relationships with some of those agencies.”
The Chevron Deference decision was a major accomplishment as it returned accountability to Congress where it should be.
Going forward, Eisele believes that it is important to continue to encourage and make it easier for young people to enter and remain in the industry.
“It is tough because of the high capital requirements, so we need to start looking for options – conservation easements, leasing, sharecropping with cattle,” he said. “We need to come up with other diverse markets – maybe it is some custom baling or custom processing. There are a few options there. You are not going to buy cattle and land at the same time so you have to find a way to work into it. That worked for me and hopefully, it will work for some other young people out there.”
He added that profitability and fun are what make the industry appealing to young people.
After his tenure is finished, Eisele said he will carry with him the privilege of his experiences as NCBA President and the memories of the people he has met along the way.
“They were always my heroes growing up,” he said. “They were always tough and honest, and crusty sometimes, but I always admired that spirit and good company.”
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR at the top of the story for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
