• New York Times, Tuesday, August 3, 2010 10:41 AM

William Neuman reports that the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, which this year is expected to receive nearly $51 million under a federally sanctioned program to market its meat, spent tens of thousands of dollars over a two-year period to support lobbying activities. If true, it would be in violation of the 1985 Farm Bill that assesses a mandatory $1-a-head fee on the sale of cattle for marketing and research purposes but expressly forbids using the funds to lobby government officials.

The disclosure comes after a review by the Cattlemen's Beef Board, which is appointed by the secretary of agriculture and oversees the marketing effort, known as the beef check-off program. The audit also found that some funds went toward the travel expenses of the wife and 3-year-old daughter of the NCBA's CEO, Forrest L. Roberts.

While acknowledging some mistakes, NCBA officials dispute several of the findings and say guidelines on how the marketing money should be spent are unclear. "I'm disappointed that there's been a difference of perception about the appropriateness of some of the expenditures," says Dan Dierschke, chairman of the NCBA.

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