The policy work at this week’s National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Convention in Phoenix will key in on sustainability and establishing the definition of meat. President Elect Kevin Kester says they’ve been watching the explosive growth of lab or artificial meat for the last six to eight months.

As a result, he says they’ll be developing policy to protect beef’s brand and establish a federal definition of meat that can be upheld.

Kester says the other definition they’ve already determined is sustainability and they’ll be sharing some of the results at the convention from the U.S. Round table for Sustainable Beef.

He says antibiotic use in the cattle herd will also be a major issue for the industry.