The purpose of the Ultrasound Guidelines Council (UGC) is to develop and maintain a governance structure and protocol for proficiency testing and certification for technicians involved in ultrasound scanning of beef cattle for composition traits and in interpreting images used in genetic evaluation programs.

This group is responsible for developing, maintaining and governing proficiency testing protocol and standards for beef cattle ultrasound technician certification. This council is composed of four beef breed organization representatives appointed by the US Beef Breeds Council (USBBC), three university persons involved directly in ultrasound research and national cattle evaluation programs using ultrasound data, one active field ultrasound technician and up to three representatives from centralized labs meeting the UGC definition for a centralized lab. The ranking US Beef Breeds Council representative will serve as chairperson for this Committee and will serve in this role for one year, or more, at the discretion of the USBBC. The second ranking USBBC member will serve as co-chairperson for one year, or more, at the discretion of the USBBC, and will assume the chairperson position during their final year on the UGC. Each university representative, lab representative(s) and certified field technician will serve as a member at the invitation of the four USBBC representatives. Each university member will serve a five year term unless additional service is mutually agreeable. Each field technician will serve a two-year term unless additional service is mutually agreeable.