The grants, made by the Federation of State Beef Councils, and announced at the 2015 cattle industry summer conference in Denver on 18 July, vary in size from $4,000 to $18,000.
The grants were given to schemes including Arizona Beef Council’s Gate-to-plate tour series, which invites groups of consumers and business partners to meet ranchers and learn about the beef production process. The initiative received $7,600.
New York Beef Council
The New York Beef Council’s Get fit with protein campaign, which provides online fitness tips and videos, also received $18,000 worth of funding.
Beef Councils from Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania also made cash available for a variety of projects.
The Federation of State Beef Councils has awarded more than $2.3 million to 22 state beef councils conducting nearly 200 programs since the Federation Initiative Fund was started in 2006. Additional projects will be considered at the 2016 Cattle Industry Convention next January.
Meanwhile, entries are pouring in for the World Steak Challenge (WSC), the new international competition from the team behind GlobalMeatNews designed to reward the world's best steak producers.
Internationally agreed criteria
Entries are encouraged from all corners of the globe, from beef producers, cattle farmers, beef processors, steak brands and beef wholesalers. All steaks entered will be judged against an internationally agreed set of criteria, and will undergo a two-stage judging process: raw and cooked.
The competition itself enables producers to benchmark themselves against international competitors and to use the publicity and recognition that the WSC generates to promote their products on the world stage, in addition to boosting domestic sales.
In addition to the top accolade, Gold and Silver standards will also be awarded following the first round of technical judging, with a second round of judging then taking place to decide the World’s Best Steak Producer 2015. The winner will then be announced at a special event at The Lookout in Hyde Park, London on Thursday 15 October.
The deadline for entries is 14 August, and all the details as to how and why you should enter can be found at www.worldsteakchallenge.com, along with the terms and conditions of entry.