The Federation of State Beef Councils has awarded seven grants totaling $77,850 to six state beef councils for programs aimed at enhancing beef demand in their states. The awards, part of the Federation Initiative Fund program, were announced at the 2014 Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver Aug. 2.

The Federation Initiative Fund is managed by the Federation Executive Committee, and was established in 2006 to help move beef checkoff funds from states with heavy cattle numbers to states with heavier consumer populations.

The six states receiving awards for the remainder of FY 2014 are:
– Arizona Beef Council, $6,100 for its Gate to Plate tour series.
– Florida Beef Council, two grants, $32,000 for its Farm to Fork Tours, and $7,500 as the second part of a ProStart Education Initiative to launch a high school culinary education initiative.
– Hawaii Beef Industry Council, $5,000 for a ranch tour for millennial bloggers, food writers and chef/culinary students.
– Minnesota Beef Council, $7,250 for its Team BEEF program.
– New York Beef Industry Council, $15,000 for social media marketing outreach and digital marketing.
– Pennsylvania Beef Council, $5,000 for a Millennial to Millennial (M2M) Recruitment Program.

State beef councils voluntarily invest in the Federation to help strengthen national efforts to build demand for beef. Since it was created, the Federation Initiative Fund has awarded more than $2.2 million to 22 states conducting 180 programs.