The cattle industry gathered at its 2012 Summer Conference last Wednesday through Saturday – and members of the Federation of State Beef Councils approved changes to Joint Beef Checkoff Committees and awarded more than 46-thousand dolalrs in promotional grants to beef councils in five states with a high consumer-to-cattle ratio. As cattle numbers and checkoff collections are reduced – Federation Chairman Craig Uden says ways of increasing efficiencies need to be found. At the same time – he says the Federation can’t lose sight of the fact that consumers are expecting more information and transparency from food producers. The five states awarded grants are Arizona, Indiana, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania.