North Dakota rancher Travis Maddock is the new chair of the Federation of State Beef Councils. Momentum is the word he uses to describe today’s cattle industry. “Thirty years ago, consumer acceptance of beef was around 50 percent and now it is in the high 70s, low 80 (percentage level),” said Maddock. “We now understand the role of fat in our diets and how important it is, particularly fat from ruminants like beef cattle.” Beef demand is at its highest level in 40 years, “and we just flipped the dietary guidelines and that pyramid, so we’re pretty excited about that.”
