Supplier No.1
One of our key suppliers have been delivering important support to their supply chain. This support revolves around improving the environmental impact of farms through enhancing carbon stores and finding alternatives in feed.
Although before that, it is important to highlight their commitment to sustainability. Their goal is to be Carbon Net Zero by 2050, and to achieve this they have been and continue to implement sustainable initiatives that are aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Considerable investments have been committed to across their operations and supply chain with the aim of assuring a prosperous future for their farmers, encouraging sustainable livestock production, and establishing themselves as one of the world’s most sustainable meat producers.
They have maintained a key focus on sustainable farming and the projects that have been created include techniques of regenerative farming and greenhouse gas reduction. The first example of this is their research project regarding the optimization of a farmlands potential for carbon sequestration. By conducting studies on crop rotation, they have been able to evaluate the differentiating potential as a carbon store.
Feed is also a very significant source of emissions amongst livestock production and this is why our supplier have been involved in research projects targeting the reduction of emissions in feed. The first project aimed to discover the impact of nitrification inhibitors in feed grain cultivation on their farms. These inhibitors are becoming increasingly common in agricultural systems due to their benefits in reducing nitrate production because this process can increase the rates of greenhouse gas production and eutrophication. These two consequences can have a detrimental impact on the biodiversity of a farm and of course its carbon footprint. Due to this potential impact, our suppliers conducted tests on many of their farms covering thousands of hectares of land as a part of this project. Another example is their exploration in grass proteins as a replacement for soy in feed. As soy production has a significant negative impact on the environment, finding scalable alternatives is a crucial part of optimising a farms influence on the environment.
Just as feed management is important so is manure management, and this is due to the subsequent release of methane. This management practice is very important due to the global warming potential of methane. Our suppliers are also aware of this, hence their involvement in multiple research schemes focusing on the mitigation of methane emissions produced from the storage of manure. In the two years prior they have been overseeing the testing of a process which collects the gas from slurry storage and converts that to carbon dioxide due to its considerably lower global warming potential. This means that rather than the farm releasing a gas that can absorb a substantial amount of infrared radiation, it will be releasing a gas that will absorb less radiation and subsequently will pass through our atmosphere, having a lower impact on rising temperatures.
Finally, is their supply chain support programme. They have established a platform which provides a range of services for their suppliers by tracking various aspects of their sustainability. It allows farmers to share their sustainability-related data and set goals to help our supplier achieve their goal of Carbon Net Zero by 2050. This is an important tool as it allows immediate communication and reporting on climate, social, welfare and biodiversity related information, giving our supplier the best opportunity to provide guidance and support.
Our suppliers recognise the importance of developing their supply chain and these initiatives highlight their commitment to implementing sustainable farming practices. The research they have done has already provided vital information to farmers about the importance of crop diversity and soil health. Also by establishing a platform for these farmers to communicate their progress and receive support, their sustainable development will only gain momentum.
