Cargill has signed an agreement with Wichita-based consultancy Kennedy and Coe for a joint venture to develop a verified beef supply chain sustainability assessment programme for Cargill feed yards.
Kennedy and Coe will leverage its expertise in beef-industry and sustainability and its unique ResourceMax assessment service that has been developed by the company's Vela Environmental division.
The assessment service could be expanded to include cattle production in collaboration with stocker operators, ranchers, as well as with Cargill's strategic feed yard partners.
As a part of the assessment, the companies will begin a year-long focus on the economic, environment and community impacts of Cargill's four feed yards based in Texas, Kansas and Colorado.
Data generated from the ResourceMax reports will be analysed and used to support ongoing improvement that will be appropriate, meaningful, holistic and verified.
Technical support for the project will be provided by Kansas State University's Dan Thomson, who is the bovine veterinarian and director of the school's Beef Cattle Institute.
"Given that beef will continue to be an important form of protein for people, we want to do as much as possible to ensure that it is produced responsibly and sustainably for current and future generations to enjoy."
Cargill's North American beef business president John Keating said: "As global demand for animal proteins to nourish people continues to rise in concert with increasing population and consumer income levels, it is important to improve the way we use resources to produce beef.
"As a leading beef producer, we believe it is critical to improve the way we manage resources, and we will develop a way to measure the effective use of inputs and outputs ranging from water and feed, to worker safety, manure management, air quality, energy use, land stewardship and animal welfare. We believe this is a step in the right direction that complements our overall focus on sustainable supply chains and will also benefit our customers."
The companies are planning to create a customised assessment report by asking Cargill's beef customers to provide their sustainability criteria.
Kennedy and Coe's director of sustainability and supply chain solutions Sara Harper said: "The goal of this project is to provide sustainability information that stakeholders find relevant across the supply chain, including suppliers, customers, NGOs, producer groups, trade associations and consumers."
"Given that beef will continue to be an important form of protein for people, we want to do as much as possible to ensure that it is produced responsibly and sustainably for current and future generations to enjoy."
