How Cargill Reached a Global Benchmark for Animal Welfare

Cargill is a proud industry leader in animal welfare. Animal welfare is absolutely paramount to Cargill’s mission of sustaining the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way – especially as the demand for nutritious and high-quality protein continues to rise. Cargill recently received a Tier 2 recognition from the Business Benchmark for Animal Welfare (BBFAW) for the fourth consecutive year.

Why go the extra mile for animal welfare?

1. It is the right thing to do – and doing the right thing benefits all.
2. It helps us provide our customers and end-consumers with wholesome, high-quality protein.
3. It allows consumers to feel good about their food choices.

Cargill’s BBFAW recognition: A testament to our animal welfare commitments

Every year, the BBFAW evaluates more than 150 companies, ranking them in six tiers. Tiers 1 and 2 are limited to companies that have best incorporated animal welfare into their strategy and practices. Only 22 organizations reached the top tiers this year.

Cargill’s BBFAW ranking is a reflection of our plants and producer partners. BBFAW is a third-party recognition of our leadership in animal welfare that gives us credibility with our customers, assuring them they can stock wholesome, high-quality protein that consumers can feel good about.

Animal welfare is a balance of common sense, morality and going the extra mile to make sure all animals are treated respectfully. It takes integrity, education and continuous improvement – which is why Cargill uses modern innovations to change what’s possible in animal welfare.

Cargill’s leadership is taking action through continuous research to improve animal welfare practices in each of our focus areas.

By constantly monitoring flock movements and listening to chicken vocalizations, artificial intelligence is helping chicken farmers in Canada and China provide better care by spotting health issues and intervening faster.

At Ireland-based startup Cainthus, innovative software is helping to monitor the nutrition, health and well-being of cattle. This platform has the potential to expand to other species in the future.

Our partnership with Colorado State University animal welfare research includes effective stunning, minimizing stress while in transit, standardizing mud scoring for cattle performance and food safety.

Transportation can be stressful for animals. That’s why we require all drivers to be trained and certified by Beef Quality Assurance Transportation in best animal-handling practices.

Over the past three years, improving agricultural practices has allowed us to reduce health-related antibiotic use by more than 50% per pound of our broiler chickens. All Cargill turkeys, including Honeysuckle White® and Shady Brook Farms® turkeys, are already raised without growth-promoting antibiotics.

Cargill collaborates with various stakeholders, including farmers and ranchers, NGOs, academics, scientists and veterinarians, including world-renowned animal welfare expert Dr. Temple Grandin, to knowledge-share and continue to employ best practices.

According to Lacey Alexander, animal welfare advisor for Cargill Protein – North America, “Animals are sentient creatures. They are making the ultimate sacrifice: giving their lives to nourish ours. It’s our responsibility to give them the best care we can.”

Cargill has a zero-tolerance policy on animal abuse – which extends to employees, suppliers, transporters, or others in our supply chains. “To get to Tier 2, every part of the chain has to be strong,” says Alexander. We maintain a strong culture of holding ourselves and others accountable to animal welfare.

It is through these collective efforts that Cargill maintains its status as an industry leader in animal welfare. We share our practices industry wide because we aim not only to be better for ourselves, our animals and our customers, but for the planet at large.

Our commitment to animal welfare is unwavering and we will continue to explore modern innovations to continue improving our practices and delivering wholesome, safe, nutritious protein for all.