The climate crisis is widely acknowledged as one of the most urgent issues facing humanity. But the fact that it requires collective action and changes to interconnected systems makes it particularly difficult to deal with.
Because of this, the serious commitment of actors in the animal nutrition space who can take a farm-to-fork approach is essential to turning the tide. Today, Dr. David Nickell, Vice President Sustainability & Business at dsm-firmenich Animal Nutrition & Health discusses the specific developments he sees as capable of making a real difference to this problem.
[Feedinfo] From improving gut health to mobilizing big data and AI, what are the most important levers that the animal nutrition and health industries can utilize to help their value chain partners reduce the carbon footprint of animal production?
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Dr. David Nickell] As the saying goes, what gets measured gets improved. Proactively capturing and owning accurate data related to feed composition and farm practices provides a single ‘source of truth’ from which monitoring and reporting the environmental footprint across the value chain can be assessed - enabling stakeholders along the value chain to work together and align on goals. By capturing specific feed and farm data and utilising Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) to assess the environmental impacts of animal proteins from farm to shelf, stakeholders along the value chain can accurately report, improve and monetise their sustainability efforts. |
Dr. David Nickell |
By having access to accurate data, stakeholders can understand both where and how to make improvements in their footprint, thereby playing a pivotal role in enabling the value chain to deliver on their emissions commitments and reduce the overall carbon footprint of animal protein production.
LCA results we conduct for our clients consistently show that feed is the largest contributor to the footprint of farm animals. The type and source of feed raw materials and the use of feed additives that improve digestibility, health and performance, alongside farm management practices, are the main levers to decrease the food value chain’s environmental footprint.
[Feedinfo] To what extent are improvements in a company’s direct and indirect GHG emissions moving from “nice-to-haves” to “must-haves”, and who or what is driving that shift? What does this mean for categories like probiotics, methane mitigants, or other tools which might once have been seen as specialty solutions?
[Dr. David Nickell] Regulations such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), requirements to disclose sustainability-related financial information (IFRS S1/S2), voluntary corporate commitments to reduce Scope 3 emissions and governmental efforts, such as the EU's 2023 proposal to reduce net GHG emissions by 55% by 2030, are all part of the push to make sustainability a must-have.
Financial institutions are beginning to incorporate sustainability criteria into their lending practices, alongside consumer demand for eco-friendly products and a push for clearer labelling around the footprint of food.
All this translates into increased pressure on all companies, but also opportunities to become more sustainable.
This shift means that feed additive categories like feed enzymes, mycotoxin deactivators, eubiotics and methane mitigants, as well as other nutritional technologies that deliver improved farm productivity and efficiency gains, are now becoming essential components of a comprehensive strategy to reduce GHG emissions.
While there is no silver bullet that gets us to a net zero future, it is recognized that existing technologies including feed additives and best practices in farm management can reduce farm footprints by 30% or more according to the FAO. Both innovative feed additives and precision livestock farming are becoming more important to propel both productivity and sustainability even further.
[Feedinfo] As a company which prides itself on being a leader on climate change, what are the most exciting developments you’ve seen in recent times?
[Dr. David Nickell] There is clear recognition from across the industry that urgent action is needed to address climate change and this movement has gained increasing momentum. Food has come into focus in climate discussions.
There is often a strong correlation between farm efficiency and environmental footprint. As such, leading producers in the animal protein industry have been exploring and implementing innovative solutions to not only reduce their environmental footprint to make sustainable feed and animal protein a reality, but also improve their business results
In precision livestock farming and nutrition, new data-driven applications are emerging and, promisingly, being adopted. From scalable environmental foot-printing to net zero single cell proteins to AI-enhanced digital farm management platforms, innovations abound.
Our recent partnerships, from feed and protein producers, to banks, consultants, SaaS players and ecolabels, attest to the growing willingness among actors across the ecosystem to step up and make a difference, and unlock the value of sustainability.
What I find most exciting is the juncture where this community comes together and leverages these next generation technologies to make genuine progress that benefits farmers, consumers and the planet.
[Feedinfo] Where will dsm-firmenich be investing resources and attention going forward to help address the issue of climate change?
[Dr. David Nickell] Sustainability is at the core of our business. We will continue to leverage our efforts across our entire portfolio, offering the most sustainably produced products, innovative performance solution feed additives, transformational technologies to address major industry challenges, coupled with unparalleled data-driven precision services and new business models to unlock value.
Our deep seated, holistic approach ensures that sustainability underpins every aspect of our business, enabling us to deliver solutions that drive a more sustainable future. It means working side-by-side with our customers, providing Environmental Product Declarations for our products, helping them to understand the environmental footprints of their own operations, and exploring opportunities to improve productivity, efficiency and explore new market opportunities.
Published in association with dsm-firmenich
