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Animal Agriculture Sustainability: A Journey

4 minute read

Zinpro Corporation has committed to sustainability in animal agriculture since our beginning 50 years ago. Many people, when they hear the word “sustainability,” immediately think of going green, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving our environment. For us, it’s about that plus so much more. It’s about sustaining the animal agriculture industry, our customers’ businesses and the global population.  

Our sustainability efforts focus on five pillars:  

  1. Technical 
  1. Economic 
  1. Safety 
  1. Environmental 
  1. Social 

The challenges of the last year put an even bigger spotlight on the importance of producing a sustainable and reliable food supply for our world’s growing population. Through it all, we rose to those challenges to find new ways to serve our customers, employees and communities while staying on course with our five sustainability pillars. 

Download our 2020 Sustainability Report to learn more! 

Nobody knows more about Zinpro’s commitment to sustainability than our very own, Dr. Terry Ward, Global Director of Strategy and Sustainability. We recently had a conversation with him where we learned about what sustainability means to him and his vision for Zinpro’s role in improving global sustainability.  

Q&A: Our Vision for Global Sustainability 

Q: Why sustainability? Is it really that important?  

A: I would rather ask “why not sustainability?” Who could be against providing more efficient uses of resources so we can preserve what we have on this planet for future generations? If it is within our capabilities, why wouldn’t we do it? It’s not only important that we do this – it is essential for sustaining our business, our customers and the global population.  

Q: How does a focus on sustainability impact Zinpro and, ultimately, the animal agriculture industry?  

A: Anything we can do to mitigate our impact on the environment, all the way from our suppliers and our own production and transportation systems to our customers’ operations and the final consumers, will make a difference. With a focused effort, it will be possible to reduce the negative impacts and show a positive impact of animal protein production on global sustainability.  

Q: What do you see on the horizon as coming next when it comes to sustainability in our industry?  

A: We are behind in telling our story. Animal agriculture is aligning on our sustainability goals, and much more needs to be done to let the public know about the many positives we are doing and about the dedication we have to further improvements. Our customers are excellent stewards of their animals and the land, their businesses and global sustainability. We need to tell their stories better and louder.  

Q: In your opinion, how can someone effectively measure sustainability and benchmarks to prove an impact?  

A: Measurements are essential to objectively show progress. Fortunately, we can measure energy use and savings, improved feed efficiency, or improvements to animal health and wellbeing, to name a few. As we continue through our sustainability journey, we will discover more that we must measure to assess the net impact on the sustainability of the whole animal production system.  

Q: What is your vision for sustainability at Zinpro?  

A: There are so many areas where we can contribute to the greater good. I see opportunities for the team at Zinpro to contribute in positive ways as individuals, on regional levels and globally from a corporate level. From day-to-day actions that we can each take, to establishing a more robust research and development framework to address sustainability research, there is much we can and must do. It is complex, yet simple. Think about one or two actions we can each take as individuals. While they may seem small, when we multiply these across all of us, there is an opportunity for this to have an exponential impact.  

I am confident that the Sustainability Task Force we have assembled will provide great ideas for how we can continue to make big impacts on global sustainability. I envision a day that we can evaluate the impacts from new product development using mathematical models and then verify the impacts in research and commercial applications. This approach allows us to identify the largest gaps and where we can have the biggest impact. This is a lengthy and arduous process, and I am confident we can get there. Our future depends on it!  

Improving Sustainability for 50 Years and Beyond 

Sustainability has been one of our top priorities for the last 50 years and will remain a key priority of our company in the years to come. When we help animals and people experience better health and wellbeing, we create a healthier and more sustainable world for all.  

Download the full 2020 Sustainability Report today to see how we achieved each of our five pillars throughout the year.