Our Recent Achievements 

For 2016 through 2020, the UK-based Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) named Cargill one of only a handful of companies globally to achieve Tier 1 or Tier 2 status, the two highest animal welfare levels in the organization’s six-tier ranking system.

The BBFAW is designed to improve corporate reporting on farm animal welfare management, policies, practices, processes and performance and, over time, contribute to tangible improvements to the welfare of the animals raised for food within company supply chains.

It is the first global measure of farm animal management, policy commitment, performance and disclosure in food companies and is designed to enable investors, companies, NGOs and other stakeholders to understand the relative performance of food companies in this area. The program is supported by founding partners, Compassion in World Farming and World Animal Protection, who provide technical expertise, guidance, funding and practical resources. In 2014, Collar Capital joined the program as a partner.

The 2020 report validates Cargill’s commitment to animal welfare best practices, policies, processes and performance. Cargill maintained its Tier 2 ranking for 2020.

View our 2021 survey responses to BBFAW here.

Download the report

Cargill employs remote video auditing (RVA) by a third party for animal welfare purposes at our North America animal processing facilities, including beef, turkey and chicken plants. We were the first to implement RVA at beef plants.

RVA empowers a third-party auditing firm to identify any deviations from Cargill’s animal welfare policies and protocols. The audit firm provides immediate notification to Cargill management, which ensures any variances are efficiently and effectively identified and addressed.

RVA provides the transparency necessary to demonstrate Cargill is adhering to its commitments and provides the company with an independent evaluation of our processes that aid in our continuous improvement efforts.

Cargill’s third-party RVA provider audits nearly 250,000 head of cattle annually at the company’s processing facilities, in addition to auditing more than 42,000 Canadian broiler chickens weekly, and more than 47,000 turkeys weekly in the U.S.

Another technological advancement deployed for poultry

We are currently developing on-farm computer vision and audio analysis solutions using artificial intelligence permitting early detection of certain potential health and welfare issues in flocks. Broiler farms in China and Canada participate in testing these technologies.

We offer products to meet a variety of consumer desires around animal welfare and health. We also engage in partnerships and other industry leadership to help promote animal welfare. These efforts include:

• This year, we announced a new partnership funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) that includes Heifer International, Ausvet and the International Poultry Council, who will work together to improve animal agriculture in Africa and Asia. In addition to the potential impacts to human health by reducing the risk of infectious disease, the five-year Transformational Strategies for Farm Output Risk Mitigation (TRANSFORM) project will harness innovation to help farm animals live better lives and more healthy days. Work will take place on both large and small farms across a variety of species, helping farmers and governments alike make data-driven decisions to improve animal health.
• We recently announced that we are joining the U.S. CattleTrace program, an effort by multiple state cattlemen’s association to develop a national infrastructure for animal disease traceability in the U.S. cattle industry. Using ear tags and radio frequency technology to collect critical data, the program will assist animal health officials by responding to animal disease events in the U.S. cattle herd.
• To ensure that animals are getting the best care and can lead healthy lives, we have begun partnering across the sector and engaging in the global dialogue on antibiotic stewardship. We recently joined the International Consortium for Antibiotic Stewardship in Agriculture (ICASA) to advance animal health and welfare through research across the supply chain. Additionally, we became members of the United Nations Foundation’s Antimicrobial Resistance Industry Group, helping set the global policy agenda on tackling antimicrobial resistance and build thought leadership and alignment on best practices.
• In 2016, Cargill ended the use of gentamicin – an antibiotic used in both human and animal healthcare – for disease prevention in turkeys processed for its two largest U.S. brands, Honeysuckle White® and Shady Brook Farms®. Turkeys will continue to receive antibiotics for control and treatment of disease.
• In 2016, Cargill expanded its antibiotic-free turkey products in the U.S. through the creation of its new Honest Turkey™ product line. These products come from turkeys that are never treated with antibiotics, unlike conventional turkey products.
• In 2016, Cargill was the first major beef processor to announce a significant reduction (20 percent) of antibiotics used for people and animals in the beef supply it can control. By the end of 2020, we reduced the use of shared-class antibiotics in 35% of the fed beef cattle that we process in the U.S.
• Cargill offers a variety of cage-free egg products in the U.S.
• Our Central America business is demonstrating its commitment to continuous improvement by learning and implementing cutting edge best practices at our Costa Rica chicken processing facility.  We are partnering with the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom on a project to evaluate and optimize bird handling and welfare. At the end of 2018, our facility and bird handlers will receive Poultry Welfare Officer (PWO) certification. The University of Bristol PWO certification is widely recognized by retailers, industry and policymakers throughout the UK and European Union, as providing highly regarded animal welfare training. 

In 2014 and 2015, our poultry business in China was recognized with China’s first animal welfare award by the Chinese Veterinary Medical Association, the China Association for the Promotion of International Agricultural Cooperation and the World Society for the Protection of Animals.

In 2018, Cargill received China’s Good Chicken Production Award from Compassion in World Farming. The Award recognizes Chinese producers that are making significant commitments to improving the welfare of broilers by addressing the stocking density, breed and the need for environmental enrichment.