As more people around the world enter the middle class, global demand for protein is growing – as is consumers’ desire for food they know has been produced more sustainably. Because beef will remain an important part of feeding the world, it will take collaboration across the supply chain to ensure future generations will have safer, more sustainable protein.
Animal welfare and environmental stewardship remain at the forefront of sustainability for beef. This includes climate, land use, water conservation, farmer livelihoods, and food and material waste.
Our ambition
We work to protect animal welfare, the environment and people – from the workers who interact with cattle to consumers who eat our beef products. We are committed to leveraging our connections across the entire North American beef supply chain to drive even greater progress in sustainability.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the North American beef supply chain is already over 35% more efficient from a greenhouse gas (GHG) perspective than the global average. We’re continuing to learn from the farmers and ranchers who have led that success in order to create programs that will help the industry build on this leadership.
Our progress
For decades, Cargill has been working with thousands of family farmers, ranchers and producers to increase the efficiency of beef production. We are a founding member of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and are helping lead efforts with the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef. We collaborate with industry partners and customers to improve the sustainability and transparency of the beef supply chain.
We also continue to improve livestock feed efficiency. Over the last 15 years, we have seen an overall trend in reducing the volume of feed for each pound of beef produced. We focus on developing more sustainable ways to manufacture feed and improve the nutritional and feed conversion value of feed. Learn more about our animal nutrition business.
Our presence
Cargill is one of North America’s largest beef processors, harvesting more than seven million cattle and producing nearly eleven billion pounds of boxed beef and by-products each year. We operate eight production facilities throughout the United States and Canada. In addition, Cargill operates beef processing and cattle feeding operations in Australia through Teys Australia.
Learn more
BeefUp Sustainability
We aim to reduce GHG intensity across our North American beef supply chain by partnering with farmers, ranchers, NGOs and like-minded companies.
Partnership & Collaboration
We collaborate with others across the beef industry to identify and promote best practices.
Health & Welfare
We are a leader in humane livestock handling, we continue to reduce the use of antibiotics, and we protect the safety of workers and the food we produce.
Rotational Grazing
We encourage rancher adoption of practices like rotational grazing – or adaptive multi-paddock (AMP) grazing – to support regenerative agriculture.