At the recent Trust In Beef event, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, caught up with Senior Director of Sustainable Food Strategy at Tyson Foods Dr. Justin Ransom to talk about Tyson Foods’ efforts to create climate-smart beef.
Dr. Ransom said that the research isn’t new. For several years, they have been looking at ways to reduce emissions in the beef business.
“A lot of people think of Tyson Foods as being a poultry business, as it is the largest poultry company in the world, but beef makes up about 72 percent of our enterprise emissions,” he explained. “Most of those emissions come from the farm of origin. In order for us to be able to make an impact on reducing our emissions as a business and meet the expectations our customers have for us; we have to look at new ways to look farther back in the value chain.”
One strategy Tyson has adopted is the launch of Brazen Beef products. Animals chosen for the program are raised with emissions reduction practices in mind. Before being fully accepted into the program, the emissions of each animal are evaluated to ensure they meet the base emissions and program qualifications.
“We have learned that the evolving carbon market is becoming an opportunity for producers to engage in a way that they have never been able to before,” Dr. Ransom said. “The reason it is important is because methane is about thirty times hotter than CO2.”
He explained further that the big gases that Tyson Foods is working on reducing in their value chain are methane and nitrous oxide. Methane is produced by cattle emissions, and nitrous oxide is a product of fertilizing fields.
“As we look at opportunities in agriculture as being the climate solution, the question becomes how to connect the dots,” Dr. Ransom said. “What happens is that grasses grow better roots deeper. It improves soil health, the water-holding capacity of the soil, and it creates better drought tolerance. Producers continue to learn, but you have to incent them to try something different.”
Dr. Ransom said that the process begins with progressive producers, and he hopes that the new process will grow over time to include more producers helping to decarbonize the environment.
“Ninety-five percent of our emissions are in the value chain,” Dr. Ransom said. “That is where our greatest opportunity is to reduce emissions.”
Ultimately, Tyson Foods, and other big brands, are offering customers the opportunity to benefit from investing in lower-carbon products.
“It is really about how we work together from end to end in that value chain to create a more resilient agriculture, both economically and environmentally,” he concluded.
We will have a part two with Dr. Justin Ransom of Tyson as we talk about their efforts to bring out a brand straight to consumers- we will share that with you tomorrow.
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