Dr. Frank Mitloehner and CLEAR Center staff and students attended the World Pork Expo in early June. Held in Des Moines Iowa, producers, researchers, industry businesses and reporters from around the world spent two days connecting and learning about the current state and future possibilities for the pork industry. 

During the event, Mitloehner was invited to speak on a panel sponsored by Alltech, titled, “Challenging Health and Productivity – How does the U.S. lead the world in sustainable, profitable pork production?” The panel consisted of spirited conversation about the meaning of sustainability, the state of the industry and how to tell the positive story of animal agriculture. 

Panelists spanned expertise areas, including:

• Panel moderator — Mark Hulsebus, Sales and Portfolio Director, Alltech
• Dr. Frank Mitloehner, Air Quality Specialist, Director, U.C. Davis CLEAR Center 
• Mark Lyons, President and CEO, Alltech 
• Maria Zieba, Vice President of Government Affairs, National Pork Producers Council
• Dr. Gordon D. Spronk, DVM, Pipestone and Pork Producer

Start with the research

The session opened with a brief presentation by Mitloehner on where the pork industry currently stands in the topic of sustainability. He first explained that the CLEAR Center focuses on five key pillars of sustainability: climate and the environment; worker recruitment, retention and safety; animal health and welfare; food safety; and financial stability. By establishing focus areas, producers’ and consumers’ concerns across the board are encapsulated. 

Mitloehner turned to data next, sharing trends in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from 1990-2017, showing that animal agriculture emissions have been roughly stable since 1990. The data shows that animal agriculture accounts for 4% of all greenhouse gasses in the United States, and 11% worldwide. Mitloehner described methane as the “Achilles’s heel” of the agricultural industry. 

When comparing livestock types, pigs are the second-lowest methane-emitting animals. Methane is produced largely through manure management, as demonstrated in data below.

Mitloehner was especially excited to share data from the FAO Pathways report with the audience. In this report, actions to reduce the agriculture industry’s carbon footprint are ranked and shows that increasing efficiencies will move the needle most in improving the climate impact of livestock. 

There are sustainability practices from the data that have promise to make improvements, which Mitloehner highlighted the industry is already working on. Strategies include increasing productivity, breeding, feed and nutrition, carbon sequestration, energy use, manure management and animal health.

“It says the number one thing we need to do to decrease the carbon footprint of livestock is productivity increases,” Mitloehner said. “Number two is breeding, and it goes on. These are things we are already actively working on. This is good news for our industries.”

Candid conversations 

After Mitloehner’s presentation, the moderated panel began, and panelists chimed in on industry-wide strengths, challenges and forward-looking opportunities. Although panelists spanned expertise areas, key themes arose throughout the session. 

Theme 1: Sustainability is stewardship

Panelists encouraged pork producers to see the link between sustainability and stewardship. 

“In our industry and on your farms, we’ve called these practices stewardship for generations,” Mitloehner said. “People in cities call it sustainability, and we do ourselves a disservice when we get hung up on the word and not how much we are already doing, and have been doing for years, to be stewarding our resources to produce food.”

The sustainability practices Mitloehner is referring to include managing water usage, producing more food while using less water and feed, protecting animal welfare and health, managing finances, providing safe food, providing jobs and more. 

As a pork producer on a generational family operation and a veterinarian at PIPESTONE, Spronk concurs that these practices are not new to the industry. He reflects that his father was concerned about stewarding their resources, and that the work his father did ensured the farm could pass to him and his brother. Resources were managed well, and efficiencies have only improved. 

“We’re encouraged to produce more from less, and we measure that by pigs per sow per year,” Spronk says. “Two generations ago, my grandpa never produced more than 13 pigs per sow per year. Gosh, now our farms are well over 30-35 per sow. We’re producing more pigs with less water and getting more efficient as we go.”

Theme 2: Tell the story of agriculture 

Spronk emphasizes the importance of telling your personal farm story. Spronk and his brother, whom he farms with, completed the Pork Cares Farm Impact report through the National Pork Board. Spronk shares that being equipped with data about his farm, such as carbon sequestration and pounds of manure recycled, gives him tangible information to share about his operation.

“As a producer, you need to know your data,” Spronk said. “I have my farm’s primary data from the last four years. So, when I’m asked questions about what we’re doing for sustainability, I can say our greenhouse gas contribution, our soil erosion rate, our water usage, and more. We have the best agricultural system in the world. Now, we’re being asked questions about it. I think we’re fully capable of proving we’re doing the right things.”

Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech, also shares his perspective on the importance of telling the story of agriculture, though on a different scale. Alltech is a global company that believes animal agriculture has the greatest potential to positively shape the future of the planet.

To spread that message, Alltech produced a documentary titled “World Without Cows,” that dives deep into the importance of cows to the world. The documentary was inspired by conversations around cattle and climate. By traveling to 20 countries, speaking with experts and farmers around the world, the documentary tells the story of the importance of cows in terms of nutrition, culture and livelihoods. 

The hope is that World Without Cows counteracts the narrative that animal agriculture is the enemy and should be eliminated. Through investigative storytelling, audience members can see the true value of these animals. 

“We decided to focus on cows because of a point made in Frank’s presentation about the significant emissions coming from the agriculture sector,” Lyons said. “We thought, ‘Why don’t we tell these stories?’ We interviewed people not just in terms of nutrition, culture, livelihoods and stewardship. It’s been eye opening to consider all the implications these animals have, and the important roles they play.”

Theme 3: The agriculture industry needs to work together to combat the issues at hand

As the Vice President of Government Affairs at the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), Maria Zieba has a unique perspective on the role of sustainability in national and global situations. Zieba shares that in global trade conversations, she’s been asked what the U.S. pork industry is doing for sustainability practice.

“We’re in a new world where people want to talk about sustainability and they want to know what our metrics are,” Zieba said. “And, we have a great story to tell. When I’m having conversations with negotiators for the U.S. on trade agreements, I’m able to cite studies that state our industry’s greenhouse gas emissions are 0.4%. They’re surprised at the story we have to tell and how low that number is.”

Zieba works with a myriad of governmental and global groups and recognizes the importance of sustainability on a global scale. Through her role at the NPCC, she ensures that pork production is considered in trade conversations and how to integrate sustainability around the world. 

“People do want to know what the metrics are,” Zieba said. “Other countries aren’t as efficient as we are, so the comparisons are apples to oranges in a lot of cases. We have to strive to reshape the narrative.”

Theme 4: Sustainability is important across priority areas

All panelists agree that sustainability is not something that can be ignored, rather it should be embraced. 

Mitloehner harkens back to the FAO Pathways report, and what the industry should focus on to reduce its carbon footprint. He explained that the carrot approach used in California has incentivized farmers to reduce their environmental footprint. 

“California has very ambitious methane emission reduction goals — a 40% reduction by 2030,” Mitloehner says. “By using the carrot approach, farmers are financially incentivized to reduce methane. They’re motivated and rewarded, not punished. And, it’s working. Our farmers will reduce anywhere between 7.6-10.6 millimeter tons and it will not break the bank because the state is working with farmers and not against them.”

Lyons ponders if the need to embrace sustainability is an “existential crisis” across the agriculture sector in general. But, he sees it as an opportunity more than a burden. 

“This is the industry that’s going to save the planet,” Lyons says. “It’s no longer beef vs. chicken vs. pork — we need to be approaching this issue together because the criticism is coming at all of us.”

While each panelist represented a different facet of the agriculture industry, all agreed that successful sustainability efforts will require ongoing collaboration across industries, innovative thinking, and wide adoption of sustainable practices such as manure management, disease control, water usage and nutrition advancement. 

“Sustainability isn’t a curse word,” Mitloehner said. “You should own it. You should run with it. And you should be proud of it, because it is your farm’s legacy. My father always said, ‘Do good things and talk about them.’ The second part of that is really important here — we’re doing a lot of good things, and now we have to find ways to quantify appropriately, how to communicate effectively and how to get our stories in the hands of people who make decisions.”