Water Conservation and Protection
Water is a vital factor for many activities of the food system, including agriculture, food processing and consumption.
The quality and availability of water can also be heavily impacted by the food industry. That’s why we’re finding solutions that minimize water use in our operations and reduce the negative impacts on local waterways.
Reducing water use in our operations
Water conservation and reduction opportunities are a key component of our utility audit program and each facility’s environmental sustainability action plan. We have reduced our water consumption over the past few years by executing several initiatives including:
– Recirculating water in certain processes
– Equipment repairs and upgrades
– Adjusting water use during non-production hours and sanitation
– Switching to high-tech, lower flow sanitation guns and aerators at hand-washing stations that do not compromise food safety.
Preventing agricultural run-off
Proper manure management practices are critical to prevent agricultural run-off. All our own processing facilities, our owned and leased farms, our third-party contracted growers, and the sourced feed locations follow the strict environmental regulations put forth in the regions where they are located. This ensures proper manure management practices are followed and to reduce/prevent nutrient runoff and pollution.
For the majority of our owned and leased barns, manure nutrient management is regulated on the basis of both nitrogen and phosphorus through the Livestock Manure and Mortalities Management Regulation under The Environmental Act for the Province of Manitoba. These regulations set out strict guidelines and limits for nitrogen and phosphorus application that are based on Agriculture Capability ratings for soils. Nitrogen and phosphorous application are included in the manure and nutrient management plans created by agrologists and require approval by the Province of Manitoba every time manure is applied on land as fertilizer.
Nitrogen and phosphorous are applied based on what nutrients currently exist in the soil, what nutrients are in the manure and the nutrient requirements of the crop. They are only applied at predetermined rates and times of the year to ensure the nutrients are fully incorporated into the soil to prevent leaching or runoff.
Integrated Report
We’re documenting and calculating all the changes we’re making. See our progress in our 2023 Integrated Sustainability Report.