Smithfield, the country’s top pork producer, aims to be the first carbon-negative meatpacker in the U.S. with the goal of removing more carbon emissions from the atmosphere than it produces annually by 2030, it announced Thursday. Smithfield says it will achieve this goal across its 40 plants in the U.S., including some of the country’s biggest, without purchasing carbon credits to offset emissions. Carbon reduction will come from changing hog diets to reduce methane, applying no-till farming practices to its company-owned farms to restore soil health, as well as expanding renewable energy projects and streamlining its distribution routes. Smithfield has been working to reduce its carbon emissions since the 1990s when it created its own biogas program that uses anaerobic digesters to break down hog manure on farms. More >>
