Tyson Foods Starts Animal Welfare Audit Program

Oct 15, 2012

Food Giant Sends Powerful Message to Livestock Producers

In what seems to be a growing trend, food manufacturing giant Tyson Foods has launched the “Tyson FarmCheck Program”, an audit program that effectively demands a certain level of animal welfare practice from their meat suppliers – starting with the hog industry. The audit program is designed to ensure that animal welfare is practiced at the highest standards and any meat that the company purchases from its suppliers has met the company’s standards for the humane treatment of animals.

The company says that the audits are being developed by “experienced veterinarians and animal welfare experts” and are expected to include measures that build upon current voluntary farm industry programs. Tyson currently works with more than 12,000 independent livestock and poultry farmers. This includes 5,000 poultry farmers, 3,000 hog farmers and 4,000 cattle ranchers.

In February of 2012, Fast-Food titan McDonalds announced that it was demanding plans from all of its U.S pork suppliers on how they will phase out gestation crates (also known as farrowing stalls). This was quickly followed by Burger King, who also wants their pork suppliers to put an end to the use of gestation crates for breeding pigs. Burger King has also pledged to use only 100% cage-free eggs by the year 2017. Kraft Foods has also joined the cause and announced in July that they too will be eliminating gestation crates from Oscar Meyer’s pork supply chain by 2022. The number of consumer-facing businesses who are making this transition is growing by the day, with both Dunkin Donuts and ConAgra foods also pledging to put an end to the use of gestation crates in their pork supply chain.

As we enter a new era of food transparency, it’s important that food manufacturing companies and restaurants listen to the concerns of consumers, and ensures that the consumer’s message is made loud and clear to producers who wish to continue doing business with them.

Video: How farmers are protecting the soil and our food security | DW Documentary

For a long time, soil was all but ignored. But for years, the valuable humus layer has been thinning. Farmers in Brandenburg are clearly feeling the effects of this on their sandy fields. Many are now taking steps to prepare their farms for the future.

Years of drought, record rainfall and failed harvests: we are becoming increasingly aware of how sensitively our environment reacts to extreme weather conditions. Farmers' livelihoods are at stake. So is the ability of consumers to afford food.

For a few years now, agriculture that focuses solely on maximum yields has been regarded with increasing skepticism. It is becoming more and more clear just how dependent we are on healthy soils.

Brandenburg is the federal state with the worst soil quality in Germany. The already thin, fertile humus layer has been shrinking for decades. Researchers and farmers who are keen to experiment are combating these developments and looking for solutions. Priority is being given to building up the humus layer, which consists of microorganisms and fungi, as well as springtails, small worms and centipedes.

For Lena and Philipp Adler, two young vegetable farmers, the tiny soil creatures are invaluable helpers. On their three-hectare organic farm, they rely on simple, mechanical weed control, fallow areas where the soil can recover, and diversity. Conventional farmer Mark Dümichen also does everything he can to protect soil life on his land. For years, he has not tilled the soil after the harvest and sows directly into the field. His yields have stabilized since he began to work this way.

Isabella Krause from Regionalwert AG Berlin-Brandenburg is convinced after the experiences of the last hot summers that new crops will thrive on Brandenburg's fields in the long term. She has founded a network of farmers who are promoting the cultivation of chickpeas with support from the scientific community.