Our approach for environmental stewardship is to plan, do, check and act. This model is compliance-focused, customized for each country where we have farms, feed mills and hatcheries, and demonstrates Cobb’s commitment to engage in continuous improvement for environmental excellence at each of our global locations. The goals of our environmental policies are to minimize environmental impact, conserve natural resources, allocate necessary resources to achieve national standards, and continuously monitor, measure, and analyze our stewardship outcomes. These methods ensure Cobb achieves our goals of compliance verification, enhance our understanding of environmental responsibilities, and focus on our efforts on continuous improvement at each of our global locations. In addition to our environmental policies that confirm oversight and compliance for our global locations, Cobb’s corporate commitment to improving sustainability traits of our poultry genetics has exponential environmental benefits for the worldwide poultry industry. Genetic selection and subsequent improvements in feed conversion, water usage, meat yield, and egg production have resulted in the poultry industry leading the way for agriculture on sustainable production practices. being one of the most sustainable sectors in modern agriculture. We’re proud to be part of this evolution & progress for sustainable agriculture!

Cobb has a dedicated team of Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) managers to support the company program and to verify compliance expectations. The EHS team uses tools and compliance trackers to perform audits, ensures appropriate routine and planned tasks are completed, and reviews event-driven responses at company locations. Communication is key for environmental stewardship and Cobb includes internal reviews, required training for team members, advanced planning for environmental emergencies, and written site-specific procedures to ensure environmental stewardship success and compliance.

With the increasing focus on climate-related challenges and expected documentation of environmental outcomes in countries where we have poultry production facilities, Cobb is dedicated to the evaluation and implementation of innovative practices, tools and systems to optimize our commitment. This is the right thing to do and further enhances our stewardship of land, water and energy resources. Examples of Cobb innovation include:

• Land: Many Cobb farms incorporate substantial buffer zones to provide additional biosecurity distance from other livestock and poultry operations in the region. We proactively maintain and conserve these timber and grassland areas that surround Cobb farms. This conservation mirrors our sustainability focus for land management as we aim to optimize water quality, provide wildlife habitat and improve the soil quality of these buffer zones. For example, Cobb Brazil farms have innovative timber management programs that involve the planting of large tracts of pine and eucalyptus trees around each breeder farm. These large land parcels provide an effective biosecurity buffer zone and also guarantee the preservation of native forests that cover up to 50% of the land owned by Cobb. These planned timber tracts allow strategically planted trees to interconnect with native forest areas and are managed by forestry experts. Management of the pine and eucalyptus trees includes appropriate harvesting to achieve sustainability goals for forestry ecological function while also fostering species and tree diversity for the natural biosecurity border around the farm. When trees are selectively harvested per the forestry management plan, timber byproducts are used for on-farm composting which further supports Cobb’s sustainability program. Our global farms source poultry bedding from sustainable sources to achieve poultry welfare and quality assurance expectations and to comply with Cobb environmental goals. At the end of each breeder flock, this poultry litter is an incredibly valuable source of organic fertilizer as it is recycled and applied to local crop land in accordance with nutrient management plans. This regenerative agriculture practice allows Cobb to positively contribute to farm efforts to rebuild soil quality and to restore land quality and ecosystem health in the rural areas where we have poultry operations.
• Water: Our innovative focus on water includes conservation efforts for incoming water and proactive management of storm water. Incoming water at Cobb is essential for biosecurity measures, personnel use, poultry consumption and environmental cooling of poultry houses during hot weather. We carefully verify daily water usage at each chicken house on poultry farms since this is a key part of monitoring poultry health, welfare and flock activity. We have implemented innovative measures to optimize water usage since entry showers are required for biosecurity compliance for all team members and farmers. At company locations, Cobb has invested in large water retention structures and innovative land application measures to allow wastewater to be collected, recycled, and reused in accordance with environmental requirements. Cobb recognizes that storm water retention and detention is a key part of sustainability and ensures that company locations remain under established parameters and use systems to ensure best management practices are followed.
• Air: Innovative equipment and systems for emissions controls are the key derivers for our commitment to air quality stewardship. As technology advances and operating systems improve, we’ve invested in pioneering solutions to optimize air quality at our farms, feed mills and hatcheries. For example, at Cobb USA feed mills, we’ve implemented unique emission control procedures that reduce dust emissions at the time of feed load-out from the mill to our feed trucks. In our newest hatchery in the USA, Cobb implemented a novel air handling system to capture warm air that can be filtered and recycled within the hatchery. At Cobb China farms, on-site organic waste is placed in advanced incinerators that have a double-burner feature to reduce airborne emissions.
• Energy: We’re evaluating various tools at our global locations to improve energy efficiency. These include innovative measures to reduce energy consumption in buildings for people and for poultry. For example, we’ve installed efficient lighting fixtures in poultry housing to maintain intensity while reducing energy consumption, implemented ventilation systems to capture heat and recycle this warm air for poultry heating needs, transitioned to activity switches and automatic shut offs for lighting in office buildings, and upgraded our vehicle fleet with more energy-efficient trucks. In Brazil, we’re transitioning from petrol-dependent vehicles to vehicles that solely utilize plant-based fuel (ethanol) that is a byproduct of local sugar cane production. In the Netherlands, we’re using geothermal energy to improve the efficiency of chicken houses on the Cobb breeder farm. By using an innovative ground heat exchange system, we’re able to heat and cool the houses to optimize chicken comfort while also optimizing our energy efficiency.