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Commitment to the Environment

“We are committed to producing the highest quality pork products while operating responsibly to sustain the environmental resources of the communities in which we work and live.” Core Commitments

Environmental Commitment Highlights
  • Whole farm environmental audits two times a year
  • Enhanced Environmental Management System
  • Use pork fat to make biodiesel
  • Use technologically advanced equipment and practices for odor control
  • Wildlife habitats around farms
Our beliefs and values
At the heart of Seaboard Foods’ environmental stewardship is the fundamental belief that our day-to-day operations must go beyond minimizing any negative impact from our operations, and we should strive to create a positive impact on the environment around us.

Our approach
Our environmental programs govern how we purchase land, build and operate farms and plants, and conserve natural resources. To do this, Seaboard Foods:
  • Establishes policies and procedures designed to ensure our operations meet or exceed all applicable environmental requirements.
  • Implements technologically and economically feasible practices to prevent pollution and reduce or reuse waste.
  • Works to continuously improve our environmental performance through employee training, operational controls, community relations and regular environmental inspections and audits.
  • Documents the development, implementation and compliance efforts with these principles.


"Seaboard Foods' Wakefield Farm's commitment to make use of all the technologies and practices to protect soil and water quality while excelling in pork production is truly worthy of this award and serves as an example of what modern Oklahoma agriculture is all about."
Terry Peach, Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture
Environmental Management System
Our Environmental Management System (EMS) demonstrates our dedication to environmental stewardship on farms. Based on the ISO 14001 standard, the EMS program is tailored to address specific needs of our operations. The goal of this program is to proactively identify opportunities on our farms and practices for modification, repair and, most important, continuous environmental improvement.

The program specifically addresses:

  • Waste management
  • Soil conservation
  • Water quality and conservation
  • Air quality
  • Land application planning and oversight
  • Weekly monitoring of farm lagoons
  • Whole farm audit program
A similar EMS program is under development for our processing plants.

Animal Waste Management
We use a variety of systems tailored specifically to each farm for animal waste management. For example, Wakefield Farm uses a seven-stage waste treatment, including microbial treatment, high-density polyethylene (HDPE)-lined and covered solids settling basins, mechanical solids separator, HDPE-lined psychrophillic anaerobic digester with permeable cover, HDPE-lined aeration lagoon for the nitritifcation/denitrification process and HDPE-lined primary and secondary storage lagoons allowing for significant denitrification prior to land application. The nitrogen content of the effluent is reduced by approximately 70 percent from the barns to the land application area. In addition, nearly 700 tons of compost are made each year from the solids.

Soil Conservation
We plant grass vegetation around lagoons. These grass strips contribute to long-term soil quality improvement by increasing organic matter content and reducing soil erosion.

Water Conservation
Our farms monitor and report weekly fresh water usage. Our goal is to conserve water whenever it's practical. Employees also inspect water system components on the farms to ensure proper working condition. From 2000 to 2005, Seaboard Foods reduced fresh water usage at the farms by 40 percent. With refinement of water use standards for each farm type (sow, nursery, finisher) and other programs to target and analyze high water usage farms, Seaboard Foods has set a goal to reduce farm water usage by another 10 percent.

Air Quality
We use best management practices to improve air quality and reduce odor and to continuously evaluate the latest technology. For example, the use of advanced biocurtains on some farms redirects odor and allows for cleaner, low-odor air for neighbors and our employees. The use of microbials in barn pits aids in the reduction of odors. Seaboard Foods also implements and audits for optimal barn housekeeping practices and pit management to ensure operational efforts are being made to reduce odors and improve air quality. We often hear from our neighbors that they do not smell any unpleasant odors near our farms.

Managed Nutrient Application
Effluent from the farms, a natural fertilizer, is precisely applied to surrounding farmland based on crop nutrient needs. Also, Seaboard Foods protects wet depressional areas (wet areas that are not jurisdictional wetlands). Land application maps clearly identify these areas, in addition to permanent field markers. This ensures effluent land application is applied only to cropped areas of the field.

Whole Farm Environmental Audits
As part of Seaboard Foods' continuous improvement program, a dedicated audit team inspects more than 250 farms two times a year for 76 environmental-related items. From these audits, work orders are issued and practices are modified as needed. In addition, the auditors conduct quarterly environmental farm audits for a smaller subset of environmental performance factors.

Composting
Seaboard Foods has a four-acre composting site. Separated solids from certain farms are used to make compost. The compost is sold and used for agronomic applications or gardening uses.

Farm Mapping
Seaboard Foods is currently enhancing the farm mapping program by dedicating a full-time employee to develop schematic farm maps that will indicate farm features and infrastructure, including elevations, barns, lagoons, land application areas, fresh water lines, effluent lines, land application lines, gas lines, septic systems, lift stations, clean-out risers, monitoring wells, electrical systems and valves. This will aid in improving infrastructure management, preventative maintenance, emergency response and employee training programs.

Wildlife HabitatWildlife Habitat
We work to create wildlife habitats by planting trees and a mixture of grass and wheat around our farms. This provides accessible forage and cover for wildlife, such as Bobwhite quail, Blue quail and pheasant, with an added benefit of reducing soil erosion.



Needle-Free Vaccination and Treatment
As the first major pork producer in the United States to implement this technology, Seaboard Foods pioneered the use of needle-free vaccination and treatments on its farms. Because of the efficacy, Seaboard Foods uses less medication, which results in less medication packaging. Of even more significance, Seaboard Foods eliminated needles that would require biohazard disposal.

Employee Training
We provide extensive training to our environmental management department, as well as other employees, to ensure our environmental commitment is executed throughout the company. Seaboard Foods is developing a Web-based system containing all environmental policies and procedures, best management practices, checklists and other operational control documents. Employees will find training documents and links available to other environmental resources, such as the internal environmental database and state environmental regulations. This will improve access to and implementation of the EMS program and enhance environmental awareness in the company.

Research and Development
We conduct research and development on our farms and plants to evaluate new technology and practices. For example, we constantly research pit and lagoon additives and since 2006, have been conducting a formal experiment with several additives at approximately 25 farms for effectiveness in reducing/digesting solids, and controlling gas and odor emissions. In conjunction with this, we are developing protocols to determine when a farm should be placed on a pit/lagoon additive.

Guymon Plant Pretreatment System
Seaboard Foods constructed and recently put into operation a multi-million dollar upgrade to the Guymon plant wastewater treatment system. This will significantly reduce levels of nitrogen, biological oxygen demand and other parameters in the wastewater that is discharged to the City of Guymon and eventually applied to agricultural land.

Missoula Plant Wastewater Improvement
Upon acquisition of the Missoula bacon processing plant, Seaboard Foods closed a third-party rendering facility on the property, closed the existing lagoon system, regraded the area and planted vegetation. Treated wastewater was redirected to the city's waste treatment system for additional treatment prior to discharge, significantly reducing the contaminant load on a local river, beautifying the plant appearance and reducing odor sources.

In addition, an ultraviolet brine recycling treatment system reduces the total amount of spent brine discharged to the municipal wastewater system.

Packaging
In our plants, we collect and bale nearly all recyclable corrugate and send it to an off-site recycling center. We use corrugate and film packaging suppliers with comprehensive environmental stewardship programs.

Biodiesel PlantBiodiesel From Pork Fat
In 2008, Seaboard Foods began biodiesel production at the High Plains Bioenergy plant. High Plains Bioenergy, a subsidiary of Seaboard Foods, focuses on developing renewable energy from the Seaboard Foods integrated system. The biodiesel plant uses pork fat from the Guymon pork processing plant, as well as other feedstock, to make biodiesel. Biodiesel is better for the environment because it is made from renewable resources and has lower emissions compared to petroleum diesel. It is less toxic than table salt and biodegrades as fast as sugar.

Biogas from Wastewater Treatment
Through a biogas recovery system at the Guymon pork processing plant's wastewater treatment system, Seaboard Foods powers one of the plant's boilers. Because of this system, Seaboard Foods is able to reduce by one-third its reliance on natural gas to fuel the plant's boiler system.

Sales & Broker Online Training
Seaboard Foods developed an online eLearning system for Seaboard Foods sales representatives, broker representatives and distributor representatives. The online system eliminated the need for large training notebooks, and allows for quick updates, while reducing the need for additional paper. 


Wakefield Farm 2007 Pork Industry Environmental Steward
The National Pork Board and The National Hog Farmer magazine named Seaboard Foods' Wakefield Farm as the 2007 Pork Industry Environmental Steward.  Animal manure generated by the Wakefield Farm is treated with a seven-stage system that deals with liquid and solid waste separately. The unique system creates two non-toxic, environmentally friendly products. The liquid becomes a type of liquid fertilizer, called effluent, and is used by local farmers, and the solids are also composted into fertilizer that can be used as an environmentally friendly potting soil. In addition, the farm plants grass and wheat around the perimeter, which provides cover and forage for wildlife.