World Grain - February 2024 - 34

FEATURE: FEED INDUSTRY MUST BUILD OWN ESG JOURNEY
Panelists, from
left, Matt SuttonVermeulen,
partner
at The
Context Network;
Lara Moody,
executive director
of the Institute for
Feed Education
and Research;
Anne-Marie
Neeteson, global
senior adviser,
animal welfare,
sustainability and
compliance for
Aviagen Group;
and Mike Gauss,
president of
Kent Nutrition,
discuss ESG and
sustainability in
the feed industry.
In its ESG journey, Kent talked with all its stakeholders,
including employees, customers, communities, industry
associations and suppliers, about what areas were
most important to them. As a corporation, emissions and
energy management were the most important followed
by employee health, safety and well-being.
" That didn't just come from employees, it came from all
our stakeholders, " Gauss said. " They care about how we
treat our people and how we take care of our employees. "
From there, Kent determined that ESG will be built on
three pillars of social responsibility, economic stability
and environmental footprint.
" As you start this journey, look at what you're already
doing, " Gauss said. " My guess is you are already doing a
lot of things that have tremendous impact; you're just not
taking credit for it. You don't have to be shy about your
ESG program also helping your bottom line. "
In the environmental area, Kent has reduced its air
emissions, the amount of product going to the landfill and
effluent production. It also has invested in solar panels,
reduced the amount of products it trucks, and upcycles
ingredients, such as feeding distillers grains it produces
in alcohol production to its animals.
" No customer or company told us to do this, " he said,
noting that it just made business sense.
Kent also has products such as its World's Best Cat
Litter made from No. 2 dent corn and an ammonia reducing
litter topper, that have great ESG stories.
" Think if you have products that have great ESG stories, "
Gauss said. " Are you taking credit for those? Are
you expanding your view of what ESG is to be able to
make that work for you? "
Economic stability is important because employees
and customers are counting on Kent for work, income
and support and products, Gauss said.
" It comes down for us to quality of earnings and diver34
February
2024 / World Grain / World-Grain.com
sification, and that implies that we care about ESG, " he
said. " We factor those things in, but we don't do it at the
expense of everything else. We do it as an inclusive aspect
because ESG risk and opportunities are really business
risk and opportunities. "
Under the social responsibility pillar, Kent is focusing
on employee health and well-being as well as helping the
communities in which it operates. It recognizes employees
with service awards, helps pay for college and offers
learning and development within the organization. It has
donated toward the Iowa State University feed mill project
and a new health care clinic in Iowa.
" We want to take care and grow our people and care
about the local community and people living in those
communities, " Gauss said. " Don't listen to what the
crowd says your ESG stance should be.
" Take a look at your core values and decide where you
want to be and what you're doing. I encourage you to
think beyond carbon and DEI. There are more things that
your stakeholders may care far more about that are not
encompassed in those. "
Sustainability journey
Like ESG, sustainability is its own journey, said Lara
Moody, executive director of the Institute for Feed
Education and Research (IFEEDER), which is the research
and education foundation for the US feed industry.
She addressed the role the feed industry can play in the
sustainability of the food supply chain.
" It's not for us to define what sustainability means to
your organization, " Moody said. " What sustainability is
about is continuous improvements and the measurement
of that improvement on issues that you and your stakeholders
deem important. There are many issues. It is not
Mike Gauss, president of Kent Nutrition, told attendees
to make the ESG journey their own.
Photos by Susan Reidy
http://www.World-Grain.com
World Grain - February 2024

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