Letter to our stakeholders
from Cargill Board Chair and CEO Brian Sikes
The food you eat has a story to tell. Because before you take that first bite, a global network of hard-working people — spanning countries, cultures and skillsets — each did their part to grow, make and move your meal from where it was grown to the fork in your hand. At Cargill, it’s our privilege to facilitate the complex connections that make it all happen.
For 160 years, that’s what we’ve done — strengthening ties between farmers, frontline food workers and the customers we exist to serve. Today, we’re proud of how our collective efforts come together to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way.
How we
Grow
Feeding a growing world starts with empowering those who grow our food. As the population expands, Cargill is partnering with farmers around the world to strengthen livelihoods, build resilient food systems and advance sustainable agriculture. Our efforts are helping farmers be more productive and efficient, while nourishing communities for generations to come.
‘It’s already here’: AI and the future of farming
"Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t the future of farming — it’s already here. When we partner closely with farmers to put this technology into practice … we strengthen the global food supply for everyone."
Vinicius Chiappetta
Animal nutrition and health leader at Cargill
Challenge:
Feeding a growing population amid market and climate pressures is a challenge across agriculture. For livestock farmers, it means finding new ways to optimize animal health, efficiency and welfare.
Approach:
A wide range of AI-powered applications can help farmers enhance their livelihoods, increase production to strengthen food security, improve animal welfare and reduce waste.
Impact:
These are just a few of the many pieces of AI-powered technology Cargill is helping thousands of farming partners around the world deploy into their operations:
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Cargill's proprietary CattleView® technology uses drones to collect pictures and AI to assess animal welfare, cattle inventory and feed levels — helping farmers support animal health and well-being while reducing costs and increasing profitability.
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Agriness, a cloud-based farm management platform, uses an AI-powered virtual assistant to help swine farmers turn farm data into actionable insights that can improve results.
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Galleon™ hosts the world’s largest poultry microbiota (microbes in living organisms) database with over 70,000 samples. This Cargill-developed technology solution uses AI and advanced statistic modeling to provide the best nutrition recommendations that will support poultry gut microbiome health and animal performance.
How we
Move
From the heart of the supply chain, Cargill plays a unique role connecting farmers and producers to customers and consumers. Every day, our hard-working teams bring that role to life. That’s why we continue to invest in the people who grow and raise our food, ensuring they can drive solutions that build a resilient and thriving global food system.
How agriculture is powering a lower-emission supply chain
Challenge:
Food and feed travels across continents to nourish people and animals. As we work to feed a growing population, food and agriculture must find ways to make supply chains resilient, efficient and sustainable.
Approach:
Cargill is investing in renewable biofuels as part of the transition to low- and zero-emission fuel sources. Agriculture is central to this transition — not only as a source of feedstock, but as a driver of rural innovation and new income opportunities for farmers as we help connect them with emerging market opportunities.
In Western Canada, we’re building a canola processing facility in Regina, Saskatchewan, which will have the capacity to process 1 million metric tons of canola annually. The facility will produce high-quality vegetable oil for the food and renewable fuels markets, as well as canola meal for animal feed.
In Brazil, we’ve acquired full ownership of SJC Bioenergia to meet the growing needs of the biofuels market and expand our renewable energy footprint.
And through pilot programs with farmers in Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota, Cargill is unlocking the power of camelina — a crop that grows over the winter between traditional growing seasons, supports soil health and can be refined into drop-in replacements for renewable transportation fuels.
Impact:
Through targeted investments and partnerships, we’re helping accelerate innovation in renewable fuels — supporting farmer livelihoods and making the food system more resilient while reducing emissions.
"Agriculture will play a big role in driving this positive change. I’m proud that Cargill is stepping up to lead the way to a better environmental future for our families, our communities and our planet."
Ben Penner
Minnesota farmer in our camelina pilot program
How we
Nourish
Customers and consumers rely on Cargill to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. To ensure we connect individuals, families and companies with the food and products they need, we’re constantly innovating to solve the challenges of today and tomorrow.
Innovating for delicious — and nutritious
"Our collaboration highlights Cargill’s ability to provide technical support and innovative solutions, but also its commitment to consumer health and regulatory compliance."
Miriam Leticia Rodriguez Chigora
Research and development leader at Chantilly
Challenge:
Consumers need and want more nutritious food. We’re meeting that demand with innovations that replace industrially produced trans-fatty acids (iTFAs), improve access to protein and more.
Approach:
Through an innovative portfolio of low-calorie sweeteners, we’re helping our customers formulate new products and reformulate existing ones. That means balancing health and indulgence in products like Diêlo’s no-sugar-added ice cream line.
In Mexico, we helped Chantilly — an industry-leader for bakery, pastry and confectionery products — remove iTFAs from their popular whipping creams. We did it while maintaining the taste and texture consumers and operators expect, and preserving the functionality suitable for various culinary applications.
We’ve also worked closely with Walmart in Central America to help improve the availability of essential proteins like chicken and eggs.
Impact:
Whether it’s creating new formulations or coordinating supply chains to meet customer needs, we’re partnering to innovate with customers, offer product choices that enhance health and nutrition and improve food security around the world — one delicious meal at a time.
*Photo courtesy of Hafnia