By Pitcher Seagrist
Field Support Quality Engineer
ONCE by Signify
The poultry industry, while less resource-intensive than other forms of animal agriculture, must adopt sustainable practices to address environmental concerns.1 This article explores how innovative lighting solutions, like connected LED technology, can contribute to a more sustainable poultry sector.
Holistic view of sustainability
Sustainability is a broad term that can mean vastly different actions for different industries. One of the most widely accepted definitions of sustainability is from the UN Brundtland Commission: “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This definition is a great starting point, but businesses need a little more direction when establishing sustainability goals.
The two main frameworks for evaluating sustainability within an organization are the Global Reporting Initiative and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The metrics for each framework differ, but each addresses the three pillars of sustainability — environmental conservation, social responsibility and economic viability.
One of the most reported metrics that affects each of these pillars is a business’s carbon footprint. A carbon footprint measures the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) produced by an individual, company or industry.
GHG emissions fall into three categories:
- Scope 1: Direct emissions due to business operations, such as natural gas heaters and diesel-operated tractors.
- Scope 2: Indirect emissions from business operations of purchased energy, such as electricity or steam.
- Scope 3: Everything else that is defined as indirect emissions in the entire value chain, including emissions from extraction of raw materials, transportation in the supply chain, emissions from products use such as energy to power the product and disposal after product usage. These emissions are very broad and make the largest contribution to a business’s carbon footprint.
Sustainable agricultural practices
Agriculture remains one of the largest contributors to GHG emissions globally, with the World Resources Institute naming it the world’s second-largest emitter, after the energy sector.2 According to a 2018 article, “Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers,” agriculture accounts for 26% of the GHG emissions worldwide.3
Regarding animal protein, the poultry industry is naturally less resource-intensive than other animal-farming segments. This is because the biggest factor in GHG emissions for animal farming is feed production. Poultry has a relatively low feed-conversion ratio; thus, the environmental impact is less per pound of product produced.
Farm management can also play a substantial part in reducing the carbon footprint of the poultry industry. Practices such as proper manure management and precision health monitoring contribute to reducing GHG emissions.4
The USDA defines sustainable agriculture as making efficient use of nonrenewable and on-farm resources, appropriately integrating natural biological cycles and enhancing environmental quality and natural resources.5
Lighting solutions
With these ideas in mind, it is clear to see how changes over the decades have aligned to make the poultry industry more efficient and sustainable. For example, incandescent and halogen lights have largely been replaced by more efficient LED lights, nutrition and supplement optimization have improved bird health and technological innovation in monitoring systems and alarms optimize resource use.
Using light to mimic poultry birds’ natural environment is one key technological innovation that aligns with the USDA’s integration of natural biological cycles. Research has shown that using different lighting spectra in the barn can lead to improved bird behavior, which indicates better animal welfare and performance.
Further improving on this concept, ONCE by Signify has produced a high-efficiency, LED-connected lighting solution that allows greater control of the light color, independent of light intensity.
Improving the efficiency of the lights does reduce emissions related to electricity use. However, the biggest improvement in GHG emissions is due to the improved feed-conversion rate. According to research compiled by ONCE by Signify with 47 commercial trials tested worldwide, there was an improvement of 3.008 feed-conversion ratio points using the dynamic Junglite recipe, compared to lighting programs utilizing white LEDs.6
Reducing embedded emissions
The carbon footprints of the products used in operation are another important consideration regarding an organization’s sustainability. This concept is referred to as “embedded emissions.”
For the poultry industry, examples of embedded emissions include feed and water lines, lighting, cage systems and ventilation fans.
Products designed from the onset with a sustainable lifecycle in mind have fewer embedded emissions than ones that do not. Products may be designed with less packaging or packaging with recycled content. Products themselves may also be produced with recycled content or less energy-intensive materials.
Improving longevity
Finally, longevity is another factor in a product’s sustainability. One of the most obvious and often overlooked concepts is that replacing a product twice as often will result in twice as much embedded emissions being consumed. Therefore, selecting high-quality, long-lived poultry equipment is a key action to reduce embedded emissions.
Improving sustainable agriculture is a natural fit for ONCE by Signify, as Signify is consistently ranked as one of the most sustainable companies in the world, according to the CDP Climate A list and Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. Signify designs its products with reducing GHG emissions in mind and has committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
Final thoughts
In conclusion, sustainability is an important aspect of any industry, and the poultry industry is no exception. By addressing the three pillars of sustainability — environmental conservation, social responsibility and economic viability — businesses can establish sustainability goals that benefit not only the present but also future generations.
The poultry industry has seen significant improvements over the decades in nutrition and supplement optimization, technological innovation and farm management practices. One key technological innovation that aligns with the USDA’s definition of sustainable agriculture is using light to mimic poultry birds’ natural environment.
Also, by using high-efficiency LED-connected lighting solutions, such as that developed by ONCE by Signify, the industry can continue to reduce its carbon footprint, improve animal welfare and improve feed conversion.
Adopting sustainable agricultural practices will allow the poultry industry to continue to provide a vital source of animal protein while minimizing its environmental impact.
References:
1 Poore J, Nemecek T. Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Sustainability. 2018 https://josephpoore.com/Science%20360%206392%20987%20-%20Accepted%20Manuscript.pdf
2 Russell S. Everything you need to know about agricultural emissions. World Resources Institute. (n.d.) https://www.wri.org/insights/everything-you-need-know-about-agricultural-emissions
3 Ritchie H, Roser M. What are the environmental impacts of food and agriculture? Our World in Data. 2024 Feb 9. https://ourworldindata.org/env-impacts-of-food
4 Sustainable development perspectives of poultry production. Worlds Poult Sci J. 2015;71: 609-610. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043933915002433
5 Sustainable Agriculture | National Agricultural Library. (n.d.). https://www.nal.usda.gov/farms-and-agricultural-production-systems/sustainable-agriculture#:~:text=Sustainable%20agriculture%20is%20farming%20in,best%20use%20of%20nonrenewable%20resources.
6 House G. The Junglite light recipe for broilers improves production and welfare. (n.d.) https://www.once.lighting/en/news/the-junglite-light-recipe-for-broilers-improves-production-and-welfare
