Certified grass-fed beef and lamb program Great Southern will include its first sustainability framework to ensure on-farm practices meet the evolving expectations of customers and consumers.
Developed by JBS, Great Southern will see its Farm Assurance sustainability component comprise of seven pillars, for the nearly 4,000 beef and lamb producers, which are part of the program.
The pillars include:
- Soils: Understanding soils and the importance of a healthy balance
- Pastures: Matching the right mix of pastures to the environment they are grown in
- Vegetation: Protect soil coverage, assist in maintain healthy waterways, and recognise current and past efforts
- Water: Ensuring the use of quality water and managing the water usage for maintaining stock health and maximising animal and plant production
- Livestock: Ensuring the wellbeing of our livestock is of paramount importance
- People: Providing a healthy and safe workplace environment for employees, families and owners
- Carbon management: Assessing the current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within the Great Southern value chain to enable a working baseline for improvement. Achieve a net zero position for Great Southern Farm Assurance in line with the global JBS net-zero GHG emissions by 2040 target.
“Farmers have been valuing the environment and animal wellbeing, on farm, for decades. This sustainability framework is about capturing those practices in a formalised way to communicate their outcomes,” said Mark Inglis, JBS Southern farm assurance and supply chain manager.
“This will allow us to benchmark the overall program using a simple sustainability index to explain both to customers and producers where the Great Southern Program sits in regard to these pillar outcomes. It will give us a starting point that will allow us to work from into the future."
In addition to the sustainability pillars, the Farm Assurance Program has also developed a new certification logo that will be used on all lamb and beef products produced under the Program.
“The Farm Assurance Program pledges to customers that their grass-fed beef and lamb has met rigorous quality and sustainability standards. When customers see products come into their restaurant or store with a Farm Assurance logo, they will know Producers have ticked all the boxes – from animal welfare to responsible water use,” said Inglis.
“With the introduction of this new certification logo, customers have an additional reminder of how our Producers are putting quality and sustainability first.”
JBS ranked in at #2 in Australia’s Top 100 Food & Drink Companies 2020 report.
