IPPE Report: Animal Agriculture Sustainability Summit discusses key insights for the category

ATLANTA, GA. – The Animal Agriculture Sustainability Summit was held at the 2025 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE), where members of the industry explored key insights on collaboration and sustainability programs in the meat, poultry and egg industries.

Representatives from those industries provided updates on programs and tools aimed at advancing sustainable protein production.

Speakers included Ryan Bennett, executive director of the US Roundtable for Sustainable Poultry & Eggs (US-RSPE) and the International Poultry Welfare Alliance; Lara Moody, PE, executive director of the Institute for Feed Education and Research (IFEEDER) and Eric Mittenthal, chief strategy officer at the Meat Institute and The Protein PACT.

A key theme emphasized by panel members was the importance of communication across the animal agriculture sector to achieve sustainability goals and effectively highlight each organization’s contributions.

Moody discussed how IFEEDER works across all production sectors on sustainable measures, including the National Pork Board and the US Roundtable for Sustainable Beef as well as organizations in the dairy industry.

Moody also works with downstream members like commodity crop producers, who play an essential part in the supply chain.

Maintaining open communication among trade organizations and throughout the food supply chain will help stakeholders understand future sustainability goals, he said.

“I think we certainly talk about some of the needs, but we need to broaden our circle a little bit to be able to engage not just the animal production side but the people who supply that as well,” Moody said of sustainability.

Bennett noted the importance of harmonization between animal protein organizations and working on projects together and not just comparing metrics.

“I think there’s also a space for us to influence those more general frameworks whether it’s science-based targets, or whether The Sustainability Consortium or others, to make sure that they’re asking things that matter, that actually fit the supply chains that are working with them,” Bennett said.

During the Q&A portion, Mittenthal discussed how the Meat Institute and others continue to attend and actively participate in COP29 and other climate events to ensure the animal protein industry is a part of the conversation.

He said the trade organization continues to try to work with groups and initiatives, particularly on methane measurements that don’t always include animal agriculture. The Meat Institute was able to provide comments to climate advocacy group Ceres as they try to work through different parts of sustainability across many industries.

“Being able to provide our voice and expertise into those conversations is really critical, and we as an industry have to get a little bit comfortable with the uncomfortable,” Mittenthal said.

He added that it is important to embrace common ground with some of these groups, move forward, and partner with them in effective ways.

Bennett also discussed the US-RSPE Sustainability Framework, which will show aggregated sustainability progress made in the US poultry and egg landscape. Now, using data collected for three years, Bennett explained what the stakeholders would move forward with implementing the findings into the business.

Some topics the framework will cover include greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, animal well-being, and workforce diversity, offering a clear roadmap for advancing sustainability across the value chain.

He wants to use the data to be put into practice, policy opportunities, grant opportunities, pilot projects, demonstration projects and innovative technology research to steadily flow to ensure industry improves in this area.

“I think that’s really the next stage,” Bennett said of the sustainability framework. “I think putting that data into action is what needs to happen next.

Bennett also gave a brief update on the International Poultry Welfare Alliance and its ongoing efforts to update stockmanship training and improve conditions for birds.

Lastly, the group touched on how progress toward advancing sustainability has grown in the last few years and the prospects and efforts being made to maintain that growth in the future.

Moody said more regenerative ag practices are happening on farms in the United States, cover crop use is going up in certain areas, minimum till is happening in certain areas and a variety of fertilizer efficiency is improving.

Practices are changing throughout the supply chain as well, with more energy-efficient equipment coming in, whether it’s steamers or boilers at facilities.

“We know those things are happening but if we don’t document them, we don’t have to show our stakeholders that they are happening,” Moody said. “To me, that is a big piece of where sustainability is our ability to document the things we’re doing.”

Moody explained the challenge recognized by interested sustainability voices in agriculture is recognizing the inaccuracies and uncertainties that exist with the measurements.

“If things don’t improve in our measurement system, then we could never show improvement,” Moody said.

Bennett expressed that agriculture has done some good work on this topic already, but stressed the importance of companies throughout the supply chain keeping the goal in sight.

“My biggest concern is that in three years, this room will be full again because everybody’s CEO will have realized they took their foot off the gas, and this became a problem again,” Bennett said. “We know what sustainability means to our companies now, and we’ve become a little bit confident. I’m just a little concerned that we will rest on our laurels.”

Mittenthal also addressed the importance of food safety within the industry and measuring success based on consumer trust as an important marker for sustainability.

He said consumer trust in the meat industry has remained unchanged over the last several years.

The Animal Ag Summit also featured a different panel that looked at restaurant insights into sustainability and collaboration.

The panel included PJ Newcomb, sustainability director working with Golden State Foods, Bryan Valladares, senior sustainability analyst, Darden Restaurants, and Lankford Ruffin, director of environmental affairs and sustainability at Butterball LLC.

The panel discussion covered several topics ranging from animal welfare, carbon emissions, feed production footprint, and collaboration between customers, producers and suppliers.