At the USA Peanut Congress recently, the Hershey Company, who buys lots of peanuts and peanut butter, Kyle Feaster said the industry needs to continue their efforts to show they’re sustainable in the future and be able to talk about it and prove it.
He said their goal at Hershey is to know their source of resilient ingredients. Will they be there in the future? And will the relevance of their portfolio offerings mean the company will move in the future forward? Environmental sustainability risk management reveals key areas to focus on within the peanut supply chain, such as watershed health. Is there a long-term water availability and pressure on regional resources to stop producing enough water to feed the crop? The risk of water scarcity affects crop stability over time, he said.
Work together on watershed stewardship to support effective and long-term supply. He noted that resilient peanuts with regenerative agriculture, one, you’ll find out that maintaining soil health and changing weather and environmental pressures, keeping up with the agricultural news, also yield and input variability are important to the company, along with farm economics and supply stability. Well, that’s the part, that’s what the big companies are saying.
Know your product and be sure you can prove the future.
Audio Reporting by Tyron Spearman for Southeast AgNet.