Maple Leaf recognized for innovation in animal welfare

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This article was published 17/03/2022 (1459 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Maple Leaf Foods has received an international distinction concerning innovation in animal welfare.

In a yearly review conducted by the British-based Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW), surveying 150 companies in 25 countries, the organization placed Maple Leaf in its Tier 2 ranking, a position occupied by just 12 companies.

Business Benchmark analyzes farm animal welfare policies, management systems and reports on the performance of 150 of the world’s largest food companies.

It’s the first time Maple Leaf, one of Canada’s largest protein producers, has achieved this status after being elevated from Tier 3 the previous year. In Business Benchmark’s 2021 report, Maple Leaf was listed as one of two North American protein companies in the top two rankings, and the only Canadian-owned company to achieve that ranking.

Janet Riley, vice-president of communications and public affairs for Maple Leaf, said it was gratifying and affirming to see the company earn the unique title based on its innovation in animal care programs.

“It tells us that we’re leading in animal care and that’s a really good feeling,” Riley said.

“Whether we’re raising pigs or chickens or transporting animals, we are constantly trying to improve and innovate. If you take a look at some of our initiatives, we’re really ahead of the curve when it comes to our sow housing, for example.”

The company completed work on all of its barns to be converted to an advanced open sow housing system in 2021.

Riley explained there are fewer sows that are raised in this setting. It’s a setting that she describes will optimize a sow’s natural behaviour and encourages them to play, socialize and choose when to eat and rest. The spaces are designed with smaller spaces for rest, and larger spaces to play and eat.

“We even have nightlights for sows that like to eat at night,” Riley said.

Within these housing systems, Riley is encouraged to see how well the sows have taken to enrichment toys that gets the sows on their feet and active, all geared toward the betterment of each individual animal. She said they are currently implemented in all of the company’s owned sow barns.

“If you could see the little piglets with the enrichments, they have these toys that hang down that they can swat at and play with. It’s adorable,” Riley said.

Kathleen Long, a doctor of veterinary medicine and vice-president of animal care for Maple Leaf, said the environmental enrichment objects they use enable each animal to satisfy their natural, instinctive behaviours that can lead to better mental and physical well-being.

In addition to the enrichment items, the company has implemented truck trailers with hydraulic lifts to reduce a pig’s stress level when they are transported up a ramp.

The company continues to test different innovations for its poultry barns, including temperature-controlled poultry trailers and enrichment items for chickens.

“Chickens naturally like to peck, hide and perch,” Riley said.

“We’ve been trying different structures, and it allows them to express their natural behaviour.”

Long explained how farmers can easily improve their birds’ mental well-being by providing perching-type objects in their barns to satisfy that need.

“Sometimes enrichments provide physical benefits as well, such as improved foot condition in chickens that have access to perches,” Long said.

“We are immensely proud of our leading work in testing and designing enrichments and we hope their popularity will continue to grow.”

Riley said this is the first year the company has achieved the Tier 2 status, based on Business Benchmark’s rankings that have taken place over the last decade.

She said her company is indebted to the work of Dr. Temple Grandin, an American scientist and Colorado State University faculty member who has spent years designing and reviewing production facilities that are built with the well-being of animals at the forefront of their design.

Riley said Grandin shares a connection with Westman, as the doctor reviewed the design for the Maple Leaf plant in Brandon and the design for the subsequent expansion. Facilities were changed to get rid of bright lights that would upset or scare pigs to better understand the mind of the animals.

“For the Brandon site, their animal welfare programs are committed to the same low-stress and high-welfare handling [of animals],” Riley said.

Both Riley and Long emphasized how this is a critical time for companies to improve their animal welfare in a transparent manner and said it’s an expectation for Maple Leaf to continue that work for their customers and animals.

“Tier 2 is a recognition of all those sacrifices — small and large — that represent how we care for our animals and how we track and report that information,” Long said.

“We never sit still at Maple Leaf. We are always looking for continuous improvement and innovation,” Riley said.

» jbernacki@brandonsun.com

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