Atria Finland Ltd’s Baltic Sea commitment for 2019–2024

1

Atria is committed to reducing the environmental impact of livestock production by, for example, optimising feeding, utilising food industry side streams, improving nutrient cycling and by using the best production methods utilising data from the said research and development projects. 

• Food industry side streams will be exploited more extensively, and soya in the pork and poultry chain will be completely abandoned by 2024 (intermediate target: -50 % 6/2022) 

• Levels of phosphorus ending up in manure and urine will be reduced in the pork chain by 20 % through optimising feeding (SiFos project / Luke). The results of the project will be put into practice through feed changes as of the beginning of 2021. 

• Atria undertakes to examine how it could promote in its production chain the recommendation by the Recirculation (Kiertovesi) project to fractionate manure into separate N and P fertilizers and clean water. 

• An easy-to-use carbon footprint calculator to help farms to develop their own activities will be created for pig and poultry farms (SeAMK project: Carbon footprint calculator for chicken farms)   

• Feeding applications to reduce methane emissions from cattle are being investigated (CARBO project: Carbon-neutral beef chain) 

• The carbon footprint of beef will be reduced by determining the elements of carbon balance at farm level by the end of 2021 and by putting the results into practice in the entire Atria Beef chain. A sustainability index will be built as a tool for developing farms, one aspect of which is the carbon footprint (CARBO project: Carbon-neutral beef chain) 

• The development of production methods will focus in particular on the exploitation of animal production potential and on further enhancing biosafety to prevent diseases. This will improve, for example, productivity and feed efficiency, and reduce the amount of antibiotics needed in animal production, which in turn, limits the amount of antibiotics ending up in the environment through manure.  

• An environmental management system will be integrated as part of operational guidelines in all production units covered by the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED farms) by the end of 2024.   

2

Atria will advance cooperation between livestock farms and arable farms to enhance nutrient cycling through improved manure application, make more efficient use of the current agricultural area, reduce emissions from peatlands, increase the production of domestic protein crops and improve crop rotation. 

• The use of peas in animal feeds will be doubled by 2024, and the area under broad beans is to be increased. 

• Measures and operating models aimed at optimising the use of manure and usable agricultural area are actively put into practice at farmer events. For example, Atria is investigating how to increase the efficiency of manure logistics.  

3

Atria promotes the introduction of conservation agriculture and other cultivation practices that improve the soil and enhance carbon sequestration on livestock farms and arable farms by training its own experts and sharing best practices and communicating research results (e.g., research projects co-financed by Atria: Grasslands as a carbon sink /Luke, and Effect of cultivation techniques on the carbon sequestration potential of grass /Luke).