The Egg Farmers of Alberta are one of AMA’s Backyard BBQ partners.
The environment is an important aspect in all that Alberta egg farmers do. They recognize their responsibility for the land they farm and are committed to sustainable developments to minimize environmental impacts. They’ve even taken it a step further, aiming to lead the industry by implementing innovative practices in barn construction features, integrating energy-efficient technologies and farming practices to reduce their carbon footprint.
Alberta egg farmers are guided by a sustainability strategy focused on four key pillars: Healthy Birds, Healthy Farms, Healthy Eggs and Healthy Community. Through this strategy, egg farmers have supported sustainable egg production in Alberta and continue to do so.
Highlights from the Egg Farmers of Alberta’s sustainability strategy includes:
LAUNCH OF PRODUCER ENVIRONMENTAL EGG PROGRAM
The Producer Environmental Egg Program (PEEP) is the Canadian egg industry’s first environmental program. An on-farm assessment program, PEEP helps Alberta egg farmers to identify their environmental impact and what best practices they can implement to ensure that resources are managed in a sustainable manner.
Though it is a voluntary program, 100 percent of registered Alberta egg farmers have participated in PEEP, finding tremendous value in the insights it offers.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE NET-ZERO EGG BARN
In what is an industry first, Egg Farmers of Alberta member The Brant Colony launched a net-zero barn project in 2016 as a research facility and educational tool for the egg farm industry. Utilizing new design features and technologies to balance energy inputs and outputs, the net-zero barn has successfully achieved net-zero status for electricity.
The learnings and successes from this facility have drawn attention from egg-producing industries across North America.
HOSTING THE ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP WORKSHOP
The Environmental Stewardship Workshop was the Canadian egg industry’s first on-farm environmental program that brought together a diverse mix of stakeholders and decision-makers across the egg supply chain. Bringing together the thought leadership of farmers, graders, retailers, and restaurants, as well as government and non-government organizations, the workshop allowed these important members of the farm-to-plate supply chain to discuss topics such as environmental stewardship, animal welfare, food safety, economics and other factors, while sharing ideas for the future of sustainable egg production in Alberta.