04.07.2016

Egg Farmers of Canada (EFC) has released an independent study conducted by Global Ecologic Environmental Consulting and Management Services which found that the environmental footprint of Canada’s egg production supply chain declined by almost 50 per cent during the period from 1962 to 2012. The study, conducted by Dr. Nathan Pelletier, is the most comprehensive study ever undertaken by a Canadian agricultural sector and examined the Canadian egg supply chain environmental footprint over the last 50 years. It found that the cradle-to-farm gate impacts for eggs produced in conventional housing systems were, on average, one-third of the estimated impacts of the industry in 1962. Among its findings, the study concluded that egg production supply chain’s acidifying emissions declined by 61 per cent; eutrophying emissions declined by 68 per cent; GHG emissions declined by 72 per cent; and, further, that life cycle energy, land and water use decreased by 41 per cent, 81 per cent and 69 per cent, respectively.
According to the report’s findings, increased environmental sustainability within the egg industry can be attributed to several factors, including changing the feed composition, which is an important contributor to reducing the supple chain’s carbon footprint, fertilizers, improved animal health and higher productivity in pullet and egg production.