New Program Enables and Incentivizes Rice Growers to Incorporate Sustainable Farming Practices for Environmental Benefits

STUTTGART, Ark., Nov. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Riceland Foods, Inc. and Hill’s Pet Nutrition announce a new collaboration to incentivize Riceland farmer-members to grow rice using climate-smart practices as part of the 2024 Riceland Carbon Ready™ program.

The Riceland-Hill’s Pet Nutrition Sustainable Rice Program will focus on helping Riceland farmer-members overcome barriers to adopting environmentally-friendly practices. Hill’s Pet Nutrition will receive Scope 3 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reductions that result from the updated farming practices by participating Riceland farmer-members.

Riceland Vice President of Government Affairs & Sustainability Adam Shea said this collaboration will continue the growth and momentum the Riceland’s Carbon Ready™ Program has received since the program launched in 2022.

“While farmers are constantly adapting their production practices to do more with less, the razor-thin margins they are faced with amplify the risk of changing too much, too soon. That’s where programs like the Riceland-Hill’s Pet Nutrition Sustainable Rice program come into play,” Shea said. “The ability to quantify the environmental impact generated through these practices and use them to help our customers achieve their climate goals creates a win-win for everyone involved.”

Riceland’s partnership with Arva Intelligence makes it possible to quantify Scope 3 GHG emission reductions. As a valued partner of the Riceland Carbon Ready™ program, Arva Intelligence will quantify the carbon reductions associated with the various sustainable farm practices in the Riceland-Hill’s Pet Nutrition Sustainable Rice Program to provide the proof points to help Hill’s achieve its goals to reduce their Scope 3 GHG emissions by 42% by 2030.

“Hill’s Pet Nutrition continues to enhance operations to produce high-quality pet nutrition with less environmental impact,” Bas Tabak, senior director of direct procurement for Hill’s Pet Nutrition, said. “We are actively collaborating with our suppliers, like Riceland Foods, to identify ways to lower the carbon footprint across various ingredients, including rice, while also finding ways to support farmers as they transition to environmentally-friendly farming practices.”

The Riceland-Arva Intelligence partnership was established in 2022, and it has been key to the Riceland Carbon Ready™ Program success.

“It is an honor to serve Riceland members and their clients with an impactful sustainability solution that rewards farmers for their environmentally beneficial stewardship and helps companies like Hill’s Pet Nutrition to meet their corporate emission reduction goals,” Arva Co-Founder and CEO Jay McEntire said. “We are proud that Riceland Carbon Ready™ program and partnership has become one of the leading sustainability programs that provides a win-win solution across the supply chain.”

The Riceland Carbon Ready Program™ is the gateway program for the cooperative’s farmer members to become eligible for incentives for sustainable practices on farm. For more information regarding the Riceland- Hill’s Pet Nutrition Sustainable Rice Program partnership and the Riceland Carbon Ready Program™, please contact Ashten Adamson at abadamson@riceland.com.

About Riceland Foods, Inc

Riceland Foods is the world’s largest miller and marketer of rice serving 5,500 farmer members in Arkansas and Missouri. As a farmer-owned cooperative, Riceland stores, transports, processes and markets more than 2.5 million metric tons of grain each year, and its products are sold across the United States and around 25 countries. It’s also one of the Mid-South’s major soybean processors. Riceland products include white, brown and parboiled rice, rice bran oil, soybean meal and oil and feed ingredients. Learn more at: Riceland.com.

About Hill’s Pet Nutrition
Founded more than 75 years ago, Hill’s Pet Nutrition has been committed to providing pets with the best nutrition through extensive research and a scientific understanding of their specific needs. Their team of 220+ veterinarians, PhD nutritionists, and food scientists constantly strive to develop innovative solutions for pet health. Hill’s offers a full line of products, including their Prescription Diet therapeutic nutrition and Science Diet wellness products, which are available at veterinary clinics and pet specialty retailers worldwide. For more information about their products and nutritional philosophy, please visit HillsPet.com.

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SOURCE Riceland Foods, Inc.