the interview Dr Martin Kropp, President Animal Nutrition EMEA, ADM

Martin Kropp has an international career spanning 25+ years within the agricultural sector, including several senior executive and board member roles. He has extensive experience within oilseeds and animal nutrition business with strong interest in agricultural developments and emerging markets. Dr Kropp received his Ph.D. in agricultural economics, agricultural mechanization and software development from Justus Liebig University, Giessen in Germany.

What led you to join ADM? How has ADM changed in that time?

I have worked with ADM for more than 25 years. In my current role as President of ADM’s animal nutrition business in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, I manage the operational and financial performance of the business, as well as oversee the operations for our ingredients, complete feed and nutritional services for the region’s major livestock species. I am proud to be part of a company with such a long and rich history. We strive to apply our knowledge and expertise to develop innovative nutrition products and solutions that are transforming the animal nutrition industry. Over the past 120 years, ADM has evolved from a small regional start-up to an unparalleled global leader in human and animal nutrition. Every day we work to unlock the power of nature to enrich the lives of both humans and animals around the globe. This is at the heart of everything we do.

In your role as President of Animal Nutrition EMEA, what changes have you brought about and why?

First and foremost, our customers are the focus of all our activities. We work hard to understand each of our customers’ specific needs and demands to deliver solutions that will help them achieve their goals. We’re able to accomplish this by collaborating with our global commercial excellence group to help create efficiencies, as well as enhance transparency and visibility on our dayto-day business activities. In addition to our commercial excellence group, our global growth group is identifying growth and innovation opportunities throughout the regions. We’ve also committed to reorganizing our portfolio, so all of our premix, complete feed and additive solutions are consolidated within a region and under the ADM brand.

What are the critical challenges we face in ensuring food security and sustainability for all? How can we address these challenges?

Globally, sustainable stewardship is at the foundation of everything we do at ADM and is a pressing issue we need to address in the animal nutrition industry across all species. The agriculture sector can generate a significant carbon footprint, and the animal production value chain is under growing pressure to meet climate change targets. We work to make livestock production more environmentally friendly by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, conserving water, finding local alternatives to imported raw materials, exploring the carbon credit market and more.

We take a holistic approach to minimising environmental impact by enhancing animal production efficiency and animal health and welfare. Our nutrition solutions provide precise nutrition to target the exact needs of an animal to achieve production, growth and health targets. Precision nutrition also focuses on reducing over-formulation and optimizing resource utilization. Our science-backed portfolio of products helps support animal performance and health through innovative ingredients. We provide functional feed additives and ingredients that promote animal health and well-being, such as organic acids, amino acids and organic trace minerals. Furthermore, by optimising animal efficiency we are minimising environmental impact and ensuring responsible use

We can also address these challenges by conducting thorough life cycle assessments (LCA) of our products and feedstuffs. LCAs are becoming more common for companies to evaluate environmental impacts associated with their products’ life cycles and provide an indication of where improvements can be made. Measures set in place to improve environmental performance can also have other benefits such as improved efficiency, or a more circular business economy. As part of the LCA analysis we can identify the global warming potential (CO2e) and emissions coming from scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions of our products. ADM is currently conducting LCA on our animal nutrition products, including a plant-extract based feed additive for poultry and ruminants. Ultimately, LCA can make a key contribution to sustainable feed transformation in the coming years.

What is your vision for the future of food security/ sustainability across the planet?

ADM Animal Nutrition brings a global perspective into the sustainability equation. We recognize the need for continuing and investing in research in areas that will assist our partners, farmers and producers with incorporating new technologies and farming methods into their daily operations.

ADM integrates sustainability considerations into every aspect of our operations and governance. This increases our resilience, enables swift adaptation to changing global contexts, and ensures longevity. By promoting ethical and responsible sourcing practices across the agriculture value chain, ADM is building a more sustainable food system while driving long-term business performance.

Our sustainability agenda is aligned by five of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a primary focus on areas including zero hunger, clean water and sanitation, decent work and economic growth, climate action, and life on land. Drawing on these guidelines, we have aligned our business objectives to create a set of material goals.

Our ambitious Strive 35 plan targets energy use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water use and waste management. By 2035, we’re dedicated to reducing Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions by 25 percent against a 2019 baseline, meaning a reduction in emissions from our facilities, vehicles and global supply chain, and our use of electricity from the grid. We’re also committed to be 100 percent deforestation-free by 2025. As we work to achieve these goals, we’ve also identified additional emission reduction projects at our facilities to explore and support our aspiration to become net zero by 2050.