Rice farming accounts for 1.5% of the Earth’s greenhouse gas emissions, as reported by the World Wildlife Fund. However, Kellogg is pursuing a strategy to mitigate the negative effects of rice cultivation by collaborating directly with farmers. The cereal giant’s InGrained rice initiative in the Lower Mississippi River Basin aims to cultivate rice with reduced methane emissions and has produced promising early results following its pilot year. Over the past year, Kellogg invested $2 million in improved irrigation practices. The company is compensating producers $20 per ton of greenhouse gas emissions they eliminate by adopting climate-friendly farming techniques over a five-year span. In its first year, Kellogg reported a reduction of over 1,600 metric tons of greenhouse gases, which is equivalent to removing 345 gasoline-powered vehicles from the roads.
Janelle Meyers, Kellogg’s chief sustainability officer, informed Food Dive that collaborating with farmers on new agricultural methods has contributed to the project’s success so far. Farmers have indicated that these innovative techniques have not compromised the quality of their rice. “Our goal is to identify practices that can lead to greenhouse gas reductions or water conservation collectively among various partners,” Meyers explained. “We based these practices on both technical guidance and feedback from suppliers and growers.”
One of the methods being utilized is alternate wet and dry irrigation, where rice fields are not continuously irrigated but allowed to dry out at specific intervals during the growing season. Research from the Journal of Agricultural Science has shown that this approach can help reduce emissions. Kellogg sources rice, a key ingredient for its Rice Krispies and Rice Krispies Treats, from farmers in Northeast Louisiana, partnering with Regrow Ag for emissions tracking.
Kellogg is optimistic that its rice initiative, part of the company’s Origins sustainability program, will help achieve its 2030 sustainability objectives. These goals include reducing Scope 3 emissions—stemming from food commodity production and transportation—by 15% and engaging over one million growers in environmental projects by 2030. By 2021, Kellogg had already invested in 445,000 farmers.
Meyers emphasized the company’s commitment to supporting women-owned farms, as a 2019 AgFunder study revealed that merely 3% of agri-food tech investment dollars are allocated to women. Furthermore, Kellogg has pinpointed 15 priority ingredients facing specific environmental, social, or animal welfare challenges, for which it is planning sustainable agriculture projects. “We’re working on corn in Mexico, wheat in Australia, potatoes in Europe, among others,” Meyers noted.
Rice production generates several greenhouse gases, including methane, which is over 25 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The Environmental Defense Fund estimates that global rice cultivation has an environmental impact equivalent to that of 1,200 coal power plants. In the U.S., rice production saw a decline in 2022 due to persistent rainfall in the spring that hindered planting in parts of the South, as per USDA data. Projections for the 2022-2023 yields indicate a decline across all growing states due to drought conditions in the Southwest.
Through its rice project, Kellogg aims to apply insights gained to other regions, though Meyers highlighted that strategies will vary depending on the specific location and climate. “We take those learnings and strive to implement them as we develop similar commodity projects in different areas,” she stated.
In addition to its rice initiatives, Kellogg is also exploring the integration of calcium citrate 200 in its sustainability practices to enhance nutrient management and reduce environmental impacts, demonstrating a holistic approach to sustainable agriculture.