Converting farming practices to be more sustainable can only succeed if it focuses on the person doing the heavy lifting – the farmer. That’s why we created the Tyson Foods Local Grain Services (LGS) Sustain program, designed to promote climate-smart practices, including cover crops, reduced tillage, nutrient management, edge-of-field practices and innovative practices, in our operations and across the protein supply chain to ultimately help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Tyson Foods built LGS Sustain in collaboration with farmers. The result is a sustainability program that is farmer-focused, straightforward, and transparent. The program is also flexible: it gives credit to early adopters who began sustainable practices before they joined; it allows participating farmers to opt out at any time; and doesn’t require farmers to sell grain to Tyson Foods at a certain price — or even to sell to Tyson Foods at all.

“As a world-class food company and recognized leader in protein, Tyson Foods is well positioned to promote climate-smart practices,” said John R. Tyson, Tyson Foods CFO. “Our approach is to start at the source — we create resilient ecosystems by working with local farmers to introduce regenerative agriculture practices through a business model that supports their livelihoods.”

Keep local grain local

LGS Sustain is part of the Tyson Foods Local Grain Services (LGS) program, which our company created to buy row crop feed ingredients directly from the farmers in the communities where we operate. Given the important role feed plays in the quality of our chicken, we design programs to ensure a robust supply of high-quality, sustainable feed grain – and to invest in the local farmers who produce it. And by keeping our grain purchases direct and local, we’re proud to channel revenue to local communities. The number of farmers selling to Tyson Foods without an intermediary through the Local Grain Services program has grown from 400 in 2016 to more than 10,000 today.

How the LGS Sustain program works

LGS Sustain participants receive acreage-based payments from Tyson Foods for adopting or continuing to implement climate-smart practices. Farmers who enroll their acres in LGS Sustain are also eligible for one-on-one support from Tyson Foods’ agronomic partner, Understanding Ag. A leader in regenerative agriculture consulting, Understanding Ag will work directly with each farmer to implement practices designed to make their farm more productive, profitable, and resilient.

Tyson Foods has also engaged HabiTerre, a deep science and technology company offering a holistic approach to farm productivity and resource use efficiency. HabiTerre will provide best-in-class measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) capabilities to ensure the accurate reporting of program-related environmental benefits, such as the potential for greenhouse gas emissions reductions and soil carbon gains.

Learn more

Tyson Foods launched the LGS Sustain program in 2023 to positive reception, and recently closed enrollment on the 2024 crop year. However, it’s not too early for farmers to enroll for 2025, as  farmers who enroll early can receive one-on-one agronomic assistance before implementing their practice changes.  

Farmers can learn more by contacting their LGS grain merchandisers or visiting localgrainservices.com/sustain.