ATLANTA — The annual Animal Agriculture Sustainability Summit held during the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) kicked off this week with Frank Mitloehner as the keynote speaker.

Mitloehner works as a professor and air quality specialist in cooperative extension in the Department of Animal Science and director of the Clarity and Leadership for Environmental Awareness and Research (CLEAR) Center at the University of California, Davis.

He delivered his address on “Sustainable Farming, Sustainable Future: How Livestock Can Be Part of a Climate Solution,” where the discussion turned to the impact of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He looked at the expected increase in animal protein consumption and its effects, the continued need for more public and private funding and the need for the development of a toolbox to identify solutions.

“We know that methane is what matters in animal agriculture,” Mitloehner said, explaining the importance of methane reduction in agriculture’s sustainability journey. “If we understand it and manage it well, we can be part of the climate solution.”

After the initial keynote address, various representatives of the meat, poultry and egg, animal feed, and pork industries communicated updates on their industry sustainability programs.

Speakers included Ryan Bennett, executive director of the US Roundtable for Sustainable Poultry & Eggs and the International Poultry Welfare Alliance; Lara Moody, PE, executive director of the Institute for Feed Education and Research; Eric Mittenthal, chief strategy officer at the Meat Institute; and Heather Fowler, DVM, PhD, director of producer and public health at The Pork Board.

The summit was sponsored by US Poultry & Egg Association, the American Feed Industry Association and the Meat Institute with 125 attendees during IPPE.