Common
Ground

What is at the heart of CF’s approach to sustainability?

Everything we do at CF starts with our “Do It Right” culture, which means we make safety our top priority. We’re extremely proud that 2017 was our safest year by every measure. And, our employees are leading the way. We highlight our most innovative and significant safety improvements through our Stephen R. Wilson Excellence in Safety Award. Those ideas are generated by employees at our locations, rather than management. This demonstrates how engaged the entire company is in safety. “Do It Right” also means that we protect the environment and work for the greater good side-by-side with all our stakeholders.

What are you doing to address the environmental impact of your products?

CF’s environmental footprint is somewhat misunderstood. Yes, the chemical processes we use generate substantial CO₂ equivalent emissions, which we report every year. But our products actually prevent and reduce more CO₂ equivalent emissions than we generate. For example, land use is the number one cause of CO₂ emissions in agriculture. Because our products increase yields substantially, farmers need less land to grow the food the world population needs to survive. By increasing crop yields, we help limit the conversion of carbon-sequestering forests into farmland.

Our products also reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from industrial processes. In addition, our diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) helps reduce NOx emissions of heavy-duty trucks by up to 90 percent and improves fuel efficiency by up to 5 percent.

How is CF working to improve its manufacturing operations from an environmental perspective?

While our products are helping reduce GHG emissions outside our gates, we remain focused on doing our part within CF. Each year, we make significant investments in our manufacturing and distribution facilities to enhance safety, reliability and efficiency. Between 2012 and 2017, CF’s emissions intensity, or the emissions per metric ton of product manufactured, decreased by 30 percent over that six-year period. On top of that, we are working diligently and investing significant capital to improve the energy efficiency of our processes and reduce our emissions.

How do you work side-by-side with your stakeholders?

Partnerships are central to how we operate. For example, we partner with the local communities in which we operate by supporting local charities and educational programs. We also work closely with first responders near our facilities, often conducting training exercises together as well as supporting their capabilities. In 2017, CF donated approximately $175,000 to local first responders to pay for trainings and to purchase equipment such as new water hoses for fire departments, emergency rescue chain saw blades and thermal imaging cameras.

One of our newest, and most important, partnerships is with The Nature Conservancy. We believe the work we’re doing together is beginning to change the conversation around agriculture nationwide.

Tell us about this partnership and why it’s so important.

CF and The Nature Conservancy are working with farmers across Iowa to address challenges with water quality, nutrient loss and poor soil health. This program, 4R Plus, began with the idea that most of agriculture’s emissions come from land use, not fertilizer use. If we want to avoid putting more land into production, thereby driving up emissions, we need to maximize yield on existing farmland while keeping soils healthy.

That’s a tricky balance to achieve, and it’s what the 4R Plus program is all about. 4R Plus will educate Iowa farmers on the principles of nutrient management and conservation practices that will keep their land productive and improve water quality.

Soon after we announced the program, others wanted to take part, including other fertilizer manufacturers, equipment manufacturers, retailers, grower associations and even the Iowa government. To us, this represents a public-private partnership the way it should be. Not driven by regulation and legislation, but by a common goal of improving agriculture in a sustainable manner.

Why did you choose Iowa as the place to launch the 4R Plus program?

Iowa is a leader in agriculture for our entire country. More than 85 percent of Iowa’s land is used for agriculture, so it’s also a place where we have an opportunity to make a major impact. The great thing about 4R Plus, however, is that it doesn’t need to be reinvented one state at a time. We hope to ultimately introduce the program to other states.

How will we know the 4R Plus program is working?

We keep track of several key indicators that show that we are making progress towards the ultimate goal of better soil health and water quality across Iowa. The 4R Plus website has already received almost 2,000 visitors in the short time it’s been live, almost 20,000 4R Plus brochures have been printed, and 4R Plus ads are running in media platforms across the state. With all of these efforts, we project that 4R Plus messaging will reach 85 percent of Iowa’s farmers and crop advisers in 2018. The success of this program is very important to me, because farmers do such vital work. Simply put, they feed the world. It’s our job to help them do so in a way that keeps soils, waterways, and people safe and healthy for years to come.