ARCHER-DANIELS-MIDLAND COMPANY | Measuring Pesticide Use in Agricultural Supply Chains

Status
33.72% votes in favour
AGM date
Proposal number
5
Resolution details
Company ticker
NYSE: ADM
Lead filer
Resolution ask
Report on or disclose
ESG theme
  • Environment
  • Social
ESG sub-theme
  • Public health
  • Waste and pollution
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Consumer Staples
Company HQ country
United States
Resolved clause
Shareholders request that ADM issue a report, at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, explaining if and how the company is measuring the use in its agricultural supply chains of pesticides that cause harm to human health and the environment.
Whereas clause
One third of every bite of food we eat is dependent on pollinators; and pollinator species are declining at alarming rates in significant part due to the use of toxic pesticides on farms. Pesticides also causea number of serious human health effects from cancers to neurological damage. Pesticides threaten farmer resiliency and productivity due to proliferation of pesticide-resistant weeds and insects, loss of top soil, and soil degradation. Pesticides also threaten biodiversity, harming soil invertebrates, birds, and mammals. Soil consistently treated with pesticides loses its ability to store water and carbon, threatening resilience to climate change. Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has outlined Sustainable Agriculture goals in its public reporting. However, these goals do not include any consideration for risks related to pesticide use. ADM has not disclosed if or how it tracks, reports, or reduces the use of synthetic pesticides in its agricultural supply chains, representing an important blind spot. Other major food companies are taking action to reduce and report on pesticide risk: • General Mills discloses metrics for tracking and reporting pesticide use by suppliers in its regenerative agriculture program, including type and name of input, amount and method used, cost and date of application, and pest or disease being controlled. It also reports pounds of pesticides avoided. • Lamb Weston discloses average pesticide use data across its potato supply chains (reported in pounds of active ingredient use per ton of potatoes grown.) • Sysco reports annually on pesticide use avoided by suppliers using Integrated Pest Management (IPM) — reporting 8.4 million pounds avoided in 2019. In a competitive marketplace that is increasingly demanding clean food and reduced stakeholder and environmental harm, understanding and tracking supplier use of pesticides reduces risk for shareholders and our company, while reducing harm to stakeholders.
Supporting statement
While metrics are left to management discretion, shareholders recommend the company measure and disclose the following: • Type and amount of pesticides avoided annually through targeted strategies like regenerative agriculture programs, IPM, or other methods; • Priority pesticides for reduction or elimination; • Targets and timelines, if any, for pesticide reduction.

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