Lantmännen
Lantmännen is an agricultural cooperative and Northern Europe’s leader in agriculture, machinery, bioenergy and food products.
Lantmännen is an agricultural cooperative and Northern Europe’s leader in agriculture, machinery, bioenergy and food products.
The Agriculture Sector constitutes Lantmännen's core business and offers products and services to promote strong, competitive farming.
The Energy Sector is Sweden’s largest producer of bioenergy products.
The Food Sector develops, processes and markets products that include flour, breakfast foods, pasta, frozen and fresh bread, crispbread and ready-to-eat meals.
Lantmännen is an agricultural cooperative founded on the deep knowledge our farmers have aquired over generations. We make farming thrive and work together to take responsibility from field to fork.
From our core farming business, through the value chain, from field to fork, we are involved in every step from sowing to harvesting; to the food on our tables, feed for our livestock and climate –smart biofuels.
Owned by Swedish farmers, Sweden is our base with the Baltic Sea area as our expanded domestic market. We have a strong international presence, and no matter which country and location we operate in, we always take the same responsibility.
We pursue research and invest in innovation for tomorrow’s agriculture, bioenergy and foods of the future. Innovations are crucial if we are to resolve the challenges of today and tomorrow, which is why Lantmännen also has its own research foundation.
You´ll find the Lantmännen sprout on our packaging. The products may be different, but everyone can feel safe that we also minimise impact on climate and people. If you find the sprout on a packet, you can be sure what’s inside is Good Food from Lantmännen.
Lantmännen is dependent of a well functioning eco system that embraces a variation of species. We source our most important material, grain, that we build our operations on, from our owners’ farmland. That is why we actively work to reduce the impact from farming on the environment and to favor biodiversity in different parts of the value chain.
Biodiversity describes the variation between and within species that is present on our planet. Loss of biodiversity puts the ecosystems ability to, for example purify water and air, pollinate, create stable population of bacteria and worms that helps degradation, at risk.
The planet’s biodiversity is threatened in many ways. Changed land use, road construction, expansion of real estate, non-sustainable agricultural methods, overexploitation for example deforestation or non-sustainable fishing, and the fact that we get new species of plants, animals and parasites, affect the biodiversity in a negative way. Effects of climate change is expected to impact as well as an increased pressure on the planet to provide a growing population with food and energy.
In Sweden, many of the threats are mitigated and reduced, for example the use of pesticides and problems with acidification. There are new red flags and warnings, such as an decreased number and presence of pollinators, that play an important role for farming.
Biodiversity is a prioritized issue globally and nationally, and it clarified in for example the UN Convention on Biodiversity, as one of the UN Sustainability Development Goals according to Agenda 2030 (SDG 15, that Lantmännen has identified as business critical) and in the Swedish national environmental objectives.
Food and energy production is based on a well-functioning eco system and thereby biodiversity, and because of that a very important question for the Swedish agriculture.
Despite all the good activities, farming has had and still has, an impact on environment, animals and insects, and parts of today's cropping system gives less space for some species to thrive. It also affects through use of fertilizers, plant protection and emissions from other activities to land, water and air. The production of food, feed and energy leads to greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impact. Farming also plays an important role. Many insects and plants are completely dependent on an, by animals at pasture, open landscape with a variety of species, for example several red listed species.
Lantmännens’s role
Lantmännen wants to decrease impact in the different parts of the value chain and works to, in a short and long-term perspective, contribute to protect and strengthen biodiversity.
Lantmännen’s operations are affecting biodiversity in several ways. In the farming, on our owners’ land, the dependency and impact is the most significant, but Lantmännen also sources raw materials from other countries.
Lantmännen’s real estate and new production sites also has an impact, but are primarily in areas already used for industry or other land use.
We work to reduce the negative impact and to protect and strengthen biodiversity. We work to reduce impact for example by:
Developing new metods for plant protection, for example chemical free seed treatment such as Thermoseed and Cedomon/Cerall
Precision farming in the field to optimize all parts of the farming for a maximized with the least input and environmental impact. For example to optimise the seed depending on the soil, the use of plant nutrients and protection and the use of GPS to minimise overlap and reduce the time with tractor in the field
Plant breed to create resistent plats that minimizes the need of plant protection
Specific requirements for purchase of high risk materials such as soy and palm oil
Climate strategy with targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Lantmännen works protect and strengthen biodiversity. The work is primarily within the development of farming concepts where actions for biodiversity is a component.
Develop the farming concept Climate&Nature with added values based on biodiversity, for example lark squares that favors larks and insects