Blog

Earth Day has been recognized each year on April 22 since 1970, making this year its 50th anniversary. Since Versova was founded, environmental stewardship has been one of the company’s guiding principles, which means that our teams are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to improve our farming practices that preserve the land, air and water surrounding our farms.

Environmental preservation takes many forms on Versova’s farms, but the primary goal is reducing our use of natural resources and, ultimately, lessening our environmental footprint. We’re working to fulfill this commitment by:

• Reducing water usage in egg processing plants and utilizing on-site lagoons to store water for later use. Before being reused on farms, water from lagoons is cleaned.
• Implementing manure management systems, which include the use of conveyor belts that quickly and efficiently remove manure from hen houses, storing manure in covered buildings for composting, and recycling manure later as a nutrient-dense fertilizer for local crop farmers. During the composting process, manure is kept as dry as possible to maintain good air quality, eliminate odor and reduce pests.
• Increasing feed efficiency by making nutritional improvements to each flock’s feed ration to ensure hens of all ages and production levels are getting the exact nutrients they need to be as healthy and productive as possible. Improved nutrition means less feed being used and wasted.
• Making improvements to hen housing systems to improve hen health and productivity, and reduce waste and energy usage. Versova’s family of farms include a variety of housing environments, including traditional and cage-free housing, which helps give our teams a better understanding of how to care for hens sustainably and efficiently. For example, by experimenting with the layout of our cage-free barns, we can learn how to maximize the use of the space while still offering hens enrichments and room to exhibit natural behaviors.
• Complying with all federal, state and local regulatory programs to ensure our farms are meeting and exceeding all guidelines in place to protect the land, air and waterways surrounding our farms.
• Participating in national programs to be part of the larger sustainability conversation with other egg farmers and food production companies.

Versova is constantly talking with industry experts, scientists and other food producers to learn about new technologies and advancements, as well as find new ways to make our operations more efficient. As a company, we are working on several new sustainability initiatives that we’re excited to launch in the near future.

We know that protecting and preserving the environment is a shared responsibility and we, as food producers, play a very important role in ensuring that our farming practices leave our earth in a better state than it was before.