Scoular Places ‘Trust’ at the Heart of a Sustainable Future

Scoular, a US-based company providing supply chain solutions for grain, feed and food ingredients, published its Annual Sustainability Report for the 2026 financial year on 26 October 2026. Covering the period from 1 June 2025 to 31 May 2026 and containing data on the company’s global operations, the report highlights how the partnerships established by staff with producers, customers and local communities are laying the foundations for the company’s future. Beth Stebbins, Scoular’s Director of Sustainability and Producer Strategy, said the company had made progress in a number of areas, ranging from expanding its regenerative agriculture initiatives to strengthening relationships with farmers, creating development opportunities for staff and maintaining its focus on day-to-day workplace safety.

Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, the 133-year-old company has an annual turnover of approximately 7 billion dollars, a trading volume of 1.5 billion bushels and over 100 facilities. With over 1,250 employees, Scoular ships products to more than 80 countries. In the opening of the published text, CEO Paul Maass emphasises that the strength of the company’s agricultural solutions is only as strong as the trust its employees build with producers, customers and community partners.

From a Pilot Scheme to a Permanent Programme in Regenerative Agriculture

One of the standout initiatives is the regenerative agriculture project jointly run by Scoular and Grupo Trimex, one of Mexico’s leading flour milling companies. Grupo Trimex purchases large quantities of US wheat from Scoular. The project began in 2024 in Adrian, Missouri—where Scoular’s grain facility is located—involving 12 farmers and covering 5,000 dönüm. The farmers are growing soft red winter wheat using regenerative farming practices. Scoular registers the farmers for the programme, whilst staff at the Adrian facility collect farm management data. Grupo Trimex pays the farmers in return for the data and pays Scoular for project oversight.

The programme expanded to 13 farmers and 10,000 dönüm by 2025, and has now reached 40 farmers and 35,000 dönüm across two regions. According to the company’s statements, the project has now moved from the ‘pilot’ phase to that of a ‘permanent’ initiative. In 2025, the farm-gate emission factor for wheat grown under the programme was calculated at 0.503 kilograms of CO₂ per kilogram of crop; this figure is significantly below the initial reference value of 1.034. Scoular notes that reduced fertiliser use, less tillage and beneficial land management practices may have contributed to this result. The company also aims to reach 200,000 dönüm of regenerative land annually by 2030. Mar Gutiérrez, Sustainability Manager at Grupo Trimex, stated that the programme is built on the trust-based relationships Scoular maintains with its farmers.

Another notable example is the facility in Andres, Illinois. The facility serves as one of the key hubs within Scoular’s network for processing identity-preserved products, such as food-grade, non-GMO and organic soya beans. It is reported that only 3 to 4 per cent of US soya production is classified as non-GMO. Following the 2025 harvest, producers, company management and executives from a major US tofu manufacturer gathered at the facility; the farmers tasted tofu made from their own soya.

Climate, Safety and People-Centred Development

Scoular also provided detailed emissions data. According to the figures in the report, Scope 1 emissions stood at 26,974, Scope 2 emissions at 23,650, and Scope 3 emissions at 13,547,786 tonnes of CO₂e; the total figure reached 13,598,410 tonnes. Within Scope 3, the largest share—10.8 million tonnes—stems from purchased goods and services. The company explains that it has recalculated the figures for Scope 1 and 2 from previous years due to the disposal of certain facilities, and that the increase is attributable to the Goodland rapeseed crushing plant in Kansas operating at full capacity and increased energy usage in high-efficiency regions. Scoular is targeting an absolute 10 per cent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions on a market-based basis. In the area of energy efficiency, the replacement of frequency drives at the Adrian plant has reduced electricity consumption per bushel by up to 50 per cent. Equipment-level monitoring is carried out at the plants using programmable logic controllers.

In the area of occupational safety, the company reported a total recordable incident rate of 2.26 and a rate of lost working days, restricted work or job reassignment of 1.34 during a busy harvest year. The industry averages are 2.3 and 1.4 respectively. On the governance front, key developments included the implementation of the Compliance and Ethics Charter, the provision of annual Code of Conduct training to all staff, and the launch of the annual conflict of interest process.

As part of employee development, eight people have graduated to date from the Elevation Training Programme, which was launched in 2023. The 18-month programme prepares successful silo operators for the role of plant superintendent. Shane Taviner, who graduated from the programme this year, has been appointed superintendent at the plant in Waverly, Illinois, having started at the company ten years ago as a part-time worker. In the area of community contribution, the 2026 financial year United Way campaign raised $324,054 through employee donations and a contribution from the Scoular Foundation.