The Sponsor has presented plans to ensure that the proposed project will, upon implementation of the specific agreed measures, continue to comply with host country environmental and social requirements, as well as IFC’s Environmental and Social Performance Standards and general and industry-specific EHS guidelines. The information about how these potential impacts are being/will be addressed by the project is summarized in the paragraphs that follow.
PS1: Social and Environmental Assessment and Management Systems:
Social and Environmental Assessment:
The Idavang pig production farms in Lithuania were gradually acquired over the last 10 years as existing low performing soviet era pig production facilities, and, in 2008, Idavang entered the Russian market directly when they took over the Vostochny Pig Production Complex near Tosno in Leningrad Oblast. As the farms in Lithuania and Russia were acquired, they were reconstructed in order to comply with both local requirements and the upcoming 2013 EU animal welfare requirements to be enforced within the EU from January 1, 2013, and at the same time achieve production efficiency by improving piglet survival and growth rates. All farms are operated as Special Pathogen Free (SPF) farms with sterile herds protected from outside diseases, hereby minimizing the need for disease treatment and medicine usage in the heard. All the current farms are upgraded older farms while the new operation near Pskov in Russia will be a new crop and pig production farm designed and established according to modern European Union (EU) criteria, as a copy of latest farm designs from Denmark, with pesticide, fertilizer, and animal health principles transferred accordingly. This means that not only are the local Russian standards adhered to, but also the EU criteria as it relate to pesticides, fertilizers, medicine, and principles for animal welfare.
Social and Environmental Management System:
The new Pskov farm project was developed after the preparation of an elaborate OVOS (local ESIA) Study, which gave Idavang the right to the pig production land on March 2, 2009 and resulted in a final approval on October 30 2010 after thorough review by all relevant authorities. Earlier Idavang had received a lease for the crop production land under an agreement allowing Idavang to purchase the land after three years of successive cropping. The first crop seeding started in 2008 after initial clearing of the first land, and has since expanded with 2,000+ ha now in production and an expected 500 ha to be prepared for production in 2011.
The Company employs dedicated environmental and health & safety officers in both Lithuania and Russia who, in consultation with the animal production manager and the crop production manager, prepare specific dual language (Russian respective Lithuanian and English) instructions covering all operational functions, including related environmental, occupational health & safety aspects. The instructions are illustrated with pictures from the specific operational equipment used at each farm and are posted in relevant sections of the farms as well as given to each employee during their introduction training. Most management systems are computerized, and are directly copied from modern operations in Denmark. The management systems used include animal (health) tracking systems, individual feed needs tracking, and fertilizer / pesticide application management and tracking systems. These systems are well functioning in the current organization. Formal Term of References (ToRs) specifying the responsibilities of the environmental and the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) officers, including reporting lines needs to be developed to support these systems as the company continue to expand its operation. This requirement is included in the attached Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP).
Land acquisition and planning procedures:
The current pig production farms in Lithuania and Russia were all bought as partly run down large scale production facilities established in the Soviet era. Idavang acquisition from former owners has therefore been the best option these owners had for exiting non-profitable / partly closed down operations. Idavang has in the acquisitions take over fixed assets and knowledge about potential previous employees interested in joining the new production when restarted.
For the new Pskov production, approximately 3,500 ha of mainly brackish farmland were leased, in the initial phase of establishing the current farm, with a right to purchase after three years of crop operation, and more land has since become potentially available for expansion of the crop production. The land is in a remote part of the Pskov region with a very low population density and no people were in need of resettlement. The land was all former farm land and therefore no rezoning has been needed. An EIA Study was prepared for the proposed pig production facility to be located near the center of the crop land, and was approved according to the process described above.
PS2: Labor and Working Conditions:
The currently 8 Idavang farms in Lithuania are operating close to full capacity and might be expanded with an extra pig raising farm. Currently the Lithuanian activities have around 410 employees, with an approximately 50/50 split between men and women. The Russian operation near Tosno is also reaching full production capacity this year and has approximately 300 employees, with a similar gender distribution.
The new Pskov production is still in the ramp up phase and will, during the summer of 2011, reach 30 employees in the crop production. Once reaching full capacity in two years time, it will have 50-55 employees working in the crop production and 70-75 in the pig production. Traditionally the crop production has most male applicants for the jobs, while the pig production tends to have more women than men applying for the jobs.
Human Resources Policy, working conditions:
Idavang has a highly responsive organization, with specialized managers handling all issues in relation to their areas. Employees have written standardized contracts, with new hire''s selection being based on recommendations from the section managers and approved by the joint management group. Promotions are carried out based on the section manager''s evaluation of past performance, and verified in the management group before execution. The differences in male / female ratios in the different production areas reflect local work traditions and therefore who has been applying for which job types. Non-discrimination and equal opportunity principles are part of the management norm, as well as local regulation, and will be formalized in a new HR policy to be developed, as set forth in the ESAP.
Occupational health and safety:
The existing Idavang farm are developed from upgrading existing farms with imported state-of-the-art technology, where changes are needed, hereby reducing heavy lifting and other typical farm related health risks. The farm has effectively adopted and implemented specific safety instructions prepared in dual language (Russian respective Lithuanian and English) and posted in relevant spots, as well as given directly to employees through training. The statistical data reflect a modern operation with focus on health and safety, and the accident frequencies over the last three years have been ranging from 1.2-6.7 LDA/MMH, which is within the expected sector benchmark for well run operations. As the organization expands for the current project, the ESAP includes specific action to formalize the responsibilities and prepare clear lines of duties to ensure unsafe actions are continued to be recorded and actions taken to prevent their recurrence.
PS3: Pollution Prevention and Abatement:
The pollution prevention measures at the Idavang farms follows the strict principles adhered to at farms within the EU.
The pig farms:
The pig farms are operationally based on the principle of SPF herds being protected from incoming diseases by limiting the import of new (genetic material) animals and only allowing new animals to join the herds after prolonged quarantine. This principle also includes a one kilometer bio-hazard protection zone (for the Pskov operation, this will be part of the farm''s own land) within which no other commercial animal hold is allowed. In this way, the medicine usage can be kept low, while a good health of the herd is maintained.
Nevertheless, medicine is still needed from time to time and the pig farm therefore has secured medical cabinets, which only qualified veterinarian personnel has access to. Further, only trained personnel are allowed to handle and distribute medicine to the animals. Beside the local veterinarian (a minimum of one per farm), an international veterinarian specialized in pig health issues controls the herd several times a year and advice on animal health issues.
The manure generated by the pigs is pumped from the animal stables to sealed lagoons, where it is stored until field application in the spring and autumn. The design of the lagoons, with fixed double bottom liners with leak control and a single floating top liner, as well as the design of the field pumping systems prevent smell during the storage of the manure, and also prevent raw manure from spilling into water courses. A single farm in Lithuania has concrete tanks instead of double liner lagoons, due to installation of this system ahead of Idavang''s take over. Further, the farm near Tosno has, in the spring of 2011, commissioned a system for alkaline separation of solids from the manure, and subsequent stripping of the ammonia into a concentrated (25%) ammonia water solution. Hereby the manure is separated into 1) a non-smelly solid organic fraction (12-13% weight flow) holding the majority of the phosphor and suitable for composting before distribution on fields as fertilizer, 2) a 25% ammonia solution in water (1-2% of volume flow) suitable to industrial applications, or alternatively for fertilizing of farmland by sub-surface injection, and 3) a large (90%+ volume flow) non-smelly, low BOD, low phosphor water fraction that can be utilized for irrigation without the typical manure spreading problems. Hereby the Tosno farm has become independent of outside farmers for the yearly distribution of manure and the new system will eliminate odor problems during field application.
The general waste from the facilities (including medical waste, pesticide containers, etc) are sorted and disposed by licensed contractors according to safe principles. The system currently used for disposing of dead animal varies from farm to farm; in Lithuania, a state subsidized company, collecting dead animals and destructing them in a facility designed to utilize the remains, has recently become commercially attractive and all the Lithuanian farms are therefore delivering their dead animals to this system. The farm near Tosno has its own incineration facility, and dead animals are therefore destructed on site. For the Pskov operation, it is still being investigated whether the best solution will be internal destruction or external handling.
Animal welfare is at the core of Idavang''s operation and has been ensured by rebuilding all acquired farms, weather in Lithuania or Russia, to adhere to both local regulations and the new EU animal welfare standards to be applied from the end of 2012 (also known as the 2013 animal welfare standards). This means that all animals are kept in group housing (in contrast to individual crates), except for sows undergoing insemination and sows in the farrowing section. Weak animals needing treatment and protection are in certain cases kept together in special treatment group housing and in other cases separated for individual care reasons. The new EU rules also calls for toys to be available for the animals and Idavang is in the midst of installing these toys (completed in Russian operation). Pictures of selected toys, like wood branches for chewing, are attached.
The crop production:
For the crop production at Pskov, this includes the use of modern state-of-the-art production principles where the manure, which is high in nitrogen and phosphate, is used for basic land fertilization in the spring and autumn when the crops are ready to absorb the nutrients, and runoff due to frozen soil can be avoided. The balance of nutrients needed by the crop will be provided by the use of commercial fertilizers. After completion, a total of 3,450 sows will be used for the production of up to 98,000 slaughter ready pigs per year. To ensure the crops and soil can handle the nitrogen and phosphor from the manure, nearly 1 ha is planned to be used per sow in the production. This is in balance with the approximately 3,500 ha planned to be used for crop production after completion and will result in 65-70% of the nitrogen, and all of the phosphor needed by the crops being provided by the manure applications. This application intensity is lower than the EU requirements, which would only have required approximately 2500 ha to be used.
The crops need for the pig farms feed are mainly barley/winter barley, wheat/winter wheat and some high protein crops. Currently Idavang is testing different grains for best suitability to the Pskov soils and climate conditions. Other crops, not needed for the pig feed production, might also be introduced to ensure the appropriate crop rotation to improve the soil quality.
Pesticide management and application will be carried out with chemicals approved both locally and by the European Union. The application of both fertilizers and pesticides are controlled with the help of computerized management tools, and the application rules including enforcement of 10-150 meters non-application zones around open drainage, water channels and rivers to prevent waterway contamination.
General conditions:
The new Pskov farm does not carry large scale risks. Nevertheless, an emergency preparedness and response plan should be prepared to be able to respond to emergency situations in a manner appropriate to the operational risks and the need to prevent potential negative consequences for humans and the environment. Idavang will therefore, as part of the ESAP, prepare the plans, which will be made readily available in each section of the farm.
The current farms, as well as the new Pskov farm are supplied with power from the national grid, while most have own water wells established within the farms own land based on hydro-geological acceptance and water permits. The water from the wells are evaluated individually and treated if necessary before use in the animal production.
PS4: Community Health, Safety and Security:
The Idavang farms are located in rural areas with low population density, and with substantial safety zones around each pig farm (1,000 meters for the new Pskov farm) to isolate the herd from bio hazards. These safety zones, to protect the animals from human and other animal interaction, also means that there are no practical risk factors for the public arising from the animal production.
The crop production includes the movement of large scale machines, as well as the application of manure, commercial fertilizers, and pesticides. These operations are taking place in the areas around each farm and on minor roads close to the farms. These roads are generally in areas with low population density, and inhabited by farmer families used to the nature of large scale agricultural machinery. Nevertheless, to ensure the broad safety of these operations, the most modern equipment is used, including pumping of the manure to the fields instead of tractor tanker transportation on the roads, and the operators are trained in the safe operation of this equipment.
Smell discomfort during the manure application is an issue of concern, and the farms are trying to minimize these effects by pumping manure directly to the fields, using modern hose application equipment to give fast soil contact, and limiting the application period in each area. While pumping the manure reduces the road transport equipment risks, it carries an inherent environmental risk if the pipes/hoses fail. Therefore, the pumping systems are equipped with automatic stops, should the pressure fall, and guards will be on duty at any river / creek passing during pumping.
