Every October 12, National Farmer’s Day gives us a chance to pause and thank the people whose work sustains us every single day. From the ranchers who raise livestock to the processors who turn byproducts into valuable materials, agriculture’s backbone is built by those who see opportunity where others might see waste. And nowhere is that spirit clearer than in the rendering industry.
Rendering is agriculture’s quiet sustainability hero. It’s the process of transforming the parts of animals that people don’t eat—like fat, bone, and protein trimmings—into useful products such as animal feed, biodiesel, soaps, and fertilizers. Instead of sending billions of pounds of organic material to landfills each year, rendering recovers and repurposes nearly 99% of it, closing the loop in the food production cycle.
When we celebrate farmers, we’re also celebrating renderers—the problem-solvers and innovators who ensure that nothing goes to waste. Every time a farmer sells livestock, they’re part of a larger system that doesn’t end at the plate; it continues in the biofuels that power tractors and the pet food that nourishes our animals.
This National Farmer’s Day, let’s take a moment to thank not just the farmers in the field, but everyone along the chain who keeps agriculture resilient, efficient, and sustainable. Because in rendering, as in farming, everything has value.
