Cargill

File:2009-0612-07-CargillLakeOffice.jpg mansion on the main corporate campus in Minnetonka, formerly housed the company's top executives; the company's 2016 CEO decided it was bad optics,{{clarify|reason=Not sure how widely understood this term may be|date=January 2023}} moved the senior executive out, and the historic mansion was demolished by Cargill in 2020.{{Cite web |author1=Neil Weinberg |author2=Brandon Copple |url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2002/1125/158.html |title=Going Against The Grain |website=Forbes.com |date=November 25, 2002 |access-date=June 12, 2009}}{{Cite news |url=https://midwesthome.com/building-remodeling/cargill-decides-to-demolish-the-still-pond-mansion/|title = Cargill Decides to Demolish the Still Pond Mansion|newspaper = Midwest Home|date = August 26, 2020}}]]

Cargill was founded in 1865 by William Wallace Cargill when he bought a grain-flat house in Conover, Iowa.{{Cite book |last1=Shurtleff |first1=William |title=History of Cargill's Work with Soybeans and Soybean Ingredients (1940-2020): Extensively Annotated Bibliography and Sourcebook |last2=Aoyagi |first2=Akiko |publisher=Soyinfo Center |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-948436-22-9 |location=Lafayette, CA |pages=5 |language=en}} A year later William was joined by his brother Sam, forming W. W. Cargill and Brother. Together, they built grain flat houses and opened a lumberyard. In 1875, Cargill moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and their brother James joined the business. La Crosse was strategically located on the Mississippi near the junctions of the La Crosse River, Dubuque, and Southern Minnesota divisions of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad.

Sam Cargill left La Crosse in 1887 to manage the office in Minneapolis, an important emerging grain center. Three years later, the Minneapolis operation incorporated as Cargill Elevator Co.; some years after that the La Crosse operation incorporated as W. W. Cargill Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin. In 1898, John H. MacMillan Sr., and his brother, Daniel, began working for W. W. Cargill. MacMillan then married William Cargill's eldest daughter, Edna.{{Cite book |last1=Shurtleff |first1=William |last2=Aoyagi |first2=Akiko |title=History of Cargill's Work with Soybeans and Soybean Ingredients (1940-2020): Extensively Annotated Bibliography and Sourcebook |publisher=Soyinfo Center |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-948436-22-9 |location=Lafayette, CA |pages=304 |language=en}}

Upon Sam Cargill's death in 1903, William Cargill became the sole owner of the La Crosse office. John MacMillan was named general manager of Cargill Elevator Company and moved his family to Minneapolis. William Cargill died in 1909, creating a fiscal crisis for the company. MacMillan worked to resolve the credit issues and to force his brother-in-law William S. Cargill out of the company. The current owners are descended from John MacMillan's two sons, John H. MacMillan Jr., and Cargill MacMillan Sr., and his youngest brother-in-law, Austen S. Cargill I.

John MacMillan ran the company until his retirement in 1936. Under his leadership Cargill grew several fold, expanding out of the Midwest by opening its first East coast offices, in New York, in 1923. He was also the architect of the company's strategy of internationalism.{{Cite book |last1=Blas |first1=Javier |title=The World For Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources |last2=Farchy |first2=Jack |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-19-007895-9 |location=Oxford |pages=31 |language=en}} He opened the company's first Canadian, European and Latin American offices in 1928, 1929, and 1930. He was also noted for his involvement in the controversial commercial rapprochement between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

The first of the crises was the debt left by the death of William W. Cargill. The company issued $2.25 million in Gold Notes, backed by Cargill stock, to pay off its creditors. The Gold Notes were due in 1917, but thanks to record grain prices caused by World War I all debts were paid by 1915.

As World War I continued into 1917, Cargill made record earnings and faced criticisms of war profiteering. Four years later, as a fallout from the financial crash of 1920, Cargill posted its first loss.

Cargill opened its first Canadian operations in Montreal in 1928 as Cargill Grain Company Ltd.{{cite web |url=https://www.cargill.com/doc/1432078093613/pdf-cargill-timeline.pdf |title=Cargill Timeline |page=5 |publisher=Cargill |accessdate=June 19, 2017}} Headquartered in Winnipeg, it employs up to 8,000 people in Canada.{{cite web |url=http://www.cargill.ca/en/about/index.jsp |title=About Cargill in Canada |publisher=Cargill |accessdate=June 19, 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://www.cbr.ca/CompanyProfile.aspx?CompanyID=3849 |title=Cargill |publisher=Canadian Business Resource |accessdate=June 19, 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://www.ic.gc.ca/app/ccc/srch/nvgt.do?lang=eng&prtl=1&estblmntNo=131556430000&profile=cmpltPrfl&profileId=501&app=sold |title=Cargill Limited |publisher=Government of Canada |accessdate=June 19, 2017}}

One of the biggest criticisms of Cargill has been its perceived arrogance (see, for example, Brewster Kneen in the Ecologist and also Greg Muttitt in the same journal). The MacMillans' aggressive management style led to a decades-long feud with the Chicago Board of Trade.{{Cite book |last1=Greising |first1=David |title=Brokers, Bagmen, and Moles: Fraud and Corruption in the Chicago Futures Markets |last2=Morse |first2=Laurie |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=1991 |isbn=0-471-53057-3 |location=New York |pages=61–63 |language=en}} It began in 1934 when the Board denied membership to Cargill. The US government overturned the Board's ruling and forced it to accept Cargill as a member. The 1936 corn crop failed and with the 1937 crop unavailable until October, the Chicago Board of Trade ordered Cargill to sell some of its corn. Cargill refused to comply.

The US Commodity Exchange Authority and Chicago Board of Trade accused Cargill of trying to corner the corn market. In 1938, the Chicago Board suspended Cargill and three of its officers from the trading floor. When the Board lifted its suspension a few years later, Cargill refused to rejoin, instead trading through independent traders. During World War II, MacMillan Jr. continued to expand the company, which boomed as it stored and transported grain and built T1 tankers and Towboats ships for the United States Navy. In 1962, Cargill rejoined the Chicago Board of Trade, two years after MacMillan's death.

In 1960, Erwin Kelm became the first non-family chief executive. Aiming for expansion into downstream production, he led the company into milling, starches, and syrups. As the company grew, it developed a market intelligence network as it coordinated its commodities trading, processing, freight, shipping, and futures businesses. In the decades before email, the company relied on its own telex-based system for internal communication. By 1972, Cargill’s business grew with $5 billion in sales, becoming the largest agricultural trader in the world.{{Cite book |last1=Blas |first1=Javier |title=The World for Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources |last2=Farchy |first2=Jack |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-19-007897-3 |location=Oxford |pages=38 |language=en}}

File:Dust fills air as ships are loaded from the Cargill grain elevator - NARA - 551577.jpg, 1973]]

When the Soviet Union entered the grain markets in the 1970s, demand grew to unprecedented levels, and Cargill benefitted. In 1963, Cargill had already negotiated a $40 million wheat deal with the USSR, establishing a relationship that later involved a series of larger deals. When Whitney MacMillan, nephew of John Jr., took over the company from Kelm in 1976, revenue approached $30 billion. The US government put pressure on big grain exporters with allegations of manipulating the market, and Cargill was a major target, but it emerged without any major changes.

In 1978, Cargill purchased the large Leslie Salt refining company in Newark, California, from Schilling.{{cite web |url=http://www.allelementsdesign.com/schilling/company/salt/leslie.html|title=Schilling Family, leslie |work=www.allelementsdesign.com |access-date=November 5, 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://www.allelementsdesign.com/schilling/company/salt/cargill.html|title=Schilling Family, cargill |work=www.allelementsdesign.com |access-date=November 5, 2014}}

In 1979, Cargill entered the meat-processing business with the purchase of beef processor MBPXL (later Excel).{{cite web |url=https://appserver.excelmeats.com/about/history.htm |title=Excel History |website=ExcelMeats.com |access-date=June 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816122055/https://appserver.excelmeats.com/about/history.htm |archive-date=August 16, 2016 |url-status=dead }} The division expanded into turkey, food service and food distribution businesses and is now known as Cargill Meat Solutions.

In 1986 Cargill started operations in Venezuela through a partnership with the Possenti family's Mimesa C.A. to form Agroindustrial Mimesa in Maracaibo, dedicated to the manufacturing of flour and pasta. Expansion followed thereafter.{{Cite web |url=https://www.cargill.com.ve/en/history-in-venezuela |title=History in Venezuela | Cargill Venezuela |website=www.cargill.com.ve}}

Tensions arose with the company's private shareholders, as Cargill typically put 80% of earnings back into the business. By the early 1990s, members of the Cargill and MacMillan families became upset that their shares in the company were yielding mediocre dividends. Demands rose for an initial public offering to turn the company public. The company responded with an employee stock ownership plan, and in 1993 reportedly purchased 17% of the firm for $730 million from 72 Cargills and MacMillans. It used that stake to begin the employee stock plan. The company's board of directors was reorganized to reduce the number of relatives to six, alongside six independents and five managers.

Ernest Micek took over as chief executive in August 1995.{{Cite book |last1=Shurtleff |first1=William |last2=Aoyagi |first2=Akiko |title=History of ADM (Archer Daniels Midland Co.) and the Andreas Family's Work with Soybeans and Soyfoods (1884-2020): Extensively Annotated Bibliography and Sourcebook |publisher=Soyinfo Center |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-948436-23-6 |location=Lafayette, CA |pages=699 |language=en}} Cargill underwent turmoil in the following years; its financial unit lost hundreds of millions of dollars in 1998 when Russia defaulted on debt and developing countries began to have financial issues. The commodities and ingredients business, which was 75% of Cargill's total revenue, suffered from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Revenues fell by double-digit percentages for two years in a row, from $55.7 billion in 1997 to $51.4 billion in 1998 and $45.7 billion in 1999, while net income fell from $814 million in 1997 to $468 million in 1998 and $220 million in 1999. By 1999, the company had $4 billion in debt. After a reduction in previously strong bond credit rating, Micek announced he would step down a year early.

File:CargillMississippiRiver.jpg

File:Cargill dock 01.jpg]]

In 1998, Warren Staley became chief executive and continued expanding the company and it rebounded.{{Cite web |last=Dougherty |first=Tim |date=2015-01-12 |title=Warren Staley Elected to Board of Directors for Music Academy of the West {{!}} Good for Santa Barbara |url=https://www.noozhawk.com/warren_staley_elected_to_board_of_directors_for_music_academy_of_the_west/ |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=Noozhawk |language=en-US}} He pursued a new strategy that shifted away from an asset-intensive commodities company to solutions-oriented enterprise.{{Cite book |last1=Hacourt |first1=Paul |title=The Scramble for Africa in the 21st Century |last2=Melluish |first2=Mark |publisher=Primedia E-launch LLC |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-62209-004-4 |location=Cape Town |language=en}} While expanding, the company also refocused its business by selling assets such as its coffee and rubber businesses.

In 2002 Cargill acquired European-based starch manufacturer Cerestar from Montedison for $1.1 billion.{{Cite web |date=2002-01-22 |title=Europe clears Cargill purchase of Cerestar |url=https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2002/01/22/Europe-clears-Cargill-purchase-of-Cerestar/ |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=FoodNavigator.com |language=en}}{{cite web |url=https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2001/11/05/150501/cargill-acquires-cerestar-expanding-global-starch-share/ |title=Cargill Acquires Cerestar Expanding Global Starch Share |date=2001-11-05 |website=icis.co |access-date= }}

By 2002, Cargill had over $50 billion in annual sales, twice the amount of its closest rival, Archer Daniels Midland, and had 97,000 employees running more than 1,000 production sites in 59 countries.

Cargill Meat Solutions acquired Milwaukee Emmpak in 2003 and merged it with Taylor Packing Co. (purchased in 2001). In 2006, Cargill Meat purchased Fresno Meats. The three main brands of beef are Circle T Beef, Valley Tradition, and Meadowland Farms.{{Cite web |url=http://www.beefatcirclet.com/Cargill_Triple_Play_final.pdf |title=Cargill's triple play |access-date=August 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023132355/http://www.beefatcirclet.com/Cargill_Triple_Play_final.pdf |archive-date=October 23, 2014 |url-status=dead |date=August 2007 |publisher=The National Provisioner}}

On June 1, 2007, CEO Staley was succeeded by Gregory R. Page.{{Cite web |date=2007-02-08 |title=Cargill appoints new CEO |url=https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2007/02/08/Cargill-appoints-new-CEO/ |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=FoodNavigator.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Greg Page |url=https://tcbmag.com/honors/outstanding-directors-awards-steering-through-2020-crises/greg-page/ |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=Twin Cities Business |language=en-US}}

Cargill's quarterly profits exceeded $1 billion for the first time during the quarter ending on February 29, 2008 ($1.03 billion); the 86% rise was credited to global food shortages and the expanding biofuels industry that, in turn, caused a rise in demand for Cargill's core areas of agricultural commodities and technology.{{Cite web |author=Matt McKinney |url=http://www.startribune.com/business/17693669.html |title=At $471,611 an hour, Cargill posts fine quarter |website=Star Tribune |date=April 15, 2008}}{{cite journal |author=Kneen, Brewster |year=2003 |title=Size is Everything |journal=The Ecologist|volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=48–51}}{{cite journal |author=Muttitt, Greg |year=2001 |title=Control Freaks |journal=The Ecologist |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=52 }}

In October 2011, the U.S. Justice Department announced that a biotech specialist at Cargill had pleaded guilty to stealing information from Cargill and Dow AgroSciences. Kexue Huang, a Chinese national, was discovered to be passing trade secrets back to China.{{cite web |url=http://www.twincities.com/ci_19151757 | title=A Cargill scientist, and a spy for China |first=Tom |last=Webb | publisher=Twin Cities Pioneer Press |date=October 20, 2011}}

In November 2011, Cargill completed the acquisition of Provimi, a global animal nutrition company for €1.5 billion ($2.1 billion US).{{cite web|url=http://www.cargill.com/news/releases/2011/NA3052248.jsp|title=Cargill News Release|access-date=November 5, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303033933/http://www.cargill.com/news/releases/2011/NA3052248.jsp|archive-date=March 3, 2013}}

On April 1, 2012, Cargill completed a purchase of a cat and dog food plant in Emporia, Kansas. It was previously owned by American Nutrition.{{cite web|url=http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2012/feb/15/cargill-acquires-emporia-pet-food-plant/|title=Emporia Gazette|access-date=November 5, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130122134130/http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2012/feb/15/cargill-acquires-emporia-pet-food-plant/|archive-date=January 22, 2013}}

In December 2013 CEO and chairman Page was succeeded by CEO Dave MacLennan.{{Cite web |title=Dave MacLennan {{!}} Bechtel |url=https://www.bechtel.com/about/leadership/dave-maclennan/ |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=www.bechtel.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Fedor |first=Liz |date=2022-11-21 |title=Cargill COO Brian Sikes to Succeed David MacLennan as CEO |url=https://tcbmag.com/cargill-coo-brian-sikes-to-succeed-david-maclennan-as-ceo/ |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=Twin Cities Business |language=en-US}}

In December 2014, Cargill finished commissioning a $100 million Indonesian cocoa plant.{{cite web|url=http://www.startribune.com/business/206476471.html|title=Cargill building $100 million Indonesian cocoa plant|website=Star Tribune|access-date=November 5, 2014}}

In 2015, Cargill wound down its Black River Asset Management division by shutting down four hedge funds, folding two agriculture and energy funds into Cargill, and spinning off three fund businesses to employees to create the hedge fund Proterra Investment Partners, emerging markets debt specialist Argentem Creek Partners and hedge fund Garda Capital Partners.{{cite web|url=http://www.startribune.com/phaseout-of-cargill-s-black-river-asset-management-completed/367034161/|title=Phaseout of Cargill's Black River Asset Management completed|website=Star Tribune|date=January 30, 2016 }}

In 2016, Cargill announced that it would move its Protein Group headquarters from older buildings in downtown Wichita, Kansas, and consolidate into a new building in Wichita's nearby Old Town area. The new $60 million building will be built on the site of the building that formerly housed The Wichita Eagle, following the old building's demolition.{{cite web|url=http://www.kansas.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/carrie-rengers/article105193381.html |title=Cargill selects site for new Wichita headquarters |work=www.kansas.com}}{{cite web |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/news/2016/12/01/cargill-unveils-plans-for-60-million-headquarters.html |title=Cargill unveils plans for $60 million Protein Group headquarters |date=December 1, 2016 |website=Wichita Business Journal www.bizjournals.com |access-date= }}

In 2016, Cargill completed the commissioning of a feed plant in Bathinda, Punjab, India, and manufactures dairy cattle feed under the Purina brand name.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cargill.co.in/en/purina-feed-india|title = Dairy feed |work=Cargill India}}

In 2017, Cargill sold its Geneva-based petroleum-trading business to Macquarie Bank{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/cargill-to-sell-oil-trading-business-to-macquarie-1489677220|title=Cargill to Sell Oil Trading Business to Macquarie|date=March 16, 2017|publisher=The Wall Street Journal}}{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/2d5a342c-0a61-11e7-ac5a-903b21361b43|title=Macquarie buys Cargill's petroleum business|date=March 17, 2017|publisher=THE FINANCIAL TIMES}} and soon after its North American power and gas trading business as well.{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/c77a0282-60e8-37c6-8ea7-1949c2433ab0|title=Cargill sells North America power and gas trading business to Macquarie|date=June 9, 2017|publisher=THE FINANCIAL TIMES}}{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/business/macquarie-to-acquire-cargills-north-american-power-gas-business-idUSKBN1902XB/|title=Macquarie to acquire Cargill's North American power, gas business|date=June 10, 2017|publisher=Reuters}}

In 2018, Cargill and Faccenda Foods opened a joint venture to take over their U.K. fresh poultry businesses, Avara Foods, employing 6,000 people.{{cite news |url=https://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2018/01/29/Cargill-and-Faccenda-unveil-Avara-Foods-joint-venture |title=Cargill and Faccenda unveil Avara Foods joint venture |website=Food Manufacture |date=January 31, 2018 |access-date=January 27, 2019}}

In February 2018, Cargill completed the purchase of Pro Pet, a pet food manufacturing company. Pro Pet had three manufacturing facilities, one in Owatonna, Minnesota, one in Kansas City, Kansas, and one in St. Marys, Ohio.{{Cite web |title=Cargill acquires Pro-Pet private label pet food maker |url=https://www.petfoodindustry.com/articles/6872-cargill-acquires-pro-pet-private-label-pet-food-maker |access-date=September 11, 2020 |website=www.petfoodindustry.com |date=January 2018 |language=en}}

In November 2018, Cargill sold its 13 crop input locations in Ontario, Canada to La Coop Fédérée.{{Cite web |url=https://www.realagriculture.com/2018/11/la-coop-completes-revamped-acquisition-of-ontario-cargill-assets/ |title=La Coop completes revamped acquisition of Ontario Cargill assets |website=www.realagriculture.com |access-date=May 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507184109/https://www.realagriculture.com/2018/11/la-coop-completes-revamped-acquisition-of-ontario-cargill-assets/ |archive-date=May 7, 2019 |url-status=dead}}

In 2018, Cargill made a $25 million investment in Puris, a supplier of pea protein used in Beyond Meat products. In 2019, Cargill invested an additional $75 million.{{cite web |url=http://www.startribune.com/cargill-makes-a-bigger-investment-in-puris-a-key-supplier-to-beyond-meat/558564282/ |title=Cargill makes $75 million investment in Puris, a key supplier to Beyond Meat |date=August 29, 2019 |publisher=Star Tribune}}

On April 8, 2020, Cargill closed its Hazleton, Pennsylvania meatpacking facility because "an unspecified number of Cargill employees at the plant [had] tested positive for COVID-19." The county had the "highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the area with 982", of which 849 were in Hazleton.{{cite news |last1=Henderson |first1=Greg |title=COVID-19: Cargill Closes Pennsylvania Plant |url=https://www.agweb.com/article/covid-19-cargill-closes-pennsylvania-plant |publisher=AG WEB |date=April 8, 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Waldman |first1=Peter |title=Cold, Crowded, Deadly: How U.S. Meat Plants Became a Virus Breeding Ground |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-05-07/coronavirus-closes-meat-plants-threatens-food-supply |publisher=Bloomberg |date=May 7, 2020}}

On April 20, 2020, Cargill temporarily closed its High River, Alberta, plant because "the operation was linked to nearly 500 cases of COVID-19". All 2,100 employees were recommended for virus testing.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-meat-cargill-ltd/cargill-to-temporarily-idle-alberta-beef-plant-as-hundreds-of-workers-infected-by-covid-19-idUSKBN22234Y|title=Cargill to temporarily idle Alberta beef plant as hundreds of workers infected by COVID-19|date=April 20, 2020|work=Reuters}} This plant was responsible for about 36% of Canada's beef producing capacity.{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2020/04/21/closure-of-alberta-beef-plant-could-push-up-prices-but-shouldnt-create-shortages-trudeau-says.html|title=Justin Trudeau warns beef prices could go up after Alberta plant closes due to COVID-19|date=April 21, 2020|newspaper=Toronto Star|last1=Ballingall|first1=Alex}} On May 6, the plant was connected with 1,560 cases of COVID-19.{{cite news |url=https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/cargill-covid19-outbreak |publisher=CBC|title=Inside the slaughterhouse|first=Joel|last=Dryden}} United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW) Union Local 401 has recommended the plant's closure since 38 cases were known.{{cite news |last1=Dryden |first1=Joel |title=358 cases of COVID-19 now linked to Cargill meat plant |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/cargill-deena-hinshaw-covid-19-1.5536916 |access-date=April 18, 2020 |work=CBC News |date=April 17, 2020 |location=Calgary AB}}

The public health authority of Quebec did not shut down a Cargill plant in Chambly south of Montreal on May 10, 2020. A total of 64 employees, about 13% of the workforce, had COVID-19. The workers are represented by the UFCW. The public health department for the Montérégie region had been working with Cargill since April 25 to deal with the outbreak. Cargill closed the plant on its own.{{cite news |last1=Harris |first1=Colin |title=Cargill meat-processing plant south of Montreal says 64 workers infected with COVID-19 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/cargill-chambly-covid-19-shut-down-1.5563539 |publisher=CBC |date=May 10, 2020}}{{cite news |title=Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world Sunday |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/coronavirus-covid19-canada-world-may10-1.5563513 |publisher=CBC |date=May 10, 2020}}

On May 11, a CBC journalist wrote, "The Cargill plant in Alberta, where there have been about 1,000 reported cases [of human COVID-19], is now considered the largest single-site outbreak in North America."{{cite news |title=Food inspectors could face sanctions if they refuse reassignment to COVID-19-infected meat plants, union told |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/meat-processing-covid19-1.5563681 |publisher=CBC |date=May 11, 2020|last=Harris|first=Kathleen}} Meanwhile, the Agriculture Union of CFIA's embedded inspectors at slaughterhouses said that management is "threatening disciplinary action against employees who refuse to be reassigned to work at COVID-19-infected meat plants", while Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland said, "those who feel unsafe won't be forced back to work."

Also on May 11, the Alberta government disclosed that a second worker from the Cargill plant there had died that day.{{cite news |title=Alberta NDP, union call for Cargill plant to be shut down pending legal review after second COVID-19 death at facility |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-alberta-ndp-union-call-for-cargill-plant-to-be-shut-down-pending/ |agency=The Canadian Press |publisher=The Globe and Mail Inc |date=May 11, 2020}}

On June 3, 2020, Cargill announced that it would no longer publish quarterly results, stopping the disclosures that the company had provided since 1996. Cargill canceled its third-quarter earnings release in March 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite news |last1=Plume |first1=Karl |title=Cargill halts public reporting of quarterly results |url=https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/cargill-halts-public-reporting-of-quarterly-results-2020-06-03 |agency=Reuters |publisher=NASDAQ |date=June 3, 2020}}

In 2022, Cargill announced it would build a corn syrup refinery in Fort Dodge, Iowa.{{cite web | url=https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/22027-cargill-to-build-sustainable-corn-syrup-plant | title=Cargill to build sustainable corn syrup plant | Food Business News |website=www.foodbusinessnews.net }}

In 2022, Cargill saw record profits due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and rising food prices.{{cite news |title=America's wealthiest agriculture family has gotten even richer as the Ukraine war sends food prices skyrocketing |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/cargill-family-fortune-rises-as-food-prices-soar-ukraine-war-2022-4 |work=Business Insider |date=April 9, 2022}}{{cite news |title=Experts say Ukraine war shows we need a new way to feed the world |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/expert-ukraine-war-need-new-way-feed-world/ |work=Politico |date=May 20, 2022}} In January 2023, Brian Sikes was appointed president and CEO.{{Cite news |last=Maruf |first=Ramishah |date=2024-12-02 |title=America's biggest private company is laying off thousands of workers |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/02/business/cargill-layoffs-thousands/index.html |access-date=2024-12-03 |work=CNN Business |language=en}}

{{update|section|date=May 2023}}

{{As of|2016}}, Cargill operates in 70 countries across six regions around the world.{{cite web |author1=Cargill, Inc. |title=Cargill Worldwide |url=http://www.cargill.com/worldwide/index.jsp |publisher=Self-published |access-date=March 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314113759/http://www.cargill.com/worldwide/index.jsp |archive-date=March 14, 2016}}

Algeria, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

File:Cargill Beef Australia in Bomen.jpg, Australia.]]

Australia, New Zealand

Starting operations in 1987, Cargill had a foods business unit called Cargill Foods India which processes, refines and markets a wide range of both indigenous and imported edible oils, fats and blends to the food industry including Sweekar, Nature Fresh, Gemini, Rath and Shakti brands of edible oil. In 2012 it launched Chakki Fresh Atta in India under the brand name "Sampoorna". Its customers are in the retail, food service sector and beverage industry.

Apart from sugar and cotton, Cargill India is also one of India's largest originators and marketers of food and coarse grains. It has its own Trade and Structured Finance arm, which also operates the Cargill Capital and Financial Services India Private Limited. Its Cargill Energy, Transport and Metals BU is active across ocean freight, coal, iron ore and steel trading. It bought Sunflower Oil Brand From Wipro In December 2012.{{Cite web|date=December 10, 2012|first=Shilpa|last=Phadnis|title=Wipro sells Sunflower Vanaspati brand to Cargill|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Wipro-sells-Sunflower-Vanaspati-brand-to-Cargill/articleshow/17561783.cms|access-date=September 11, 2020|website=The Times of India|language=en}}{{Cite news|date=December 11, 2012|title=Cargill acquires Wipro's Sunflower Vanaspati in Rs 40-cr deal|work=Business Standard India|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/cargill-acquires-wipro-s-sunflower-vanaspati-in-rs-40-cr-deal-112121100170_1.html|access-date=September 11, 2020}}

After the government of India, Cargill is India's second-largest buyer of food grain.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} It has been buying grains and oilseeds in India since 1998. It also has the largest producer of potash, Mosaic.

Cargill started doing business in Pakistan in 1984.{{Cite web |url=https://www.cargill.com/worldwide/pakistan |title=Cargill in Pakistan | Cargill |website=www.cargill.com |date= |access-date=}} Cargill Pakistan Holdings was incorporated on January 25, 1990. In the 1980s, Cargill sold hybrid safflower seeds extensively in Pakistan.{{cite book |title=Safflower |page=124 |author=Joseph R. Smith |date=May 30, 1996 |publisher=The American Oil Chemists Society |isbn=9780935315615}} Today, Cargill imports palm oil and palm oil products from Malaysia and Indonesia into Pakistan, selling them in the local market. It also buys raw cotton bales from producers in Pakistan and sells them to China, Thailand and Vietnam.{{Cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/0009bce4-a568-11e6-8b69-02899e8bd9d1 |title=Cargill seeks out fertile ground in Asia frontier markets |newspaper=Financial Times |date=November 23, 2016|last1=Vasagar|first1=Jeevan}} Cargill also deals in animal feed, agriculture commodities, cotton, grain and oilseeds, metals, palm and sugar business in Pakistan.{{Cite web |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/873705/secp-turns-down-incorporation-request-of-cargill-holdings/ |title=SECP turns down incorporation request of Cargill Holdings |date=April 22, 2015 |website=The Express Tribune}}

In January 2019, Cargill announced a $200 million investment to grow business in Pakistan.{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1458302 |title=Cargill to grow Pakistan business with $200m investment |date=January 18, 2019 |access-date=August 15, 2019 |website=DAWN.com}}

In late 2022, Cargill confirmed that it would be able to export grain harvested in Ukraine despite the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. But it reported that it no longer controlled two facilities used to crush sunflower seeds, and that total Ukrainian production would therefore be 60% to 70% of normal.{{Cite news |date=December 1, 2022 |title=Cargill Starts Shipping 2022 Harvest From War-Torn Ukraine |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-01/cargill-starts-shipping-crops-from-ukraine-s-2022-harvest |access-date=December 28, 2022}}

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador,{{cite web|url=http://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/cargill-inversion-balanceadoanimal-guayaquil.html|title=Cargill invertirá USD 50 millones en nueva planta de balanceado animal en Ecuador|website=El Comercio|date=October 21, 2016 }} Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Jordan and United Arab Emirates.

File:Salt-Newark-Cargill-20060121.jpg harvesting in Newark, California, USA.]]

File:Cargill Oilseed Processing West Fargo, ND.png processing in West Fargo, North Dakota, USA.]]

Cargill sells salt in the US under the Diamond Crystal brand.{{cite news |last1=Knoebel |first1=Ariel |title=Diamond Crystal Is Here To Stay, But The Internet Is Salty About It |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielknoebel/2019/01/30/diamond-crystal-is-here-to-stay-but-the-internet-is-still-salty/ |work=Forbes |date=January 30, 2019 |language=en}} Cargill sells turkey under the Honeysuckle White brand.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

{{Main|Criticisms of Cargill}}

{{Criticism section|date=March 2025}}

As a private company, Cargill is not required to release the same amount of information as a publicly traded company and, as a business practice, keeps a relatively low profile.

In 2019 the NGO Mighty Earth released a 56-page report on Cargill. Mighty Earth chair and former U.S. Congressman Henry A. Waxman called Cargill "the worst company in the world" and said it drives "the most important problems facing our world" (deforestation, pollution, climate change, exploitation) "at a scale that dwarfs their closest competitors."{{Cite web |url=http://www.mightyearth.org/wp-content/uploads/Mighty-Earth-Report-Cargill-The-Worst-Company-in-the-World-July-2019.pdf |title=Mighty-Earth-Report-Cargill-July-2019 |work=www.mightyearth.org |date= |access-date=}}{{Cite web|url=https://news.mongabay.com/2018/03/company-outed-for-fires-in-indonesian-palm-lease-still-clearing-forests-in-timber-concession-ngo-finds/|title=Company outed for fires in Indonesian palm lease still clearing forests in timber concession, NGO finds|date=March 22, 2018|website=Mongabay Environmental News|language=en-US|access-date=July 12, 2019}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/agrarkonzern-cargill-das-schlimmste-unternehmen-der-welt-a-1276654.html|title=Agrarkonzern Cargill: "Das schlimmste Unternehmen der Welt" |first=Nicolai|last=Kwasniewski|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=July 11, 2019}}

In 2019, the Swiss NGO Public Eye also criticized Cargill in various contexts in a report on agricultural commodity traders in Switzerland.{{Cite news|url=https://www.publiceye.ch/fileadmin/doc/Agrarrohstoffe/2019_PublicEye_Agricultural-Commodity-Traders-in-Switzerland_Report.pdf|title=Agricultural Commodity Traders in Switzerland|date=June 2019|access-date=August 1, 2019}}

In 2005, the International Labor Rights Fund filed suit against Cargill, Nestlé, and Archer Daniels Midland in a US federal court on behalf of children who said they were trafficked from Mali into Côte d'Ivoire and forced to work on cocoa bean plantations 12 to 14 hours a day with no pay, little food and sleep, and frequent physical abuse.{{Cite web|url=https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/nestl%C3%A9-cargill-archer-daniels-midland-lawsuit-re-c%C3%B4te-divoire|title=Nestlé, Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland lawsuit (re Côte d'Ivoire) | Business & Human Rights Resource Centre|website=www.business-humanrights.org|access-date=May 11, 2020|archive-date=June 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200624200549/https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/nestl%C3%A9-cargill-archer-daniels-midland-lawsuit-re-c%C3%B4te-divoire|url-status=dead}}

Even more recent evidence stems from a 2019 TV program on French channel France 2 about cocoa illegally harvested from protected areas in Côte d’Ivoire.{{Cite web|url=https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/afrique/economie-africaine/video-cacao-les-enfants-pris-au-piege_3134883.html|title=VIDEO. Cacao, les enfants pris au piège|date=January 10, 2019|website=Franceinfo|language=fr|access-date=August 1, 2019}} The report found child labor to be widespread on the plantations investigated: every third worker was a child. Instances of child trafficking from neighboring Burkina Faso were also reported. Cargill, which buys from the plantations under investigation, at first denied that it was buying cocoa from protected areas, but was forced to admit that its traceability system had not reached these areas, and therefore that it could not fully trace the origins of its cocoa. Swiss-based food giant Nestlé is one of Cargill's biggest customers of cocoa sourced from Côte d'Ivoire, as later reported by Swiss TV channel RTS 1.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rts.ch/info/suisse/10151991-du-cacao-illegal-dans-le-chocolat-suisse.html|title=Du cacao illégal dans le chocolat suisse|date=January 20, 2019|website=rts.ch|language=fr|access-date=August 1, 2019}}

In 2021, eight former child slaves from Mali named Cargill in a class action lawsuit, alleging that it aided and abetted their enslavement on cocoa plantations in Côte d'Ivoire. The suit accused Cargill, along with Nestlé, Barry Callebaut, Mars, Incorporated, Olam International, The Hershey Company, and Mondelez International, of knowingly engaging in forced labor, and sought damages for unjust enrichment, negligent supervision, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.{{cite news |last=Balch |first=Oliver |date=February 12, 2021 |title=Mars, Nestlé and Hershey to face child slavery lawsuit in US |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/12/mars-nestle-and-hershey-to-face-landmark-child-slavery-lawsuit-in-us |access-date=February 13, 2021}}

Cargill was a major buyer of cotton in Uzbekistan, despite the industry prevalence of uncompensated workers and possible human rights abuses, and admissions by two representatives that the company is aware of the possible use of child labor in the production of its crops. Their concerns have been public since 2005, but no action has been taken on labor violations in Cargill's Uzbek operations.{{cite web |author= |url=http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3294 |title=The Curse of Cotton: Central Asia's Destructive Monoculture |website=www.crisisgroup.org |date=February 28, 2005 |page=39, 2 |access-date= |lang=}}

{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805182325/http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3294 |date=August 5, 2009 }}

In February 2018, several employees of Cargill's Dayton, Virginia plant held protests. Their grievances included poor health benefits, bad working conditions, and Cargill's allegedly firing employees who organized to create a union.{{cite web|last1=Barnett|first1=Marina|title=Community Solidarity with Poultry Workers call for changes at Cargill|url=http://www.whsv.com/content/news/Community-Solidarity-with-Poultry-Workers-call-for-changes-at-Cargill-459174973.html|website=WHSV-TV|publisher=Gray Television|access-date=May 13, 2018|date=November 21, 2017}} The protests led to nine people's arrest for trespassing on company property.{{cite web|last1=Wood|first1=Victoria|title=Nine protesters arrested outside Cargill in Dayton|url=http://www.whsv.com/content/news/Nine-protesters-arrested-outside-Cargill-in-Dayton--478826273.html|website=WHSV-TV|publisher=Gray Television|access-date=May 12, 2018|date=April 5, 2018}}

During the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, a single meat processing plant in High River, Canada, was linked to over 358 cases of infection. United Food and Commercial Workers Canada Union Local 401 president Thomas Hesse said, "It's a tragedy. We asked days and days ago for that plant to be closed temporarily for two weeks, send all of the workers home with pay to isolate. That was when we were aware of 38 cases. That was before they set up a dedicated testing facility in the area." Reports of employees being denied personal protective equipment also surfaced around the same period.{{Cite web|url=https://www.660citynews.com/2020/04/18/high-river-cargill-workers-being-neglected-ppe-equipment-amid-covid-19-outbreak/|title=High River Cargill workers being neglected PPE equipment amid COVID-19 outbreak - 660 NEWS|website=www.660citynews.com|date=April 18, 2020 }} As of May 3, 2020, 917 of the plant's 2,000 workers had tested positive, and the plant was linked to 1,501 total cases.{{cite web | title=85% of workers afraid to return as Alberta meat plant preps to reopen after COVID-19 outbreak, union says - CBC News | website=CBC | date=May 5, 2020 | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/cargill-reopening-1.5553751 | access-date=May 12, 2020}}

The NGO Oxfam has documented an illustrative case of land grabbing. Between 2010 and 2012 Cargill brought huge areas of land in Colombia under its control despite legal restrictions on the acquisition of state land. To accomplish this, Cargill set up no fewer than 36 mailbox companies, which enabled it to exceed the legally prescribed maximum size of land ownership. With more than 50,000 hectares of land, Cargill thus acquired more than 30 times the land legally permitted for a single owner.{{Cite news |url=https://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/rr-divide-and-purchase-land-concentration-colombia-270913-en_0.pdf |title=Divide and purchase. How land ownership is being concentrated in Columbia. |date=2013 |work=Oxfam Research Reports|access-date=August 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114100522/https://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/rr-divide-and-purchase-land-concentration-colombia-270913-en_0.pdf |archive-date=November 14, 2017 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite magazine |url=https://world.time.com/2013/07/10/in-colombia-an-alleged-american-land-grab-sets-off-a-political-storm/ |title=In Colombia, an Alleged American Land Grab Sets Off a Political Storm |quote= Investigations by the development organization Oxfam and by Colombian lawmakers show that Cargill’s Colombian subsidiary Black River Asset Management set up 36 shell corporations to make dozens of small land purchases |magazine=Time |author=John Otis |location =Bogotá |date=July 10, 2013 |access-date=July 16, 2023}}

{{main|1971 Iraq poison grain disaster}}

In 1971, Cargill sold 63,000 tons of seed treated with a methylmercury-based fungicide that eventually caused a minimum of 650 deaths when it was eaten. The fumigated seed grain was provided by Cargill at the specific request of Saddam Hussein{{cite book|author=Jane M. Hightower|title=Diagnosis: Mercury: Money, Politics, and Poison|publisher=Island Press|location=Washington, DC|year=2008|pages=141–151|isbn=978-1-59726-395-5|chapter=11|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bgKSPTZ-KUAC }} and was never intended for direct human or animal consumption prior to planting.{{cite journal|author=Bakir F|title=Methylmercury poisoning in Iraq|journal=Science|volume=181|issue=4096|pages=230–41|date=July 1973|pmid=4719063|doi= 10.1126/science.181.4096.230|url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/pdf_extract/181/4096/230|format=PDF|name-list-style=vanc|author2=Damluji SF|author3=Amin-Zaki L|display-authors=3|last4=Murtadha|first4=M|last5=Khalidi|first5=A|last6=Al-Rawi|first6=NY|last7=Tikriti|first7=S|last8=Dahahir|first8=HI|last9=Clarkson|first9=TW|bibcode=1973Sci...181..230B| access-date=June 11, 2010|url-access=subscription}}

Cargill's grain—which was dyed red and labeled with warnings in Spanish and English as well as a skull and crossbones design following a previous incident of mercury-treated seed being sold as food in Iraqi markets in 1960—was distributed too late for much of the 1971 planting season, causing many farmers to sell their excess product in the public markets at very low prices; this attracted many poor Iraqis who either could not understand the warnings or disregarded them, causing thousands of cases of mercury poisoning.{{cite journal|author=Skerfving SB, Copplestone JF|title=Poisoning caused by the consumption of organomercury-dressed seed in Iraq|journal=Bull. World Health Organ.|volume=54|issue=1|pages=101–112|year=1976|pmid=1087584|pmc=2366450}} The long latency period before developing symptoms and cattle's greater tolerance of mercury poisoning also contributed to the mistaken impression the surplus seed grain was safe to eat.

In October 2007, Cargill announced the recall of nearly 850,000 frozen beef patties produced at its packing plant in Butler, Wisconsin that were suspected of being contaminated with E. coli.{{Cite web|url=http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News/Recall_042_2007_Release/index.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013091244/http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News/Recall_042_2007_Release/index.asp|url-status=dead|title=Wisconsin Firm Recalls Ground Beef Products Due to Possible E. coli O157:H7 Contamination|archive-date=October 13, 2010}} The beef was sold mainly at Walmart and Sam's Club stores.

In March 2009, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) temporarily suspended Cargill Australia's license to export meat to Japan and the US after E. coli was detected in Cargill's export containers from its Wagga Wagga plant. In late April 2009, AQIS lifted Cargill Australia's suspension on its export license.{{cite news|title=Cargill exports beef - tracking system at abattoir|publisher=Meat International|url=http://www.meatinternational.com/news/slaughtering/australia-cargill-exports-beef-tracking-system-at-abattoir-id1329.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20110714063659/http://www.meatinternational.com/news/slaughtering/australia-cargill-exports-beef-tracking-system-at-abattoir-id1329.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 14, 2011|date=April 28, 2009|access-date=April 29, 2009}}

In August 2011, the USDA and Cargill jointly announced the recall of 36 million pounds of ground turkey produced at Cargill's Springdale, Arkansas, plant due to salmonella fears. The meat recalled was produced from February 20 to August 2. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the particular strain of salmonella found was resistant to commonly prescribed antibiotics. One death and 76 illnesses from 26 states were reported. Some 25 types of ground turkey produced under various brand names were affected, and all of the packages in question contained the code "Est. P-963."{{cite web |url=http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_060_2011_Release/index.asp |title= Arkansas Firm Recalls Ground Turkey Products Due to Possible Salmonella Contamination|website=www.fsis.usda.gov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812135504/http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_%26_Events/Recall_060_2011_Release/index.asp |archive-date=August 12, 2011}}

In September 2011, Cargill announced a second, immediate and voluntary Class One recall of 185,000 pounds of 85% lean, fresh-ground turkey products because of possible contamination from Salmonella Heidelberg.{{cite web|last=Curtis|first=Julie|title=Cargill Issues Another Ground Turkey Recall|date=September 14, 2011|url=http://norwalk.dailyvoice.com/wellness/cargill-issues-another-ground-turkey-recall|publisher=The Norwalk Daily Voice|access-date=July 19, 2012}} The turkey was produced at the company's Springdale, Arkansas, facility on August 23, 24, 30 and 31.

In July 2012, the Vermont Department of Public Health said that 10 people in the state had become sick from ground beef being recalled by Cargill Beef. The 10 became sick between June 6 and 26. Three were hospitalized, and all recovered, according to health officials. Hannaford Supermarkets alerted consumers that Cargill Beef was voluntarily recalling 29,339 pounds of ground beef that might contain salmonella. The 85%-lean ground beef was produced at Cargill's plant in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, on May 25, 2012, and repackaged for sale to consumers by customers of the Kansas-based company.{{cite web|url=http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/23/12899463-contaminated-ground-beef-sickens-10-in-vermont|title=Contaminated ground beef sickens 10 in Vermont|author=Vitals|date=November 5, 2014|work=NBC News|access-date=November 5, 2014|archive-date=November 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125024017/https://www.nbcnews.com/|url-status=dead}}

{{Undue weight section|date=November 2017}}

File:Operação Hymenaea, Julho-2016 (29399454651).jpg state, Brazil, in July 2016]]

{{see also|Gran Chaco#Conservation issues}}

In 2003, Cargill completed a port for processing soya in Santarém in the Amazon region of Brazil, dramatically increasing soya production in the area and, according to Greenpeace, speeding up deforestation of local rain forest.{{cite web |author= |url=http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/soya-blazes-through-the-amazon |title=(Feature story) Soya blazes a trail through the Amazon | Greenpeace International |publisher=Greenpeace.org |date=December 12, 2003 |access-date=August 17, 2010}} In February 2006, the federal courts in Brazil gave Cargill six months to complete an environmental assessment (EA). Initially supported by job-seeking locals, public opinion turned against the port as jobs have not appeared. In July 2006, the federal prosecutor indicated they were close to shutting down the port.{{cite web|last=Astor|first=Michael|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4058727.html|title=Cargill finds resistance by environmentalists|work=Houston Chronicle|date=July 19, 2006|access-date=August 17, 2010}}

Greenpeace took its campaign to major food retailers and quickly won agreement from McDonald's along with UK-retailers Asda, Waitrose, and Marks & Spencer to stop buying meat raised on Amazonian soya. These retailers have, in turn, put pressure on Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, André Maggi Group, and Dreyfus to prove their soya was not grown on recently deforested land in the Amazon. In July 2006, Cargill reportedly joined other soy businesses in Brazil in a two-year moratorium on the purchase of soybeans from newly deforested land.{{Cite web|url=https://www.startribune.com/|title=The latest from the StarTribune|website=Star Tribune}}{{cite web|url=http://www.greenpeace.org.br/amazonia/pdf/cargill.pdf|title=Cargill – Eating up the Amazon|date=May 2006|publisher=Greenpeace|access-date=May 2, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726132308/http://www.greenpeace.org.br/amazonia/pdf/cargill.pdf|archive-date=July 26, 2011|url-status=dead}}

In 2019 the six largest agricultural commodity traders, ADM, Bunge, Cargill, LDC, COFCO Int. and Glencore Agri, committed themselves to monitoring their soy supply chains in Brazil's Cerrado.{{Cite news |url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-environment-cerrado-idUKKCN1Q42D8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216051923/https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-environment-cerrado-idUKKCN1Q42D8 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 16, 2019 |title=Global commodity traders to monitor deforestation in Brazil's savannah |date=February 16, 2019 |work=Reuters |access-date=August 1, 2019 |language=en}}

Cargill sells large volumes of palm oil, which is found in many processed foods, cosmetics and detergents. Most palm oil is obtained from plantations in Sumatra and Borneo, which have been heavily deforested to make way for them.{{cite web |url=https://www.regenwald.org/aktion/867/fur-cargills-palmol-brennt-der-regenwald-jetzt-protestieren |title=Beendete Petition - Für Cargills Palmöl brennt der Regenwald - Rettet den Regenwald e.V. |access-date=November 5, 2014}}

On September 13, 2017, NGO Mighty Earth released a report{{cite web |author=|url=http://www.mightyearth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/chocolates_dark_secret_english_web.pdf |title=Chocolate's Dark Secret |website= www.mightyearth.org |date=September 2017 |access-date= |lang=}}

documenting findings that Cargill purchases cocoa grown illegally in national parks and other protected forests in the Ivory Coast.

The report accused Cargill of endangering the forest habitats of chimpanzees, elephants and other wildlife populations by purchasing cocoa linked to deforestation.Covey, R. and McGraw, W. S. "[http://www.eva.mpg.de/fileadmin/content_files/staff/boesch/pdf/prim_cen_distr.pdf Monkeys in a West African bushmeat market: implications for cercopithecid conservation in eastern Liberia.]" Tropical Conservation Science. 7.1 (2014): 115-125.Marchesi, P., Marchesi, N., Fruth, B., and Boesch, C. "[http://www.eva.mpg.de/fileadmin/content_files/staff/boesch/pdf/prim_cen_distr.pdf Census and Distribution of Chimpanzees in Cote D’Ivoire.]" PRIMATES. 36.4(1995): 591-607."[http://wwf.panda.org/?201553/Poaching-contributes-to-forest-elephant-declines-in-Cte-dIvoire-new-numbers-reveal Poaching contributes to forest elephant declines in Côte d’Ivoire, new numbers reveal.]" WWF. September 5, 2011.  As a result of cocoa production, 7 of the 23 Ivorian protected areas have been almost entirely converted to cocoa.Bitty, A. E., Gonedele, S. B., Koffi Bene, J.C., Kouass, P.Q.I and McGraw, W. S. “[http://www.tropicalconservationscience.org/ Cocoa farming and primate extirpation inside The Ivory Coast’s protected areas.]” Tropical Conservation Science. 8.1(2015): 95-113.  Cargill was notified of the findings of Mighty Earth's investigation and did not deny that the company sourced its cocoa from protected areas in the Ivory Coast. 

Data released in April 2019 by Global Forest Watch,{{Cite journal|url=https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/04/world-lost-belgium-sized-area-primary-rainforests-last-year|title=The World Lost a Belgium-sized Area of Primary Rainforests Last Year|date=April 25, 2019|website=Global Forest Watch Blog|access-date=August 1, 2019|last1=Weisse|first1=Mikaela|last2=Goldman|first2=Elizabeth Dow}} an online platform providing data and tools for monitoring forests, showed that rates of tropical primary forest loss increased dramatically in 2018 in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, primarily due to cocoa farming and gold mining. In 2018 Ghana had the highest rate of increase (60%) in the world compared to 2017, with Côte d’Ivoire (26%) in second place.

In 2005, the company settled with the Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency over Clean Air Act violations, including a plan to invest over $60 million in capital improvements for clean air controls, after a joint federal and state effort that included Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota and Ohio.{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2005/September/05_enrd_449.html |title=Clean Air Act Settlement With Cargill, Inc. |date=September 1, 2005 |website=Department of Justice, www.justice.gov |access-date=February 17, 2017}}

In 2006, NatureWorks, a subsidiary in Nebraska, settled with the state over inadequate air pollution controls.{{cite web |author=|url=http://www.iatp.org/news/cargills-natureworks-will-pay-fines-for-excess-pollutants-from-nebraska-plant |title=Cargill's NatureWorks Will Pay Fines for Excess Pollutants from Nebraska Plant |website=Omaha World Herald. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy |date=December 1, 2006 |access-date=February 17, 2017 |lang=}}

In 2015, Cargill settled with the EPA over Clean Air Act violations in a plant in Iowa.{{cite web |url=https://www.epa.gov/archive/epa/newsreleases/cargill-inc-agrees-settle-clean-air-act-violations-vitamin-e-manufacturing-facility.html |title=Cargill, Inc., Agrees to Settle Clean Air Act Violations at Vitamin E Manufacturing Facility in Eddyville, Iowa |author=Chris Whitley |date=September 9, 2015 |website=EPA |access-date=April 3, 2023}}

In 2011 a case of transfer mispricing came to light in Argentina involving the world's four largest grain traders: ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and LDC. Argentina's revenue and customs service began an investigation into the four companies when prices for agricultural commodities spiked in 2008 but very little profit for the four companies had been reported to the office. As a result of the investigation, it was alleged that the companies had submitted false declarations of sales and routed profits through tax havens or their headquarters. In some cases they were said to have used dummy corporations to buy grain and inflated costs in Argentina to reduce the recorded profits there.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/jun/01/argentina-accuses-grain-traders-tax-evasion|title=Argentina accuses world's largest grain traders of huge tax evasion|last=Lawrence|first=Felicity|date=June 1, 2011|work=The Guardian|access-date=August 1, 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} According to Argentina's revenue and customs service, the outstanding taxes amounted to almost US$1 billion.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-03-25/grain-exporters-owe-argentina-951-million-in-taxes|title=Grain Exporters Owe Argentina 951 Million in Taxes|date=March 25, 2013|access-date=August 1, 2019}} The companies involved have denied the allegations. As of 2019, the Argentinian tax authorities have not replied to Swiss NGO Public Eye’s request as to the state of the case.{{Cite news|url=https://www.publiceye.ch/fileadmin/doc/Agrarrohstoffe/2019_PublicEye_Agricultural-Commodity-Traders-in-Switzerland_Report.pdf|title=Agricultural Commodity Traders in Switzerland|date=June 2019|work=Public Eye|access-date=August 1, 2019}}

In its 2018 annual report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bunge mentioned provisions that suggested the case was still ongoing: "[A]s of December 31, 2018, Bunge's Argentine subsidiary had received income tax assessments relating to 2006 through 2009 of approximately 1,276 million Argentine pesos (approximately $34 million), plus applicable interest on the outstanding amount of approximately 4,246 million Argentine pesos (approximately $113 million^])."{{Cite web|url=https://last10k.com/sec-filings/bg|title=Bunge Ltd (BG) 10K Annual Reports & 10Q SEC Filings|website=Last10K|language=en-US|access-date=August 1, 2019}}

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{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|last1=Broehl| first1=Wayne G. Jr. |title=Cargill: Trading the World's Grain|date=1992|publisher=University Press of New England|location=Hanover, New Hampshire|isbn=9780874515725|oclc=24376223}}
• {{cite book|last1=Broehl| first1=Wayne G. Jr. |title=Cargill: Going Global|date=1998|publisher=University Press of New England|location=Hanover, New Hampshire|isbn=9780874518542|oclc=37606238}}
• {{cite book|last1=Broehl| first1=Wayne G. Jr. |title=Cargill: From Commodities to Customers|date=2008|publisher=University Press of New England|location=Hanover, New Hampshire|isbn=9781584656944|oclc=183162237}}
• {{cite book|last1=Kneen| first1=Brewster |title=Invisible Giant; Cargill and its Transnational Strategies|date=1999|publisher=Fernwood Publishing|location=Halifax, Nova Scotia|isbn=9781895686562|oclc=757045012}}

{{commons category|Cargill (company)}}

• {{official website}}
• {{cite book |last1=Shurtleff |first1=William |last2=Aoyagi |first2=Akiko |title=History of Cargill's Work with Soybeans and Soy Ingredients (1940-2020) |date=2020 |publisher=Soyinfo Center |location=Lafayette, CA |isbn=9781948436229 |url=https://www.soyinfocenter.com/pdf/231/Carg.pdf}}

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