Diverse Group Releases First-of-Its-Kind Report Measuring Agriculture Sustainability

Diverse Group Releases First-of-Its-Kind Report Measuring Agriculture
Sustainability
Findings show promising trends in reducing environmental footprint of crop
production

SAN ANTONIO, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- A first-of-its-kind report released
today creates a framework for measuring agriculture sustainability. Developed
to inform long-term continuous improvements in agriculture production, the
initial findings indicate crop production is already making progress toward
reducing its environmental footprint. The Environmental Resource Indicators
report was released at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting by
Field to Market, the Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture.
Field to Market is a diverse alliance representing the many links in the
food chain, including grower organizations, agribusinesses, food companies and
conservation organizations. As demand continues to rise and pressures on
natural resources increase, the Alliance views the report as the first step in
a long-term effort to quantify and improve the environmental, socio-economic
and health impacts of agriculture production. The report evaluated
national-scale metrics over the past two decades for land use, water use,
energy use, soil loss, and climate impact in corn, soy, cotton, and wheat
production. In 2007, these crops comprised nearly 70 percent of the 305
million acres of U.S. cropland.
"Several trends are emerging. Importantly, production agriculture has
become increasingly efficient, relying on fewer inputs to produce more.
However, we recognize there are significant challenges ahead in meeting
increased global demand in a sustainable manner," says Michael Reuter,
director of conservation programs for the Central US Region of The Nature
Conservancy. "These metrics will be expanded to define other attributes of
sustainable agricultural production and lay the foundation for studies that
will analyze additional environmental, socio-economic, and health factors."
Progress has been made. The initial index shows that soil-loss efficiency
trends have improved substantially by 30 to nearly 70 percent for the four
crops evaluated. Energy use per unit of output is down in corn, soybean, and
cotton production by nearly 40 to more than 60 percent. Irrigated water use
per unit of output has also decreased 20 percent to nearly 50 percent while
carbon emissions per unit of output have dropped by about a third for these
three crops. The results are intended to provide meaningful and credible
information to shape knowledge-based decisions and allow tracking of trends
over time. A next-generation report will assess water quality and
biodiversity indicators.
These improvements are especially important when put into the context of
global needs for food and fiber. Experts predict demand for agricultural
goods will double by 2050 as global population increases by an additional 3
billion people. Agriculture is already the predominant user of all habitable
land and 70 percent of fresh water. By 2030 grain-producing land per capita
will drop to just a third of what it was in 1950, while the World Water
Council predicts in just a decade we will need 17 percent more water than is
available to feed the world. The industry is working diligently on
collaborative solutions to meet these challenges.
"Increased productivity and improved natural resource management will be
vitally important as we seek to feed, fuel and clothe our growing world
population on the same amount or even less land in the decades ahead," says
Kevin Rogers, cotton grower from Arizona. "The best opportunity to achieve
this goal is for all groups in the chain to work collaboratively.
Participation from farmers and the conservation organizations is vitally
important to success."
In addition to the findings, the report is significant for its direction
toward creating a comprehensive methodology that can become the standard for
measuring agriculture sustainability. Field to Market conducted a broad-based
peer-review process that included 17 experts from universities, government and
other institutions to help enhance the methodology.
"The peer-review process allowed us to add many different and fresh
perspectives to the body of work, allowing for a very objective product," says
Marty Matlock, area director of the Center for Agricultural and Rural
Sustainability at the University of Arkansas, who incorporated peer-review
comments. "The most valuable aspect of the group's work has been bringing
together very diverse interests and creating mutual understanding and
acceptance of one another's concerns."
Most notably, Field to Market seeks to work with farmers to identify and
create best practices that can drive future improvements. The Alliance is
beginning an industry-wide dialogue that will lead to programs for continued
improvement of economically and environmentally friendly food and fiber
production. The group is also creating an online calculator to help
individual growers assess the efficiency of their operations, along with
cataloging advice from experts and other growers that will help advance future
sustainability efforts.
"Increasingly we're hearing from our consumers who want to make
sustainable food and fiber choices," says John Wolf, vice president of
ingredients, commodities and risk management at Kellogg Company. "It's
important consumers understand the progress already being made while
recognizing that bringing the entire supply chain together is critical to
continue making advances from the farm fields to the supermarket shelves."
Field to Market is just beginning its efforts to develop and improve
sustainability metrics and create practices to promote continuous improvement
throughout the agriculture food chain. The group is currently finalizing water
quality and biodiversity indicators and expects to issue a next-generation
report that assesses these in mid-2009. Future reports will consider
additional environmental impacts as well as socio-economic and health factors.
An executive summary and full report can be accessed at
http://keystone.org/spp/env-sustain_ag.html.
Field to Market, the Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture,
defines agricultural sustainability as meeting the needs of the present while
improving the ability to feed future generations by focusing on increasing ag
productivity while decreasing environmental impact, improving human health
through access to safe, nutritious food and improving social and economic
well-being of rural communities. The Alliance is facilitated by the Keystone
Center, a neutral, non-profit organization specializing in collaborative
decision-making processes for environment, energy, and health policy issues.
Field to Market members include: American Farm Bureau Federation; American
Soybean Association; Bayer CropScience; Bunge; Cargill, Incorporated; ConAgra
Foods; Conservation International; Cotton Incorporated; DuPont;
Fleishman-Hillard; General Mills; Grocery Manufacturers Association; John
Deere; Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences; Mars, Incorporated; Monsanto
Company; National Association of Conservation Districts; National Association
of Wheat Growers; National Corn Growers Association; National Cotton Council
of America; National Potato Council; Syngenta; The Coca-Cola Company; The
Fertilizer Institute; Kellogg Company; The Nature Conservancy; United Soybean
Board; and World Wildlife Fund.
SOURCE Field to Market, the Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture

Micah Hirschfield, +1-713-513-9516, Micah.Hirschfield@fleishman.com, for Field
to Market, the Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture