The sustainability of commodity agriculture has improved over the past three decades, with all crops demonstrating improved environmental outcomes, according to a recent report by Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture.
“The sustainability of commodity crop production is a complex topic with a multidimensional set of environmental and socioeconomic variables influencing outcomes,” said Allison Thomson, science and research director at Field to Market and lead author of the report. “By bringing together the best available data and science, in addition to input from a diverse group of experts, Field to Market seeks to provide a comprehensive picture of U.S. agriculture’s sustainability performance over the past three and a half decades through a science-driven, outcomes-based approach.”
The report analyzes eight environmental indicators and five socioeconomic indicators over a 36-year period at the national level for 10 crops: barley, corn for grain, corn for silage, cotton, peanuts, potatoes, rice, soybean, sugar beets and wheat.
Voluntary conservation efforts, public sector investments and technological innovation across the agriculture have helped drive more sustainable food, feed, fiber and fuel production.
The report also finds a challenge and opportunity for the food and agriculture industry that long-term improvements are plateauing for several crops within the past five to 10 years. To ensure the continued improvements on challenging and pressing sustainability concerns continued conservation investments, research, technological development and collective action from farmers and the food and agriculture supply chain are necessary.
“At the core of these sustainability trends and improvements are millions of individual decisions made by farmers and land managers each day. By analyzing the aggregate impact of these decisions, this report underscores the critical role that farmers play in achieving improvements and delivering sustainable outcomes for agriculture and the environment,” said Rod Snyder, president of Field to Market.
Snyder said the report shows that there is more to be done and the efforts of the food and agricultural value chain are needed to drive improvements where they are needed.
Visit www.fieldtomarket.org/report for more information on the report’s findings or to explore specific crops or indicators in greater detail.