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

Crop production is already making progress toward reducing its environmental footprint, according to a new Environmental Resource Indicators Report developed by a diverse alliance, of which DuPont is a member.

Field to Market, the Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, evaluated national-scale metrics over the past two decades for land use, water use, energy use, soil loss and climate impact in U.S. corn, soy, cotton and wheat production. This report is the first step in an ongoing effort to quantify the environmental, socio-economic and health impacts of agriculture production.

“The report shows that crop producers have made significant progress in productivity while reducing the impact on the environment during the last 20 plus years,” said Greg Wandrey, Pioneer Stewardship and Compliance director. “Soil loss has decreased substantially due to reduced tillage practices. Energy use, irrigated water use and carbon emissions have also decreased per unit of crop output. This information will help shape knowledge-based decisions and allow us to continue to monitor progress and trends going forward.”

The Alliance is beginning an industrywide dialogue that will lead to programs for continued improvement of economically and environmentally friendly food and fiber production. The group also is creating an online calculator to help individual growers assess the efficiency of their operation, along with cataloging advice from experts and other growers that will help advance future sustainability efforts.