Framework for Assessing Sustainability in Agriculture

The term “sustainability” has a wide variety of definitions, and while each definition has basic similarities, they are often customized to fit the personal or business objectives of the authors. At AgriThority® our objective is to provide a holistic and robust framework for assessing the sustainability of agricultural crop inputs, encompassing environmental, economic, and social dimensions tailored to the needs of all stakeholder groups in the agricultural production value chain. The core principles for the framework for assessing sustainability in agriculture are:

• Life Cycle Thinking
• Transparency and Comparability of assessment results
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Continuous improvement

Key Indicators of Sustainable Practices

U.S. agriculture is in a particularly strong position to be the world leader in sustainable crop and livestock production. With particularly advanced positions in most or all of the key indicators of sustainable practices, the following key indicators and notes in italics indicate common practices of U.S. farmers that support these indicators:

Environmental Sustainability Indicators

• Soil Health
• Water Use Efficiency
• Nutrient Use Efficiency
• Biodiversity
• Impacts of Biological Production and Application; energy-use, resource depletion, waste generation, and potential environmental impacts associated with production, packaging, transport, and application.

Supporting practices: microbial soil additives that improve soil health, reduced tillage, no-till, minimum tillage. Advanced knowledge and implementation of crop rotations, soil testing and nutrient enhancing soil additives, utilization of cover crops, acreage diversion programs that convert or sustain acres that are less desirable for cultivation to permanent vegetation coverage. According to the USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture, 38% of the cultivated farmland in the U.S. was managed with no-till practices, 35% was farmed with reduced tillage or conservation tillage practices, and only 27% was farmed using intensive conventional tillage practices. The use of these more sustainable tillage practices has increased in the years since the 2022 Farm Census, but exact numbers are not available.

Social and Economic Sustainability Indicators

Farm Level:

• Yield enhancement. Higher yields mean more production from less land and other inputs
• Input cost reduction (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.)
• Improved crop quality (size, nutrient content, shelf-life)
• Labor savings
• Increased farm profitability (net income)

Supporting practices: rapid improvements in plant breeding and seed quality as well as advanced effective and safer seed treatments. Advanced implementation of integrated pest management to optimize, and often reduce, use of production inputs, standard practice of soil sampling to utilize only supplemental fertilizer if needed and at optimum timing

Value Chain Sustainability Indicators

• Market value of sustainably produced crops (premium prices)
• Processor & retailer benefits (raw material quality, brand reputation)
• Reduced supply chain risks (climate change, pest outbreaks)

Supporting practices: published market research confirms consumers’ willingness to pay for sustainably produced goods in some markets.

Socio-Economic Sustainability Indicators

• Improved farmer livelihoods (income, working conditions)
• Community well-being (environmental quality, health risks)
• Heritage

Supporting practices: Contrary to popular belief, U.S. agriculture is not dominated by corporate farming. According to the 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture, 95% of the approximately 1.9 million farms in the United States are more than 50% owned by one operating producer and/or extended family. Many, or most, of these are multigeneration farm families. The dominant objective of a majority of farmers is to turn the land over to their descendants. The overwhelming majority are determined to pass on the land in better condition than when they received it. This drives a strong commitment to sustainable practices. While there is ample room for continuous improvement, U.S. farmers are currently practicing sustainable agriculture at a high adoption rate. The challenge will be to develop documentation or certification programs that will be accepted by consumers and other stakeholders, which would increase trust and collaboration. Our belief in sustainability pillars of practical, productive and profitable agriculture drives our passion for innovation development. Enhance your R&D capabilities, capacity and credibility with our independent expertise all around the world.  We are ready to explore your potential and evolve technologies toward peak production of sustainable food, feed, fuel and fiber.