Initial findings of a first-of-its-kind report released at the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual meeting suggest that American farms are making progress toward reducing their environmental footprint. The Environmental Resource Indicators report, which evaluated the nation's land use, water use, energy use, soil loss and climate impact in corn, soy, cotton and wheat production over the past two decades, is the work of Field to Market, the Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture.

Representing grower organizations, agribusinesses, food companies and conservation organizations, the nonprofit 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 focus on corn, soy, cotton and wheat production represents the majority of U.S. agriculture. In 2007, these crops comprised nearly 70 percent of the 305 million acres of the country's cropland.

While the report reveals several trends, such as the ability of production agriculture to yield more crops with fewer inputs, there is ongoing pressure to feed a growing world population. "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 U.S. 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."

The initial index shows significant progress in the area of soil-loss efficiency, which has improved by 30 percent to nearly 70 percent for the four crops evaluated. "Soil is the key to sustainable agriculture," said Marty Matlock, area director of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Sustainability at the University of Arkansas, in a press conference announcing the report last week.

Energy use per unit of output is also down in corn, soybean and cotton production by nearly 40 percent 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. A next-generation report slated for release in mid-2009 will assess water quality and biodiversity indicators.

Experts predict demand for agricultural goods will double by 2050 as the global population increases by an additional three 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.

"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, a cotton grower from Arizona. "The best opportunity to achieve this goal is for all groups in the chain to work collaboratively."

The Alliance would like to see the report used to create a comprehensive methodology that can become the standard for measuring agriculture sustainability. 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.

For more information, visit www.keystone.org
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