Field-to-Market is an initiative that joins producers, agribusinesses, food companies and conservation organizations seeking to create sustainable outcomes for agriculture.
Field to Market defines sustainable agriculture as:
- Meeting the needs of the present while improving the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
- Increasing productivity to meet future food demands
- Improving environmental impacts
- Improving human health
- Improving the economic and social well-being of agricultural communities
The Fieldprint Calculator is a free online tool for growers to voluntarily and securely analyze how their management choices impact natural resources and operational efficiency.
It is designed to help producers look at how their production operations impact the sustainability of their farm by providing general information based on the practices that are mostly likely to influence energy use, climate impact, soil loss and water use.
After completing the questions, producers can quickly assess whether their “fieldprint” value is smaller or greater than county, state and national averages. Furthermore, by selecting different answers to the same questions, producers can see the movement in their fieldprint blue triangle relative to the static state and national orange triangles.
The Fieldprint Calculator is meant to be an educational resource to prompt growers to think about their operations and how their practices relate to natural resource management and sustainability.
It will not provide them with a precise evaluation, but allow them to generally benchmark their performance against county, state and national averages. It also helps them to look at different scenarios of practices and see how those changes may affect their overall outcomes.
NAFA board members recognize that more and more end-users are demanding information relating to the environmental, social, economic and health components of crop production from their suppliers and that alfalfa can play an integral role in improving the overall environmental footprint of production agriculture.
NAFA believes participating in Field-to-Market and the Fieldprint Calculator will serve in part to enhance alfalfa’s reputation as one of the most environmentally friendly crops on the landscape.
Crops are added to the Fieldprint Calculator on an individual basis. Currently, the only crops that are included are cotton, corn, soybeans, wheat, rice and potatoes. As it grows in popularity, more crops are likely to be added. FG
—From NAFA News