Dear Charlie,
Are you aware of any studies like this one for the US... are being done for Canada?
"First-Of-Its-Kind Sustainability Report Released Monday
(From NAWG Report)
January 16, 2009
The Field to Market coalition released its first Environmental Resource Indicators report on Monday.
The report was a first-of-its-kind publication intended to create a framework for measuring agricultural sustainability. It evaluated national-scale metrics over the past two decades for land use, water use, energy use, soil loss and climate impact in corn, soy, cotton and wheat production. In 2007, these crops comprised nearly 70 percent of the 305 million acres of U.S. cropland.
The report showed that wheat yield per acre increased by 19 percent over the study period. U.S. wheat land use decreased 24 percent over the past 20 years.
Wheat’s total annual energy use and total irrigation water use were similar in 1987 and 2007, with average trends over the 20-year study period showing an 18 percent decrease in total energy use and an 11 percent decrease in total water use. Total annual soil loss has decreased 54 percent, while total annual climate impact has increased an average of 5 percent over the study period, with a more significant increase over the past decade.
In addition to its findings, the report is significant for its direction toward creating a comprehensive methodology that can become the standard for measuring agriculture sustainability and allowing growers to assess the efficiency of their own operations.
Field to Market conducted a broad-based peer-review process that included 17 experts from universities, government and other institutions to help enhance the methodology. The group is also currently finalizing water quality and biodiversity indicators and expects to issue a next-generation report that assesses these in mid-2009. Future reports will consider additional environmental impacts as well as socio-economic and health factors.
Field to Market is a diverse alliance representing the many links in the food chain, including grower organizations, agribusinesses, food companies and conservation organizations. NAWG is a member of the coalition, and NAWG CEO Daren Coppock sits on the Field to Market steering committee.
For more information about the report or Field to Market, please visit:
http://keystone.org/spp/env-sustain_ag.html
Are you aware of any studies like this one for the US... are being done for Canada?
"First-Of-Its-Kind Sustainability Report Released Monday
(From NAWG Report)
January 16, 2009
The Field to Market coalition released its first Environmental Resource Indicators report on Monday.
The report was a first-of-its-kind publication intended to create a framework for measuring agricultural sustainability. It evaluated national-scale metrics over the past two decades for land use, water use, energy use, soil loss and climate impact in corn, soy, cotton and wheat production. In 2007, these crops comprised nearly 70 percent of the 305 million acres of U.S. cropland.
The report showed that wheat yield per acre increased by 19 percent over the study period. U.S. wheat land use decreased 24 percent over the past 20 years.
Wheat’s total annual energy use and total irrigation water use were similar in 1987 and 2007, with average trends over the 20-year study period showing an 18 percent decrease in total energy use and an 11 percent decrease in total water use. Total annual soil loss has decreased 54 percent, while total annual climate impact has increased an average of 5 percent over the study period, with a more significant increase over the past decade.
In addition to its findings, the report is significant for its direction toward creating a comprehensive methodology that can become the standard for measuring agriculture sustainability and allowing growers to assess the efficiency of their own operations.
Field to Market conducted a broad-based peer-review process that included 17 experts from universities, government and other institutions to help enhance the methodology. The group is also currently finalizing water quality and biodiversity indicators and expects to issue a next-generation report that assesses these in mid-2009. Future reports will consider additional environmental impacts as well as socio-economic and health factors.
Field to Market is a diverse alliance representing the many links in the food chain, including grower organizations, agribusinesses, food companies and conservation organizations. NAWG is a member of the coalition, and NAWG CEO Daren Coppock sits on the Field to Market steering committee.
For more information about the report or Field to Market, please visit:
http://keystone.org/spp/env-sustain_ag.html