Press Releases

Field to Market Celebrates USDA’s Continued Investment in Innovative and Results-Focused Projects Focused on Conservation Impacts

March 18, 2016

Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture celebrates USDA’s continued support in funding public-private partnerships to advance conservation through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) and the recent awarding of approved grants from to collaborative projects with Field to Market members such as the Illinois Corn Growers Association, Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance and The Nature Conservancy. This week, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced an additional $260 million in funds is available to partners next year to improve the nation’s water quality, combat drought, enhance soil health, support wildlife habitat and protect agricultural viability.

“We commend Secretary Vilsack and Natural Resource Conservation Service’s Chief Jason Weller for their continued leadership and vision for delivering conservation at the landscape level,” said Rod Snyder, president of Field to Market. “By matching public funds with private capital, we can scale sustainable solutions for agriculture that will improve environmental outcomes and help build consumers’ trust in the food system.”

Field to Market will help support the implementation of the following projects:

  • Big Pine Watershed Partnership – Collaborating with the Nature Conservancy, Field to Market will help quantify environmental outcomes resulting from the targeted implementation of nutrient and sediment reducing practices to achieve watershed water quality objectives by utilizing the Fieldprint Calculator. This project is also supported by several Field to Market members, including Conservation Technology Information Center, Land O’Lakes, Inc. and Winfield.
  • Midwest Agriculture Water Quality Partnership – Collaborating with the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Field to Market will help to scale conservation planning and conservation practices by working with leading agribusinesses to integrate environmental metrics from the Fieldprint® Calculator into precision agriculture platforms over the next few years in order to drive greater practice adoption and improved conservation outcomes. This project is also supported by several Field to Market members, including Agrium, Cargill, Dupont Pioneer, Environmental Defense Fund, General Mills, Kellogg Company, Monsanto, PepsiCo, Syngenta, The Mosaic Company, The Nature Conservancy, United Suppliers, Walmart, Winfield and World Wildlife Fund.
  • Precision Conservation Management – Collaborating with the Illinois Corn Growers Association, Field to Market will support efforts to integrate conservation into the foundational farm management of commodity crop operations, by pairing the sustainability analytics of the Fieldprint® Calculator with hard-nosed financial farm business planning to provide a blueprint for conservation decision-making. This project is also supported by several Field to Market members, including American Farmland Trust, Cargill, Environmental Defense Fund, General Mills, Illinois Soybean Association, Kellogg Company, Monsanto, PepsiCo, The Nature Conservancy, United Suppliers, Walmart, and World Wildlife Fund.

“We need collaboration at all levels—from government and NGOs to businesses and producers—to feed more than 9 billion people by 2050 while responsibly managing our planet’s natural resources,” said Snyder. “We are proud to partner with our diverse membership to meet this challenge by delivering sustainable outcomes in the areas of water quantity, water quality, soil health and biodiversity.”

ABOUT FIELD TO MARKET

Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture® brings together a diverse group of grower organizations; agribusinesses; food, feed, beverage, restaurant, and retail companies; conservation groups; universities and public sector partners to focus on defining, measuring, and advancing the sustainability of food, feed, fiber, and fuel production. Field to Market comprises around 200 members representing all facets of the U.S. agricultural supply chain, with members employing more than 5 million people and representing combined revenues totaling over $1.5 trillion. 

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