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Fieldprint Calculator Benefits Analyzed

June 04, 2010

Online calculator designed to help growers analyze natural resource use.

By using an online calculator introduced just over a year ago, farmers now have the ability to analyze their natural resource use and major crop production inputs.

The Fieldprint Calculator is a free, confidential online tool developed with input from a diverse group of grower organizations, agribusinesses, food companies, economists and conservation groups. By using this tool, farmers will be able to evaluate natural resource use on their farm or ranch and see how they compare to industry averages.

According to a news release issued by the Field to Market organization, developer of the calculator, using this feature could help improve production efficiencies and profit potential. The new data-driven calculator illustrates the connection between resource and economic sustainability, so growers can more easily see how their choices impact natural resources, production levels and ultimately the efficiency of their operation.

North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goerhing, who also raises corn, soybean, and wheat near Menoken, N.D., praised the prospects of the online calculator.

“Farmers have historically strived to be good stewards of the land. Sustainable agriculture must make sense economically as well as environmentally or it’s not sustainable,” Goerhing said. “This calculator will help me understand how we’re being sustainable on the farm today, while providing insight into future improvements that can benefit the environment and my bottom line.”

The calculator also helps growers tell the positive story about environmental improvements being made in production agriculture. Consumers are increasingly asking questions about sustainable food and fiber practices, said Diane Holdorf, senior director of environmental training for the Kellogg Company, one of the companies taking part in the Field to Market organization.

“This tool is important to help growers make decisions for themselves about what makes sense for their operations,” she said. “When added to the efforts throughout the food supply chain, we can show the consumer we’re working together to make progress from the fields to the grocery stores.”

Growers can also be a part of testing and shaping the tool to fit their needs, according to Sarah Alexander of the Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, which is a part of the Keystone Center, a neutral, non-profit organization specializing in collaborative decision-making processes for environmental, energy, and health policy issues.

“This tool will evolve and improve with ongoing feedback from a broad and diverse base of growers,” Alexander said.

In addition to benchmarking their operation against the industry index, the calculator allows growers to securely save data to compare year-to-year changes, which can help determine the value and impact new practices are having.

Ultimately the site will serve as an online community where growers can learn from the experiences of other growers, as well as gain expert advice.
The Fieldprint Calculator is also designed to be an educational resource that will get growers to think about their operations and how their practices relate to natural resources and sustainability.

The purpose of the calculator is not to give a farmer an exact evaluation, but rather allow them to benchmark their performance against the state and national averages.

It will also allow for different scenarios and give the grower a chance to see how those changes may influence the overall outcomes.

The Fieldprint Calculator focuses on five major resource areas: Land use; soil loss; irrigation water use; energy use; and climate impact.

The calculator is designed in a ‘question and answer’ format to keep things relatively simple, but producers are free to explore different scenarios of decision making and see how those changes impact the sustainability of the operation.

The Fieldprint Calculator can be found at www.fieldtomarket.org along with a large amount of detailed information on the project and ways the information obtained from the calculator can be applied to an operation.

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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