Press Releases

Field to Market and USDA-NRCS Announce MOU for Use of NRCS Models

September 26, 2017

Field to Market and USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that governs the use of NRCS tools and models in the Fieldprint® Platform through September 2021. The new agreement is an updated version of an MOU that was executed in January 2014.

Models currently used within the Fieldprint Platform are:
• Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, Version 2 (RUSLE2)
• Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS)
• Soil Conditioning Index (SCI)
• Reference databases including Land Management and Operation Database (LMOD) and Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO)

Models programmed directly into the Fieldprint Platform:
• Water Quality Index for Agriculture Runoff (WQIag)

The MOU lays out responsibilities and expectations for both parties, including appropriate use and citation of NRCS models in Fieldprint Platform calculations. Field to Market and NRCS will confer on potential model errors, improvements, or enhancements and work together on updates and versioning. Also, NRCS agrees not to store any grower data submitted by Field to Market for processing by models on NRCS cloud servers.

The full MOU can be viewed here. If you have any questions, please contact Field to Market’s data and technology director Paul Hishmeh at phishmeh@fieldtomarket.org.

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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