National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) CEO Rick Tolman stressed the importance of collaboration between farm and food interests in opening remarks made last week at a national conference about the sustainability of American agriculture. The conference was hosted by the Field to Market Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, of which NCGA is a member, and two other organizations.
“U.S. agriculture wants to be part of the dialogue and to find sustainable solutions,” he said.
“Over the past two decades, agriculture has demonstrated that its practices can evolve and become more efficient with the resources we rely upon. We know that additional challenges lie ahead, so we are working together to address them by continuing to learn and improve.”
Other NCGA staff and farmer-leaders also attended and were involved in discussions at the meeting, entitled “Growing a 21st Century Agricultural Revolution.”
Discussion sessions included topics such as agriculture’s role in mitigating climate change, water efficiency and water quality, evaluating sustainability throughout the food supply chain and creating appropriate sustainability metrics to measure progress.
“Sustainability should be about outcomes as well as – if not more than – processes,” Tolman said. “And the outcome of conventional farming is clear. We’re more efficient and more productive so we can meet all needs and keep food more affordable.”
The Field to Market program released its first report in January, studying the impacts of four crops (corn, wheat, soybeans and cotton) in five areas: land, soil, climate, water and energy. The study found great improvement for sustainable corn farming in each of those areas between 1987 and 2007.