This blog post is an ongoing series featuring speakers from the 2014 Net Impact Conference.

When considering the many daunting challenges that face mankind in the coming years, global food security and the sustainable intensification of agriculture should be a top priority. The world’s population continues to rise and will be over 9 billion people by the year 2050. In order to feed an additional 2 billion people (not to mention the nearly 1 billion who are currently hungry), the agricultural industry needs to develop and innovate quickly. But as 2050 approaches, agriculture will not simply need to produce more food; agricultural production will also have to be more sustainable.

During the session I moderated at the 2014 Net Impact Conference, I was privileged to speak with Steve Peterson from General Mills and Larry Clemens from The Nature Conservancy about Field to Market, an organization at the forefront of sustainable agriculture. Field to Market (FTM) seeks to engage and collaborate with a broad range of agricultural stakeholders to measure and report on science and outcomes-based approaches to sustainable agricultural production.

Understanding the entire supply chain 

The Mosaic Company joined Field to Market as a member because we believe in their principles of cross-sector collaboration and that with the right science built into tools and metrics, farmers will learn how their investments in best management practices result in sustainable agricultural intensification—which means maximizing yields on the same acreage while minimizing environmental impacts.

FTM supports the entire supply chain to better understand and communicate sustainability at the field, local, and national levels so that...

• Farmers are better equipped to evaluate how their decisions influence their sustainability outcomes
• The food industry can access and share more accurate details about sustainable food and fiber production
• Conservation groups can better advise farmers on how best to make sustainability improvements.

In its own words, FTM defines the intersection of sustainability and agriculture as “meeting the needs of the present while improving the ability for future generations to meet their own needs by increasing productivity to meet future food, fuel, and fiber demands; improving the environment; improving human health and; improving the social and economic well-being of agriculture communities.”

Three initiatives helping us become more sustainable 

FTM has created several programs that support those goals:

1. The National Indicators Report details sustainability trends in US agriculture. According to the report, the most recent of which was released in 2012, farmers have a good sustainability story to tell, with increases in production accompanied by increasing resource efficiency and improvements on a number of environmental, social, and economic indicators.
2. The Fieldprint^® Calculator is a free, voluntary, and confidential tool that enables growers to assess individual opportunities for continuous improvement. The Calculator estimates field level performance on a number of sustainability indicators including land and water use and conservation. The Fieldprint Calculator also allows farmers to compare different fields on their property as well as compare their field’s performance year over year and assess their performance against country, state, and national averages.
3. And finally, Fieldprint Projects offer opportunities to collaborate across the supply chain, forging partnerships to advance continuous improvement. Through these projects, farmers across different geographies, crops, and supply chains learn more about improving crop production and natural resource management inside the farm gate. These projects help to demonstrate the usefulness of the Fieldprint Calculator on the ground to test utility at the grower level and through the supply chain.

Field to Market continues to grow, and we believe this partnership allows us to further our mission to help the world grow the food it needs while simultaneously working to ensure a sustainable agricultural future for generations to come.

About Kari Niedfeldt-Thomas

Kari Niedfeldt-Thomas leads The Mosaic Company’s strategy for integrating corporate social responsibility with a diverse portfolio of partnerships, including community investment, sustainable agriculture, global food security, and nutrient stewardship. She manages the award-winning Mosaic Villages Project, a cross-climatic, cross-geographic program with implementing partners that helps smallholder farmers pull their families from poverty by learning best agronomic practices and increasing yields three to five times over traditional farming methods. Kari also focuses on various initiatives in watershed restoration and habitat conservation. She is responsible for developing innovative partnerships to address the global demand to feed more people on the same arable land through sustainable agriculture and nutrient stewardship practices. She spoke at the Net Impact Conference at the Sustainable Agriculture: Cross-Sector Partnership to Feed a Growing Planet and CSR Exchange: An Inside Look at Impact in the Private Sector sessions.

Did you miss the conference this year? You can watch video of several sessions on our website, including keynote speeches! Watch now.