Carlos Suárez, Manager Sustainability, Policy, and Innovation at the U.S. Grains Council and a USSA Management Council member, recently spoke to the Spanish non-profit La Fundación Antama (Foundation for the Application of New Technologies in Agriculture, the Environment and Food) about sustainable agriculture in the United States. Read his interview to learn more about the U.S. Sustainability Alliance and its objectives, as well as the role of technology and innovation, including New Gene Editing Techniques (NGTs), in sustainable food production. 1. Introduce us to the U.S. Sustainabilit ..read more

U.S. Sustainability Alliance members participated in the US-EU Collaboration Platform on Agriculture’s (CPA) second in-person stakeholder session in Washington, DC, on 8-9 April.  The event was attended by representatives from organizations such as the Almond Board of California, the American Feed Industry Association, the Leather & Hide Council of America, the U.S. Dairy Export Council, the North American Export Grain Association, and the U.S. Soybean Export Council.  The CPA was set up by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and European Union Agriculture Commiss ..read more

David Green, Executive Director, and Maite Caballero, Senior Researcher from The U.S. Sustainability Alliance, argue that AI technologies pave the way for healthier soils in agriculture. The clock is ticking. More than 200,000 people are added to the world’s population daily, and they would all like to eat. Global agriculture needs to produce enough food to feed the 10 billion humans expected on our planet by 2050. Already, farmers worldwide face daily challenges due to changes in temperatures, increasingly heavy precipitation, erosion, agricultural land losses, and unpredictable wea ..read more

The U.S. government is investing a record-breaking $1.5 billion in partner-driven conservation and climate solutions in FY 2024 through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) administered by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The funding marks a 50% increase from 2023, following an unprecedented demand in the program, which has been streamlined and simplified for FY 2024. Projects funded in 2023 include an irrigation improvement program on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Northern Montana, a climate-smart forest conservation project led by Georgia Co ..read more

The first commercially produced product funded by USDA’s $3 billion Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program is now available to U.S. consumers. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited a rice mill in Wisconsin for the launch of the new climate-smart rice, which promises to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 95% and cut water use by up to a third. The “Climate-Friendly Rice” project is spearheaded by AgriCapture, a USA Rice Enterprise Partner. They received $7.5 million in USDA funding, enabling them to incentivize farmers to adopt climate-smart farming practices and p ..read more

DATE: April 2024 SECTOR: Agriculture SOURCE: The U.S. Soybean Export Council(USSEC) TOPIC: Sustainable U.S. soy SUMMARY: The ten-year history and growth of international U.S. soy shipments verified by the U.S. Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol (SSAP) The post The Positive Momentum of U.S. Sustainable Soy appeared first on USSA ..read more

DATE: March 2024 SECTOR: Agriculture SOURCE: The U.S. Sustainability Alliance (USSA) TOPIC: Laws and policies in U.S. sustainable agriculture SUMMARY: An overview of the key laws, policies, and programs in U.S. sustainable agriculture in four key areas: water, soil, climate change, and biodiversity. The post U.S. Sustainable Agriculture: Policies, Laws, and Programs appeared first on USSA ..read more

DATE: March 2024 SECTOR: Agriculture, Food Production SOURCE: The Goodstone Group TOPIC: Economic impact analysis SUMMARY: An annual study on the economic impact of the food and agriculture industries in the United States The post Feeding the Economy appeared first on USSA ..read more

A new U.S. Sustainability Alliance report provides insight into the laws, policies, and programs that support U.S. sustainable agriculture. While there is a perception in Europe that U.S. agricultural production is light on oversight, a robust framework of laws governs the sustainability and conservation of U.S. land and waters, some dating back more than a century. U.S. Sustainable Agriculture: Laws, Policies, and Programs aims to provide context and an accessible introduction to key federal legislation in four areas: soil health, water, climate change, and biodiversity. It covers notabl ..read more

The U.S. Sustainability Alliance continues to grow with the addition of the Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC), an executive agency of the Florida government charged with marketing, research, and regulation of the Florida citrus industry. FDOC expands USSA’s membership to 27 associations across farming, fisheries, forestry, and related production and processing sectors with a shared commitment to sustainability. John Fuller, Director of Global Marketing at the Florida Department of Citrus, says, “Citrus is a significant industry in Florida, contributing $6.9 billion to the state economy. Cons ..read more