Field to Market and Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy Announce Partnership to Advance Supply Chain Sustainability

Field to Market®: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture and The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy® announced a new partnership today that seeks to harmonize on-farm sustainability metrics and drive greater collaboration between the two organizations. The collaboration will benefit crop producers, dairy farmers and the entire agricultural supply chain by creating a more consistent approach for measuring and advancing continuous improvement in the sustainability of dairy feed production.

Stakeholders across the agricultural supply chain must work together to advance sustainable outcomes at the farm and landscape levels to address the collective environmental challenges we face and responsibly manage our planet's natural resources,” said Rod Snyder, president of Field to Market. “This partnership with the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy builds upon our efforts to create a common framework to measure the sustainability of U.S. agriculture and creates impact together that is greater than the sum of its parts.

In a memorandum of understanding signed last week, the Innovation Center and Field to Market agreed to:

• Harmonize metrics to assess the sustainability of feed production To align metrics, both organizations will work together to identify opportunities for synchronization, coordination, piloting and development. By harmonizing approaches, this partnership intends to ease reporting requirements across industry and reduce duplication in efforts associated with the development and implementation of metrics to assess feed sustainability.
  
  
• Maximize the interoperability between tools Both organizations will seek to maximize interoperability between Field to Market’s Fieldprint® Calculator and the Innovation Center’s Farm Smart™ tools. Both organizations will work together to analyze existing capabilities and infrastructure to identify opportunities for integration and piloting at the field level, providing greater efficiency and value to producers and reducing unnecessary duplication of efforts.
  
  
• Advance scientific research and communication Where knowledge gaps exist that affect both dairy consumption and feed production, both organizations will collaborate on scientific research, product development and communication.
  
  
•  Jointly convene the supply chain to tackle sustainability challenges In November 2015, Field to Market and the Innovation Center will host a joint conference to explore common challenges across the supply chain and develop shared solutions to advance sustainable agriculture.
  
  
  

  Consumers, retailers and other stakeholders want to know where their food comes from and how it is produced. For dairy, that journey starts with where and how the feed for our cows is produced. By partnering with Field to Market on a common approach for measuring the sustainability of dairy feed, both dairy farmers and the supply chain will benefit from a coordinated, science-based approach to answering these questions,” said Barbara O’Brien, president of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy.

  About Field to Market Field to Market®: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture brings together a diverse group of grower organizations; agribusinesses; food, beverage, restaurant and retail companies; conservation groups; universities and public sector partners to focus on defining, measuring and advancing the sustainability of food, fiber and fuel production. Field to Market is comprised of 75 members representing all facets of the U.S. agricultural supply chain, with member companies employing more than 3.9 million people and representing combined revenues totaling over $1.3 trillion. For more information, visit www.fieldtomarket.org and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/FieldtoMarket.

  The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy® is a forum for the dairy industry to work together pre-competitively to address barriers and opportunities to foster innovation and increase sales. The Innovation Center aligns the collective resources of the industry against common priorities to offer consumers nutritious dairy products and ingredients, and promote the health of people, communities, the planet and the industry. The Board of Directors for the Innovation Center includes dairy industry leaders representing key producer organizations, dairy cooperatives, processors, manufacturers and brands. Visit USDairy.com for more information about the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy.