Sustainability is an important goal but if the ways we pursue it aren’t practical and economically viable in a real-world farm context, the sustainability concept won’t ever become a making-a-difference reality.
Two or so years ago, we at the TriCal Group coined the term ”functional sustainability” in an effort to promote practical change. The term caught on. In fact, it caught on enough that I was asked to present on the topic at the World Potato Conference in Adelaide, Australia, which – if you’re reading this on June 25 or June 26 — is what I’m doing right now. For anyone at the World Potato Conference, pop by – I’d love to connect. For anyone who’s not in attendance, here’s a sneak peak of what I’ll be explaining:
Functional sustainability in crop production seeks balance between economic viability (increased marketable yields) and environmental responsibility (reduced impact). It achieves this by focusing on practices with demonstrably positive outcomes, moving beyond practices that may seem beneficial but do not translate to real-world benefits. Functional sustainability, as it relates to crop production, refers to a set of practices that achieve three key goals:
- Improve Marketable Yields: This emphasizes obtaining a commercially viable harvest without sacrificing quality.
- Reduce Offsite Movement of Agricultural Inputs: Minimizing the environmental impact of fertilizers, pesticides, and other farm products on crop outputs, water, air, or soil inside or outside the intended farming area.
- Optimize Soil Health (physical, chemical and biological): This focuses on practices that ensure the long-term health and productivity of the soil. Practices include maintaining good soil structure, promoting a diverse and functional soil microbiome and ensuring a balanced level of nutrients.
Soilborne diseases pose a significant threat to optimizing productivity in crops. They devastate root systems and lead to unsustainable practices like overuse of pesticides and fertilizers. This, in turn, harms the environment and reduces farm profitability. The key to overcoming challenges lies in functional solutions that go beyond short-sighted and blanket ”no chemicals” directives and instead embraces products and practices used in the right ways to effectively suppress soilborne diseases and achieve sustainability goals.
By focusing on practices with measurable positive outcomes for the entire ecological system, functional sustainability offers a practical and data-driven approach to achieving a truly sustainable future for agriculture. It goes beyond just checking a “green” box and prioritizes long-term soil health and the wellbeing of the agricultural ecosystem.
Environmental sustainability is a challenge to define but there is even less agreement on how it is measured. How does a farm move towards improved “sustainability” when there is disagreement on the definition among stakeholders? Instead of focusing on a nebulous end goal, agriculture should rally around functional sustainability: the functional practices that safely and effectively combine to improve crop productivity, which is the ultimate driver of improved sustainability. It is good to remember that the number one driver for improving environmental and economic sustainability in farming is not farming more ground but improving the production on the ground we already farm.