Texas Tech University's College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources is joining Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, a leading multi-stakeholder initiative working to unite the agricultural supply chain in defining, measuring and advancing the sustainability of food, fiber and fuel production in the United States.

As an active member in Field to Market, CASNR will work together with grower organizations, academia, conservation groups, public sector partners and leading companies to help to catalyze opportunities for continuous improvement in productivity, environmental quality and human well-being across the agricultural value chain.

"Field to Market has created a tool called the Fieldprint Calculator that allows producers to assess the sustainability of their operation based on several key metrics," said Donna Mitchell McCallister, a research assistant professor in Tech's Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. "The Texas Alliance for Water Conservation has had a Fieldprint pilot project sponsored by the National Cotton Council for more than five years. By formalizing this relationship with an affiliate membership, we hope to create new opportunities and continue our research to understand the relationship between sustainability and profitability."

Field to Market engages in broad communication and collaboration with stakeholders to ensure a coordinated, outcomes-based approach to sustainable agriculture that is grounded in science. By providing useful measurement tools and resources, Field to Market helps growers and the supply chain track and promote continuous improvement at the field and landscape levels.

"We are excited to have Texas Tech join us in this important work and look forward to working with them to increase the scale and impact of Field to Market's Supply Chain Sustainability Program," said Rod Snyder, president of Field to Market. "Combining Texas Tech's expertise with other Field to Market members' knowledge will help us further our goal of continuous improvement in U.S. agriculture."

Representing all facets of the U.S. agricultural supply chain, Field to Market provides an unparalleled platform that helps the food and agricultural supply chain establish sustainability performance levels, catalyze continuous improvement and enable supply chain sustainability claims.

CONTACT: Samantha Borgstedt, communications director, Texas Alliance for Water Conservation, Texas Tech University, (806) 789-4177 or samantha.borgstedt@ttu.edu

0915NNM17 / For more information, visit the Field to Market website here