Sustainability indicators as management tools to guide farmers, scientists, policy makers and the general public

2008 Annual Report for LS05-178

Project Type: Research and Education
Funds awarded in 2005: $250,000.00
Projected End Date: 12/31/2009
Region: Southern
State: North Carolina
Principal Investigator:
Jon Brandt
North Carolina State University

Sustainability indicators as management tools to guide farmers, scientists, policy makers and the general public

Summary

At the Center for Environmental Farming System (CEFS) at North Carolina State University we have a unique production systems experiment where a wide range of parameters has been collected since 1998. By using these data as a starting point, our project seeks to develop an approach to relate these data back to the guiding concept of agricultural sustainability.
A comprehensive list of economic, social, and ecological sustainability attributes has been identified. A survey using conjoint analysis methodology and direct attribute ranking was designed and conducted to estimate the relative impact of individual attributes on the overall perception of sustainability by farmers, scientists, and other stakeholders for aggregate sustainability assessment.
An indicator system, including indicators of soil quality, pesticide and fertilizer use, and tillage practices, was developed based on environmental data collected at CEFS to generate some insights into environmental impact of organic, integrated crop-animal, conventional best management practice farming, and plantation forestry. A graphical tool was also developed to assess the overall environmental impact associated with production systems evaluated at CEFS.
Measurements taken during the first 9 years of the experiment revealed significant differences among systems in terms of their environmental impact. At this stage of the experiment, our finding suggest that organic farming may become an alternative to conventional farming in North Carolina in terms of environmental impact reduction given the revision of its nutrient management guidelines to prevent phosphorus buildup in soil. Organic farming reduces adverse impacts on the environment associated with other actively managed production systems without significantly compromising crop yields.

Objectives/Performance Targets

To derive a manageable set of indicators to evaluate the environmental, biological, and financial aspects of sustainability of organic, BMP, conventional, and integrated farming at the system and enterprise (crop/rotation, animal activity) level.
To collect additional data on specific sustainability indicators for which insufficient information is available from existing projects at CEFS.
To develop a tool for bringing together various indicators of sustainability in a single picture that shows at a glance where progress is made.

Accomplishments/Milestones

A paper identifying a comprehensive list of economic, social, and ecological sustainability attributes and applying conjoint analysis methodology and direct attribute ranking to estimate the relative impact of individual attributes on the overall perception of sustainability by farmers, scientists, and other stakeholders for aggregate sustainability assessment was published in Agricultural Systems:
Sydorovych, O., and A.Wossink (2009). “The Contextual Meaning of Agricultural Sustainability: Evidence from a Conjoint Choice Survey.” Agricultural Systems, 98(1):10-20.
This paper was also presented at the 2008 Congress of the European Association of Agricultural Economists in Ghent, Belgium (August 2008) and published in the Proceedings of the Congress.
In 2008, we also finalized an environmental indicator system based on data collected at CEFS, used it to generate insights into environmental impact of organic, integrated crop-animal, conventional best management practice farming, and plantation forestry, and developed a graphical tool to present the overall environmental impact associated with production systems evaluated at CEFS.
The results of this work are summarized in a paper submitted for publication in Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, which was accepted for a publication with some revisions and is currently being revised:
Sydorovych, O., A. Wossink, M. Bell, N. Creamer, S. Hu, J.P. Mueller, C. Raczkowski, and C. Tu. “An Indicator System to Evaluate the Environmental Performance of Alternative Production Systems in North Carolina.” Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, forthcoming.

Collaborators:

J. Paul Mueller

paul_mueller@ncsu.edu
prof.
North Carolina State University
Dept of Crop Science
Campus Box 7620
Raleigh, NC 27695-7620
Office Phone: 9195157889
John O'Sullivan

johno@ncat.edu
prof.
North Carolina A & T State University
North Carolina Cooperative Extension Prgram
P.O. Box 21928
Greensboro, NC 27420
Office Phone: 3363347957
Olha Sydorovych

obsydoro@ncsu.edu
Dr
North Carolina State University
Dept Agricultural & Resource Economics
Campus Box 8109
Raleigh, NC 27695-8109
Office Phone: 9195130185
Cavell Brownie

brownie@stat.ncsu.edu
prof.
North Carolina State University
Dept. of Statistics
Campus Box 8203
Raleigh , NC 27695-8203
Office Phone: 9195151935