Field to Market Canada Indicator Report

Field to Market Canada is a collaborative alliance of grower organizations, agribusinesses, food companies and conservation organizations working together to define and measure the sustainability of Canadian crop production. The key goal of Field to Market Canada is to meet the demand for sustainability information from consumers and food companies worldwide, and to this end, is engaged in the development of macro-level sustainability indicators, and an on-farm sustainability calculator, for Canadian crop production.

Field to Market Canada has developed indicators of environmental sustainability for production of major crops in Ontario and the Prairie Provinces. These indicators quantify the environmental impacts of crop production practices in the areas of Land Use Efficiency, Soil Erosion, Soil Organic Carbon Change, Energy Use and Climate Impact. Indicators of Biodiversity and Water Quality are currently in development.

The indicators are applied both regionally and at field level, with the field-level indicators being implemented through the Canadian Field Print Calculator. The Calculator enables individual producers to confidentially input information on farm management practices, and learn about sustainability outcomes on their farms, including:

• Compare the sustainability outcomes on their farms to local and regional averages
• Compare their sustainability outcomes over time
• Compare the sustainability outcomes of alternative management scenarios on their farms