Longtime readers know how much I like talking about the common ground we all have in sustainability. We can all agree that farms must remain profitable if the next generation of our nation's precious few remaining farm families are to have a future at home on the farm. We can all agree that farmers must keep being good stewards of their environment and striving to do more with less. And we can all agree that our rural communities are worth fighting for. 

Sustainability in agriculture offers an incredibly rare opportunity in modern American life to have it both ways. We can truly fight for our families, our environment and our communities while at the same time strengthening farm profitability through greater productivity.

One way to define sustainability — my favorite way — is doing a bit more with a bit less each year. Think about it. U.S. average crop yields increase each year due to a combination of improved genetics and improved management practices. Yes, this increased yield requires a little extra fertilizer, but the extra amount needed shrinks a little each year. 

What doesn't increase? Herbicide requirements, for one thing, and energy requirements for tillage for another. These inputs stay the same even as yields increase, and this fact reduces the environmental impact of the inputs per unit of crop output. Environmental impact can be quantified in several ways, but today, carbon or carbon-equivalent emissions are the most notable. These emissions go down as efficiency goes up; it’s a mathematical certainty. 

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But most importantly for farmers, these gains mean they have more crop to sell relative to a fixed amount of some inputs. This added profitability translates to more money available to invest in college funds for their kids, or more money available to spend with small businesses in their community. Sustainability means economic resilience above all. 

Unfortunately, in years like 2024, doing a bit more with a bit less might mean minimizing losses now so investing in college funds and spending money with small businesses in the community remain an option later. In times like these, sustainability takes on a whole new meaning — it means sustainability of businesses, sustainability of health and sustainability of families.

Sometimes, agricultural sustainability simply means survival. 

In any case, the ripple effects of agricultural sustainability reach far beyond the farm, pervading life not just in rural America but across the country and improving our environment on the way to positively impacting all of mankind. That's something worth fighting for. 

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