Potato Sustainability Alliance Releases 2023 North American Potato Sustainability Assessment Report

The Potato Sustainability Alliance (PSA) announced the release of its 2023 North American Potato Sustainability Assessment Report, communicating sustainability results gathered from 420 growers representing 589,120 potato acres across the U.S. and Canada. 

The report shares results and insights gathered through the PSA Program, which helps growers measure on-farm management practices using the Sustainable Outcomes in Agriculture (SOA) Standard and the Cropwise™ Sustainability (CWS) app, providing growers with immediate feedback on sustainability performance and community benchmark reports. 

Natalie Nesburg, PSA Program Manager:
 

"In this first year of using the SOA Standard and CWS app as our on-farm assessment tool, we are excited to highlight these results and the great work being done at the farm level to address sustainability needs that meet industry requirements."

"This data is significant to the North American potato industry, with insights that serve stakeholders throughout the supply chain."

The results of participating growers were reported using a performance metric of Essential, Basic, Medium, or High, summarizing the adoption of beneficial management strategies, practices, and technologies. 

Participating potato growers across North America achieved an overall performance score of Medium, averaged across outcome scores involving biodiversity and habitat, community leadership, human and animal health, optimal production, soil health, and water impact. 

Natalie Nesburg:
 

"Achieving an overall performance score of Medium should be an encouragement to potato growers who participated in the assessment process."

"His score highlights the collective and proactive adoption of beneficial management practices and technologies driving sustainable production. Looking ahead, we will leverage these findings to showcase on-farm achievements and develop opportunities for continuous improvement and industry collaboration."

Key findings in Soil Health outcomes indicate that 75% of growers participate in projects that support and measure nutrient management for soil health. Additionally, 49% of growers adopted a new practice to reduce tillage and compaction at the field level in the past three years. 

In Water Impact outcomes, data reflects that 91% of growers who irrigate are using a crop production irrigation plan that has been optimized over time to consider long-term water availability and challenges in the area. Of the participating growers, 54% collaborate with others in their area on watershed or aquifer initiatives to improve water quality.