The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) formally launched its Corn Sustainability Assurance Protocol (CSAP) and Sustainable Corn Exports (SCE) web platform at the 20th International Marketing Conference and 63rd Annual Membership Meeting in Savannah, GA today. The CSAP is a way for U.S. corn producers to provide insights into their sustainable farming practices, continuing to strengthen global sales by highlighting their alignment with increasingly climate-focused markets.
The CSAP is a farmer-led initiative to show the strong institutional sustainability foundations underpinning U.S. agriculture, as well as the traditional and innovative techniques that U.S. corn producers are adopting on a daily basis.
The Sustainable Corn Exports web platform complements the CSAP by making it operational. Through the SCE, U.S. corn buyers can issue shipment-specific “Records of Sustainability” to allow overseas corn importers to easily determine and document the compliance of U.S. corn shipments with local sustainability requirements.
“Farmers are the stewards of our land, so no one understands the need for preserving the health of our environment better than they do,” said USGC President and CEO Ryan LeGrand. “The CSAP is a recognition of farmers’ extraordinary socioeconomic importance, and a way to further improve the appeal of their products with end-users around the world.”
Since 1980, U.S. corn yields have increased by 88 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Statistics Service, while also using approximately 55 percent less water and energy, according to Field to Market . The Council strives to recognize the adaptive spirit of U.S. corn farmers and the Earth-friendly growing procedures they have been using for decades through the CSAP, at no additional cost or burden to producers.
“The CSAP will establish a baseline of sustainability for U.S. corn that will continuously improve as farmers integrate new technologies and tools,” said Carlos Suárez, USGC manager of sustainability, policy and innovation. “Corn farmers work with remarkable efficiency and care for the land, and the CSAP is how we can show their efforts to the rest of the world.”
The use of the SCE web platform is provided at no cost to U.S. corn farmers, exporters and international importers. The goal of the Council is to facilitate the continued global trade of U.S. corn by helping international supply chain stakeholders better understand the sustainability of U.S. production practices.
You can read the CSAP in its entirety by visiting the SCE web platform site here.