Measuring sustainability: Metrics guide next phase of potato production

The phrase “you can’t manage what you don’t measure” gets used a lot in agriculture, but when it comes to sustainability, it really does ring true.

For potato growers across North America, measuring sustainability isn’t just about checking off a list of practices. It’s about understanding how everyday decisions on the farm affect long-term productivity, resource use and customer and consumer expectations.

For nearly a decade, the Potato Sustainability Alliance (PSA) has worked with growers, processors, fresh marketers, buyers and industry partners to define a shared framework and set of metrics for reporting sustainability practices through its annual On-Farm Assessment. What began as a survey focused largely on integrated pest management has grown into a broader picture of sustainability on potato farms – capturing practices related to soil health, water management, biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions and farmer prosperity while helping growers and industry partners benchmark and track progress over time.

The Sustainable Outcomes in Agriculture (SOA) Standard, enabled through the Cropwise Sustainability app, is used as the On-Farm Assessment tool. The SOA Standard aligns with and integrates global sustainability benchmarks and frameworks, including a gold-level benchmark to the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment and integration of The Sustainability Consortium’s Responsible Pest Management Framework.

Furthermore, PSA has partnered with Syngenta to customize the Cropwise Sustainability app to be fit-for-purpose for the potato industry, integrating specific features and streamlining transparent data sharing across value-chain partners.

Participation in the PSA program continues to grow as more growers and supply chain partners recognize the value of reporting and benchmarking through a shared set of sustainability metrics. In 2025, growers submitted 496 On-Farm Assessments, representing 646,313 acres of potato production across North America, with support from 12 processors and fresh marketers across the value chain.

Diving into the data

Each year’s dataset provides a snapshot of how sustainability practices are evolving across the industry. PSA continues to see steady adoption of practices that support soil conservation, efficient water use and improved energy management. We’re also seeing more growers use digital decision-support tools to help manage inputs more precisely.

One of the most valuable parts of the PSA program for growers is the community benchmark report they receive after participating. It allows them to see how their practices compare with regional and industry averages. One of the first questions we often hear from growers is pretty straightforward: How am I doing compared to everyone else? The PSA program helps answer that question while also highlighting areas where farms may want to explore new practices or improvements.

As sustainability reporting becomes more important across the value chain, PSA is also focused on strengthening confidence in the data behind the program. In November 2025, the PSA board of directors approved a third-party verification process for the On-Farm Assessment. Working with Where Food Comes From, PSA launched its first verification cycle in early 2026. Twenty-three participating farms were randomly selected for on-site reviews, where reported practices were verified through documentation review, on-site observation and grower interviews.

These reviews help confirm that the practices reported in the assessment reflect on-farm activities and provide feedback that helps PSA continue improving the program and strengthening the accuracy of the assessment process. The goal isn’t to create extra work for growers. Instead, it’s about reinforcing trust in the program to ensure the data can be shared confidently across the value chain.

These early verification visits are also helping PSA better understand how growers document their practices and how the program can continue to evolve in ways that make the most sense for farms of different sizes and production systems.

What we’re seeing through the verification process reflects what the assessment data has highlighted for years: growers approach sustainability in different ways, depending on their regionality, soils, resources and production systems. Some farms focus heavily on soil health through crop rotations and conservation practices. Others are investing in irrigation technology, precision agriculture tools or improved nutrient management.

There isn’t one single path to sustainability, and that diversity is part of what makes the data so valuable.

PSA will share insights from the 2025 On-Farm Assessment results later this year, with a deeper look at the data revealed during the PSA Summer Symposium, to be held July 15-16 in Plover, Wisconsin. We’re looking forward to sharing what we’re seeing in the data and bringing growers and industry partners together to discuss the trends shaping potato sustainability.

As the program continues to grow, PSA hopes to see wider participation, deeper engagement with the benchmarking tools and continued collaboration across the potato value chain. For growers, the value of the program is clear: better information to understand how farms are performing today and where opportunities might exist moving forward.

To learn more about the PSA Program and the upcoming 2026 PSA Summer Symposium, visit potatosustainability.org.

Natalie Nesburg is Potato Sustainability Alliance program manager.