Understanding Sustainability in Agriculture at Valent U.S.A.

From the Valent Field Advice Podcast, “Sustainability in Agriculture: Special Double Episode,” June 2022

Growers are increasingly making production and input decisions based on soil health, water quality and overall environmental impact. Public opinion is also influencing agronomic practices more than ever before.

“Sustainability can look different in different operations. It’s about providing options to each grower to improve or increase their sustainability within their system,” says Leslie Garcia, associate director of regulatory, stewardship and sustainability. “At Valent U.S.A., we want to provide options to growers so they can make the best decision for their growing area.”

Valent U.S.A. recently embarked on a journey to better understand and analyze the sustainable development goals (SDGs) set forth by the United Nations. Valent has identified three areas of focus — people, planet and productivity.

Advancing Soil Health and Sustainability

“Soil health remains a critical and priority project for Valent,” says Mike Riffle, senior director of field research and development. “When we work with our external stakeholders, we’re looking at ways to improve soil health. We’re doing the same with water quality, as well as with protecting pollinators and improving biodiversity.”

As growers consider their path to improve the sustainability of their operations, the crop protection products they choose and production practices they incorporate play a critical role regardless of crop. Crop protection products are less impactful to the environment when they have a short half-life and low toxicity to pollinators such as bees.

Products like DiPel^® DF Biological Insecticide utilize bacteria that is ubiquitous in nature to protect fruit from pest damage with minimal impact to beneficial insects. Because of this, it is exempt from tolerances, including MRL concerns, making it a strong choice for growers looking to improve their Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices.

Additionally, Valent offers a highly effective line of preemergence, early postemergence and postemergence herbicides that fit well into conservation tillage systems.

Valor® brand herbicides applied preemergence allow for flexible crop rotation and implementation of cover crops.

Driving Efficiency and Innovation

“It’s not just about our products,” Riffle says. “How can we make workers more efficient? How can we reduce food loss or food waste? How can we enhance the quality of the commodity that is harvested? How can we increase crop production efficiency overall? All are essential to increasing sustainability on the farm.”

The Power of Partnerships

Partnerships are critical to the success of Valent’s sustainability efforts. Valent has engaged with organizations including Farm Journal as a founding member of Trust in Food and America’s Conservation in Ag Movement, which collaborate with private and public organizations to advance sustainability in agriculture.

Valent also partners with universities and research organizations to bring innovation directly to growers at the field level.

In addition, Valent supports youth agriculture organizations including Future Farmers of America (FFA), Agriculture Future of America (AFA) and Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) to advance agricultural education and foster future industry leaders.

“We partner with organizations to ensure that the work that we’re doing at Valent is amplified at the local, regional and national level, and shared with as many audiences as possible,” Garcia says.

Valent also partners with organizations such as Field to Market and the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops to continually learn, improve and enable sustainable agriculture and its societal benefits. To learn more, view the 2021 Sustainability Report.

Listen to the Full Episode

You can listen to this episode at the Ag Ed Center on Valent.com or visit Valent’s Field Advice Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcast.