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Star of the West digitizes sustainability tracking

Star of the West Milling Company has announced a new partnership with the Swedish company Improvin’ to help growers better track their sustainability efforts.

Climate Smart Advisor Katie Adam with Star of the West tells Brownfield, “The first step to sustainability is figuring out your baseline.”

“The only way to figure out your baseline is through record keeping and figuring out where you are now, so we can figure out maybe where you would like to get to set some goals,” she says. “This platform does an incredible job of simplifying that.”

Adam says the platform will help growers who have been part of a USDA Climate Smart Grant quantifying their use of cover crops, fertilizer, and water, as well as tillage practices.

This year growers across parts of Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio will be able to gather nutrient use data for Star of the West’s new STAR (Sustainable Tracking of Agronomic Resources) program.

“The STAR program is one that we are excited to be launching in the Maumee watershed area with one of our flour customers as a partner,” she explains. “We will be focusing mainly on nitrogen reduction on wheat while not compromising yield.”

Adam says the company will be able to engage the entire value chain as more consumer packaged goods entities implement emission reduction plans with grower-level data.

Photo courtesy of Star of the West Milling Company.