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Virginia Tech expert highlights link between efficiency and sustainability

Agricultural productivity is a focus of this year’s Borlaug International Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa.

The executive director of the Global Agricultural Productivity (GAP) Initiative at Virginia Tech says higher input prices could lead some farmers to pursue more efficient practices to produce their crops.

Tom Thompson, who’s also the Associate Dean and Director of CALS Global in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech, says farmers are facing difficult input decisions.

“Yes, it will create a drive toward efficiency,” he said. “It’s just more incentive for making sure that every seed you plant comes up when you need it to come up and where you need it to come up.”

But he tells Brownfield the input landscape could also disincentivize producers from investing in ag productivity innovations.

“If margins are just razor thin, it makes it much harder to invest in advanced technology.”

Thompson says sustainable ag productivity growth is one of the most effective approaches to meeting agricultural demand and environmental goals.

He says Virginia Tech’s Total Factor Productivity measurement, or TFP, increases when farmers produce more output while using the same or fewer inputs – boosting income, reducing food prices, and conserving natural resources.

Thompson made his comments during the 2025 Borlaug International Dialogue.