Sustainability indicators are accounting tools used by economists, environmentalists, agronomists, and many others to gauge the sustainability of a process or product, whether it be nutrient cycling on a small acreage farm or an assessment of global energy use. These indices are meant to give an idea of the rate of resource extraction and use — the rate of soil erosion from a corn field, for example — versus the rate at which that resource is replaced. The higher the rate of replacement versus use, the more sustainable the process.
For additional information, see: Sustainability Indicators for Farm Energy.
—Andrew R. Moss, SARE Fellow, University of Maryland
