This document summarizes a project to develop life cycle inventory data and sustainability metrics for strawberry production. The project team includes researchers from Oregon State University and USDA. The objectives are to develop unit process data from crop budgets for US strawberry production and propose sustainability metrics. Key deliverables include peer-reviewed life cycle inventories of California, Florida and North Carolina strawberry production made publicly available. Preliminary results indicate fertilizers and agricultural machinery have high impacts. Metrics proposed include strawberry fossil energy productivity and strawberry phosphorus productivity. The project is currently undergoing peer review.

1. Developing Life Cycle Inventory Data
for Science-Based Strawberry
Production Sustainability Metrics
Presenter
Ezra Kahn
USDA- National Agricultural Library
Knowledge Services Division
Principal Investigator: Ganti S. Murthy
Associate Professor, Biological and Ecological Engineering
Oregon State University

2. The Team
Project Team
• Ganti Murthy- PI, OSU
• S.M. Hossein Tabatabaie- Graduate Student- OSU
• Peter Arbuckle- USDA-NAL
• Ezra Kahn- USDA-NAL
• Susan McCarthy- USDA NAL
• Ashley Loneman- Contract research
Project Advisory Group
• Kathy Demchak- Penn State University
• Jayson Harper- Penn State University
• Dan Legard- California Strawberry Commission
• Joyce Cooper- University of Washington

3. Objectives
Develop “meaningful and constructive metrics
for strawberry production sustainability.”
• Develop unit process/life-cycle inventory data
for U.S. strawberry production
– Demonstrate the use of crop budgets for LCIs
• Propose sustainability metrics
• Peer review results
• Release results publicly through USDA LCA
Commons

4. Project Deliverables
Deliverable Task/Month
Quarterly progress reports Quarterly
Peer reviewed LCA extended
crop budgets
Task 3/June
Automated software tool to
convert excel-based LCI data
from crop budgets to common
global LCI format
Task 4/June
Peer reviewed life-cycle
inventories made publically
available through USDA-NAL
LCA Commons.
Task 4/June
Final report with LCA results
and sustainability metrics
Task 7/June
Project video and public
relations products
TBD

5. Project Status
• Project results currently in peer review
• Sustainability metrics proposed, work still in
progress
• Use peer review to improve methods and
results

6. Peer Review Panel
– Dr. Marvin Pritts (Cornell U., Dept. of Horticulture)
– Kathy Demchak (Penn State U.)
– Karen Klonsky (UC Davis, Agricultural and Resource Economics)
– Dr. Bielinski Santos (U of Florida, Gulf Coast Research and
Education Center)
– Dr. Barclay Poling (N. Carolina State U., Department of
Horticulture Science)
– Dr. Oleg Daugovish (UC Cooperative Extension Ventura County)
– Curt Gaines (UC Davis)
– Tom Sjulin (Driscoll Strawberry Associates)
– Ted Campbell (Florida Strawberry Growers Association)

7. Cradle to gate life cycle analysis
California, Florida and North Carolina Plasticulture
Functional Unit: 1 kg ripe strawberry

8. Cradle to gate life cycle analysis
System Boundaries
California, Florida and North Carolina Plasticulture
Functional Unit: 1 kg ripe strawberry

9. LCA results (under review):
Impact contribution -- California
-40
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Materials Agricultural Machinery Fertilizers Chemicals Fuels

10. Project Results:
Life Cycle Inventory Data Collection
– LCA Extended Enterprise Budget excel sheet
• Collected primary data from 3 producers
• Published Enterprise budget sheets
Unit Operations Resource Category
Name Remark Name
Field Preparation Only Establishment
year
Prime Movers
Planting Operations Farm Machinery
Analysis/Assessment
All years
Fuels
Cultivation/Weeding Fertilizers
Irrigation Fixed Expenses
Nutrient Application
Only production
years
Pesticides
Harvesting Herbicides
Post-Harvest
operations
Insecticides
Transportation Fungicides
Fixed Expenses
All years
Materials
Labor
Water
Yield

11. Findings:
Life Cycle Inventory Data Collection
– LCA Extended Enterprise Budget excel sheet
• Generated LCA unit processes
• Challenges for data collection:
– Inflexible to user inputs
– Communicating LCA terminology to Ag Economists
– Inconsistent data among states
• Statistical representation vs. expert judgement
• Planning vs. historical representation
– Nursery process not included
– Expertise in LCA and Strawberry production still
necessary

12. Strawberry metrics
• Strawberry Fossil Energy productivity (SFEP) and
strawberry phosphorous productivity (SPP) can be
defines as follow:

13. Tasks and Timeline

14. Ezra Kahn
ezra.kahn@ars.usda.gov
301-504-9831
Q&A