Global Farm Metric

Farm Sustainability Assessment Tool

OAK has created a Farm Sustainability Assessment Tool (FSAT) in collaboration with Kentucky farmers. This tool is a US-based adaptation of the Global Farm Metric (GFM) framework, stewarded by the Sustainable Food Trust. The GFM framework measures social, economic and environmental indicators across 12 categories to assess the state of on-farm sustainability.

Based on globally recognized research, OAK staff have built this tool around the GFM framework by embedding it with relevant measures and a benchmark scoring system that allows farmers to understand their individual farm data in the context of peer farms as well as established Kentucky, US, and global datasets. The tool also points farmers to best practices from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), allows for the exploration of greenhouse gas emission reductions and carbon sequestration benefits that align farm practices with USDA’s COMET-Planner, and taps into Cornell University’s Environmental Impact Quotient system for measuring the impact of farm pesticides. The GFM-FSAT establishes a common language, supported by quantitative measures, that enables all stakeholders in food and farming to drive positive change.

OAK's GFM-FSAT Development and Farm Trials Timeline

Since OAK began adapting the GFM-FSAT tool for US-based farms, several cohorts of producers have participated in trials and have completed the tool for their operations. 

In the spring of 2023, six OAK member farmers were part of the initial trial. Farmer feedback and insights from this trial were integrated into tool adaptations, and another 25 specialty crop farms participated in a research trial in Fall 2023 that investigated the updated GFM-FSAT tool and included on-farm technical assistance that provided quantitative measurements of soil fertility and health, water quality and crop quality. This research was supported by a Specialty Crop Block Grant through the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and the Owsley Brown II Family Foundation. 

 
In December 2022, OAK was awarded a USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant to expand the tool and services for Kentucky farmers. The GFM-FSAT was a core component of OAK’s project, which offered farmer education programs, on-farm technical assistance, and incentive payments for the implementation of certain conservation practices. Numerous participants said the GFM-FSAT was an invaluable part of the program and helped them make improvements on their farms that will have long-lasting benefits. In April 2025, USDA cancelled the Partnerships for Climate- Smart Commodities initiative and plans to overhaul the program into one called Advancing Markets to Producers. At the time of the program’s termination, OAK had distributed 73 GFM-FSAT files to Kentucky producers who were part of the project. 

GFM-FSAT Feedback from Farmers

“I love that the assessment asks about wildlife on the farm, because improving habitat has always been one of my personal goals and values but doesn't really ever get measured.”

“I love having all the farm data in the assessment, and it will be exciting to see the impact of the conservation practices over time!”

“The tool has allowed me, a soil health conscience farmer, to have a benchmark not just for my own farm year to year but a comparison to world metrics. Data driven decisions are important to me.”