Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol (SSAP)

ASA is a founding partner of the Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol (SSAP), which verifies and documents sustainable production on a national scale throughout the U.S. and demonstrates soy’s commitment to sustainability – and to continuous improvement.

The SSAP promotes and advances the industry’s sustainability goals for U.S. soy production and satisfies U.S. soy customer needs both domestically and globally. Currently, 95% of U.S. soybean producers partner with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create and implement farm-specific conservation programs. These conservation practices are the foundation of the SSAP. In the 2017 marketing year, more than 11 million metric tons of SSAP-verified sustainable U.S. soy were exported around the world.

The SSAP promotes environmental and social responsibility across the soy value chain, ensuring every link operates in a sustainable manner consistent with sound environmental objectives and embraces best agricultural practices.

The SSAP is based on U.S. conservation requirements, laws protecting the rights of workers, and more to assure the sustainability of the U.S. soybean production system. Producers sign up annually and are subject to comprehensive audit and data-collection systems, which verify sustainability through a 3rd-party process.

According to the latest Field to Market Report, U.S farmers have increased soy production by 120% since 1980, mostly due to yield increases, and key resources indicators have all shown improvement, in part due to adoption of conservation tillage practices over this time period. Energy use decreased by 35% and soil conservation improved by 47% per bushel from 1980 to 2015 (latest research year).*

Understand more about the soy industry’s SSAP and our commitment to sustainability through this easy-to-watch Soy Sustainability Video produced in 2020 by ASA and the soy checkoff.