New Corn Conversion Factors System and relaunch of the Soy & Corn Footprint Calculator
Just like soy, corn is not always visible in the final product or used directly in the product manufacturing process. With the RTRS Corn Standard already in practice since 2021, we are now able to introduce the Corn Conversion Factors System and our new Footprint Calculator to estimate the equivalent volume of soy and corn used during the manufacturing process of products people consume.
We are continuously improving our technology package, updating, and upgrading our tools and adding new crops to expand the knowledge from our certification schemes to other oils, seeds, and grains, and to take a step beyond soy.
Once again in partnership with the Argentinian Agribusiness and Food Centre (CEAg) of the Austral University and UK-based sustainability consultancy company 3Keel, we have now created the world’s first comprehensive source of conversion factors for corn. Yet another reliable investigation – this time for the most important cereal in terms of global production – has enabled us to upgrade our Soy Footprint Calculator to become the RTRS Soy & Corn Footprint Calculator.
As in the previous version, this free and public tool features two alternative conversion methods that can be chosen based on the user’s needs.
Economic Allocation: Under this method it is recognised that there are multiple uses of corn and anyone usewill have associated soy/corn products that will be applied in other sectors. The allocation method therefore occurs by aligning the demand to value of the various outputs to fairly represent how soy/corn demand is not always driven by one specific output.
Demand Allocation: Under this method the physical volume of the corn-soy/corn needed to supply enough soy/corn co-products for the product. This does not account for the use of any by/sub-products from the manufacturing process.
Additionally, this new version of the Footprint Calculator features technology upgrades and usability enhancements, including a redesigned interface under a more practical and understandable concept of steps; the code behind the calculator was rebuilt using more robust technologies and security enhancements, among other features. The new Calculator is fully reliable, as it has been quality assurance audited, tested, and certified by global technology company Alpha CRC.
Now players in the soybean sector, organizations and consumers can go beyond and understand the corn and soy footprints embedded in their soy and corn products, animal feed and food products, equipping them to answer the question of how much soy & corn is in it?
Try the new RTRS Soy & Corn Footprint Calculator now
Find out more about the Corn Conversion Factors in the technical report, publicly and openly available on the Footprint Calculator website:
- Corn Conversion Factors – Technical Document in English
- Corn Conversion Factors – Technical Document in Portuguese
- Corn Conversion Factors – Technical Document in Spanish
We invite you to relive the presentation of the New Corn Conversion Factors System and relaunch of the Soy & Corn Footprint Calculator that was held last 24 October by a webinar. Click here and watch the webinar recorded available our Youtube channel.
