This Standard establishes a framework for developing programs to chart progress towards sustainable agricultural production, including defining and benchmarking key performance indicators (KPIs), setting goals, implementing strategies for continuous improvement, and reporting improvements over time. This framework constitutes the minimum criteria for developing and implementing a program for sustainable agriculture. The purpose of this sustainability framework is to provide a process by which key performance indicators may be used to improve sustainability across agricultural production systems. The elements of this framework are critical for uniform, effective, and legitimate implementation of sustainability initiatives across the complex, diverse, and multifaceted landscape of agriculture around the world. The Framework provides explicit guidance on the goal and scope of each element, the process for implementing each element, and the necessary components for each element. As with all ANSI standards, this is a voluntary standard and is not intended to be exclusive.