Beyond the Yield: Enhancing Agricultural Sustainability Through Operations Management

With this editorial and the associated SI papers, we hope to
encourage the OM community to engage more deeply with
agricultural systems, where opportunities for meaningful con-
tributions are both pressing and plentiful. Our emphasis here
was on upstream agriculture operations, though we believe it
is equally important for OM research to engage with down-
stream processes. Overall, we see ample opportunities for OM
scholars to contribute and provide valuable insights toward
shaping agriculture into a system that is capable of meeting the
world's growing needs for food, feed, and fiber with minimal
harm to the environment, people, and animals. By leveraging
knowledge of processes, technologies, and human factors, OM
researchers are well positioned to address key challenges at the
intersection of farming operations, system design, and public
policy.