| 11. |
- Bartkowski, Bartosz, et al.
(författare)
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Payments by modelled results : A novel design for agri-environmental schemes
- 2021
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Ingår i: Land Use Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0264-8377 .- 1873-5754. ; 102
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- From a theoretical point of view, result-based agri-environmental payments are clearly preferable to action-based payments. However, they suffer from two major practical disadvantages: costs of measuring the results and payment uncertainty for the participating farmers. In this paper, we propose an alternative design to overcome these two disadvantages by means of modelling (instead of measuring) the results. We describe the concept of agri-environmental payments by modelled results (PAMR), including a hypothetical example of payments for the protection and enhancement of soil functions. We offer a comprehensive discussion of the relative advantages and disadvantages of PAMR, showing that it not only unites most of the different advantages of result-based and action-based schemes, but also adds two new advantages: the potential to address trade-offs among multiple policy objectives and management for long-term environmental effects. We argue that PAMR would be a valuable addition to the agri-environmental policy toolbox in the EU and beyond, while also reflecting recent advancements in agri-environmental modelling.
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| 12. |
- Boke Olén, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of farm type on food production, landscape openness, grassland biodiversity, and greenhouse gas emissions in mixed agricultural-forestry regions
- 2021
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Ingår i: Agricultural Systems. - : Elsevier BV. - 0308-521X .- 1873-2267. ; 189
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context: The global demand for food is expected to continue increasing for decades, which may drive both agricultural expansion and intensification. The associated environmental impacts are potentially considerable but will depend on how the agricultural sector develops. Currently, there are contrasting regional developments in agriculture; expansion and/or intensification in some regions and abandonment in others, as well as changes in the type of farming. However, the environmental consequences of changes in farm type are not well understood. Objective: We have evaluated the impacts of farm type on food production and three key environmental variables—landscape openness, grassland biodiversity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—in three marginal agricultural regions in Sweden. Methods: We do this by first dividing the population of farms in each region into types, based on their land-use and livestock holdings using an innovative clustering method. Thereafter we analysed changes in production activities for farm types over time and evaluated the environmental and food-production impacts, where landscape openness is quantified using a novel indicator. Results and conclusion: Our results show that there is not one single farm type that would simultaneously maximize food production, grassland biodiversity, and landscape openness, whilst minimizing GHG emissions. However, there exists considerable potential to manage the trade-offs between food production and these environmental variables. For example, by reducing land use for dairying and instead increasing both cropping for food production and extensive livestock grazing to maintain landscape openness and biodiversity-rich semi-natural pastures, it would keep food production at similar levels. Significance: Our farm typology allows us to assess the multifunctionality of farming, by relating contrasting production activities to multiple ecosystem services, grassland biodiversity and GHG emissions for informing policy towards more sustainable agriculture. We have demonstrated this with examples under Swedish conditions, but it should to a large extent also be applicable for other countries.
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| 13. |
- Brady, Mark V., et al.
(författare)
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Att se skogens alla värden – en samhällsekonomisk analys
- 2021
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Ingår i: Policy brief / AgriFood Economics Centre.
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Det pågår en intensiv debatt om hur vi bäst kan använda skogen som resurs. Att ersätta fossila bränslen med förnybara bränslen från den svenska skogen lyfts fram som ett sätt att bidra till klimatmål. Men ett ökat uttag av biomassa kräver att skogen brukas mer intensivt vilket kan vara negativt för en rad andra samhällsmål som skogen bidrar till. Vad skulle ett intensivare skogsbruk totalt sett betyda för samhället? Resultaten visar att:- Skogen bidrar med stora värden till samhället utöver produktionen av biomassa.- När hänsyn även tas till sociala och miljömässiga värden kan ett mer intensivt skogsbruk än idag vara negativt för samhället.- Ett mer varierat skogsbruk, som exempelvis inkluderar hyggesfritt bruk, kan ge större värden både idag och för framtida generationer.
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| 14. |
- Brady, Mark V., et al.
(författare)
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Impacts of the CAP’s environmental policy instruments on farm structures, agricultural incomes and public goods
- 2016
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We examined farmers’ costs of providing public goods under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the expected impacts of the 2015 CAP “greening” reform on regional development and provisioning of public goods. Less than half of CAP spending Before the reform was justifiable in terms of the delivery of specific public goods; and predicted benefits from greening are low. We recommend re-allocating support to targeted and landscape-scale payments, better matching the financing of public goods with the beneficiaries and re-considering greening.
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| 15. |
- Brady, Mark V., et al.
(författare)
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Is Passive Farming A Problem for Agriculture in the EU?
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Agricultural Economics. - : Wiley. - 0021-857X .- 1477-9552. ; 68:3, s. 632-650
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We address a new agricultural policy concern following the decoupling of CAP direct payments in 2005: passive farming, whereby landowners maintain their agricultural area to collect payments without producing commodities. It is claimed that passive farming is hindering agricultural development by 'blocking' access to farmland for expanding farmers. We evaluate the links between the EU's Single Payment Scheme (SPS), passive farming, land use and agricultural development. Following identification of the rational landowners' optimal land-use choice, we evaluate the effects of the SPS using a spatial, agent-based model that simulates farmers' competition for land in a case-study region of Sweden. We show that passive farming does not constrain land from being used in production; on the contrary more land is used than would be the case without the SPS. We conclude that passive farming is not a problem for agriculture, but provides public goods that would otherwise be under provided: preservation of marginal farmland and future food security. However SPS payments on highly productive land inflate land values (capitalisation) and slow structural change, which hinder agricultural development. Consequently CAP goals could be better served by targeting payments on marginal land and phasing out payments to highly productive land.
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| 16. |
- Brady, Mark V., et al.
(författare)
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Roadmap for valuing soil ecosystem services to inform multi-level decision-making in agriculture
- 2019
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Ingår i: Sustainability (Switzerland). - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 11:19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Agricultural soils contribute to human welfare through their generation of manifold ecosystem services such as food security, water quality and climate regulation, but these are degraded by common farming practices. We have developed a roadmap for evaluating the contribution of both private- and public-good ecosystem services generated by agricultural soils to societal welfare. The approach considers the needs of decision-makers at different levels, from farmers to policy-makers. This we achieve through combining production functions-to quantify the impacts of alternative management practices on agricultural productivity and soil ecosystem services-with non-market valuation of changes in public-good ecosystem services and benefit-cost analysis. The results show that the net present value to society of implementing soil-friendly measures are substantial, but negative for farmers in our study region. Although we apply our roadmap to an intensive farming region in Sweden, we believe our results have broad applicability, because farmers do not usually account for the value of public-good ecosystem services. We therefore conclude that market outcomes are not likely to be generating optimal levels of soil ecosystem services from society's perspective. Innovative governance institutions are needed to resolve this market failure to safeguard the welfare of future generations.
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| 17. |
- Brady, Mark V., et al.
(författare)
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Strengthening the policy framework to resolve lax implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan for agriculture
- 2022
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Ingår i: Ambio: a Journal of Human Environment. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; 51:1, s. 69-83
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this perspective article, we provide recommendations for strengthening the policy framework for protecting the Baltic Sea from agricultural nutrient pollution. The most striking weakness is the lax implementation of prescribed abatement measures, particularly concerning manure management, in most countries. Institutions of the EU should also be leveraged for achieving Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) goals. In contrast to the Helsinki Convention, the European Union has economic, political and legal mandates to further implementation and compliance. Equally important is the need for strengthening of local institutions, particularly Water Boards and independent agricultural advisory services in the eastern Baltic Sea Region countries. There is also an urgent need for implementation of voluntary land-use measures where EU funding available to farmers is more broadly and effectively used by providing it on the basis of estimated abatement performance, which can be realized through modelling. The enormous potential for funding performance-based schemes, manure management infrastructure and advisory services through the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy are currently underutilized.
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| 18. |
- Brady, Mark V., et al.
(författare)
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Valuing Supporting Soil Ecosystem Services in Agriculture: A Natural Capital Approach
- 2015
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Ingår i: Agronomy Journal. - : Wiley. - 0002-1962 .- 1435-0645. ; 107:5, s. 1809-1821
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Soil biodiversity through its delivery of ecosystem functions and attendant supporting ecosystem services-benefits soil organisms generate for farmers-underpins agricultural production. Yet lack of practical methods to value the long-term effects of current farming practices results, inevitably, in short-sighted management decisions. We present a method for valuing changes in supporting soil ecosystem services and associated soil natural capital-the value of the stock of soil organisms-in agriculture, based on resultant changes in future farm income streams. We assume that a relative change in soil organic C (SOC) concentration is correlated with changes in soil biodiversity and the generation of supporting ecosystem services. To quantify the effects of changes in supporting services on agricultural productivity, we fitted production functions to data from long-term field experiments in Europe and the United States. The different agricultural treatments at each site resulted in significant changes in SOC concentrations with time. Declines in associated services are shown to reduce both maximum yield and fertilizer-use efficiency in the future. The average depreciation of soil natural capital, for a 1% relative reduction in SOC concentration, was 144 (sic) ha(-1) (SD 47 (sic) ha(-1)) when discounting future values to their current value at 3%; the variation was explained by site-specific factors and the current SOC concentration. Moreover, the results show that soil ecosystem services cannot be fully replaced by purchased inputs; they are imperfect substitutes. We anticipate that our results will both encourage and make it possible to include the value of soil natural capital in decisions.
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| 19. |
- Cong, Rong Gang, et al.
(författare)
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Managing soil natural capital : a prudent strategy for adapting to future risks
- 2017
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Ingår i: Annals of Operations Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0254-5330 .- 1572-9338. ; 255:1-2, s. 439-463
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Farmers are exposed to substantial weather and market related risks. Rational farmers seek to avoid large losses. Future climate change and energy price fluctuations therefore make adaptating to increased risks particularly important for them. Managing soil natural capital—the capacity of the soil to generate ecosystem services of benefit to farmers—has been proven to generate the double dividend: increasing farm profit and reducing associated risk. In this paper we explore whether managing soil natural capital has a third dividend: reducing the downside risk (increasing the positive skewness of profit). This we refer to as the prudence effect which can be viewed as an adaptation strategy for dealing with future uncertainties through more prudent management of soil natural capital. We do this by developing a dynamic stochastic portfolio model to optimize the stock of soil natural capital—as indicated by soil organic carbon (SOC) content—that considers the mean, variance and skewness of profits from arable farming. The SOC state variable can be managed by the farmer only indirectly through the spatial and temporal allocation of land use. We model four cash crops and a grass ley that generates no market return but replenishes SOC. We find that managing soil natural capital can, not only improve farm profit while reducing the risk, but also reduce the downside risk. Prudent adaptation to future risks should therefore consider the impact of current agricultural management practices on the stock of soil natural capital.
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| 20. |
- Cong, Ronggang, et al.
(författare)
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Optimizing intermediate ecosystem services in agriculture using rules based on landscape composition and configuration indices
- 2016
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 128, s. 214-223
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Important intermediate ecosystem services (ES) such as crop pollination and biological control of pests, which underpin the final ES agricultural yields, are mediated by mobile organisms that depend on availability of habitat and its arrangement in the landscape. It has been suggested that landscape-scale management (LSM) of habitat in a multi-farm setting results in higher provisioning of such ES compared to farm-scale management (FSM). However, to achieve the LSM solution, farmers' land-use decisions need to be coordinated. To this end, we develop rules based on novel landscape composition and configuration indices. We model farmers' interdependencies through ES in an agent-based model (ABM) and optimize land use at both the farm and landscape scales for comparison. Our analysis is based on a simple artificial landscape with homogeneous soil quality and uses crop pollination as an illustrative ecosystem service. We consider habitat configuration at the field scale. Our rules demonstrate that the coordinated solution is characterized by a higher degree of habitat availability and a configuration of habitat that is dispersed rather than agglomerated. We tested these rules over a range of assumptions about ecological parameter values and suggest that such rules could be used to improve governance of ES in agricultural landscapes.
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