Getting the Most for Federal Dollars: Landowner Responsiveness to Conservation Incentives

Previous research on landowner willingness to retire land into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is based on cross-sectional data prior to 2002. Using enrollment data on a CRP subprogram from 1998 to 2010 we find that incentives matter more for pasture than cropland, and we find that counties producing cattle respond more strongly to current incentives. We also see an idiosyncratic lack of participation in Washington State. Finally, contrary to one recent study, we see that the discounted stream of payments matters to producers as much as up-front incentives. In counties producing few cattle, up-front incentives have virtually no effect.