A methodology is described to establish the relative financial benefit of farm animal disease prevention (biosecurity). This methodology is demonstrated using the example of bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) incursion on beef suckler farms in Scotland. A random sample of 276 herds was taken...

Sheep welfare is an emerging topic in research and food marketing, and recent studies suggest that farm labour is a key factor for both animal welfare and productivity in extensive sheep farming systems, although little research has been done into labour utilisation in these systems. This paper...

Since decoupling of the CAP, many Scottish suckler cow farms are facing financial difficulties. In response, many farmers are out-wintering extensively managed suckler cows to minimise production costs. These systems are of animal welfare concern. A range of trade-offs between animal welfare...

The recent rise in food prices has increased concern about the choice of a healthy food basket, especially in the context of the current formulation of a National Food Policy for Scotland. This concern has revived interest in food price and expenditure demand systems as they provide information...

Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, land use, land use change and forestry (ALULUCF) are a significant percentage of UK industrial emissions. The UK Government is committed to ambitious targets for reducing emissions and all significant industrial sources are coming under increasing...

State and national policies driving ethanol production in Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the United States have elevated corn prices and subsequently the amount of land devoted to growing corn. There are concerns this may have a negative impact on water quality and other ecosystem services,...

The Environmental Stewardship Scheme provides payments to farmers for the provision of environmental services based on agricultural foregone income. This creates a potential incentive compatibility problem which, combined with an information asymmetry on farm land heterogeneity, could lead to...

The following paper assesses the impact of different policy options on the land use and associated biodiversity values of jointly organized low intensity grazing systems (‘Allmende’) in Southern Bavaria. We use an integrated economic and ecological modelling approach to compare the results...

With the latest reform of EU Structural Policy, the Highlands and Islands have been excluded from further support by Structural Funds beyond 2013, but the new Scottish Rural Development Programme has increased CAP Pillar 2 expenditures in Scotland. A modified version of a system dynamics model...

A basic right of both a consumer and a citizen is the right to be heard, and their voiced concerns have to be taken into account when developing policies and obtaining trust for government actions. Therefore this study focuses on consumers’ interests, opinions and expectations which are...