The carbon flux from burning biomass for energy is often legislated, or simply assumed, to be carbon neutral as subsequent forest growth sequesters carbon lost during energy production. In this sense, there may be no net contributions to atmospheric carbon flux associated with biomass energy....

This paper serves to document the REPA Forest Trade Model – a global model of forest trade that consists of ten products across two horizontal layers in a vertical chain. The model includes 20 regions: Five Canadian regions (Atlantic Canada, Central Canada, Alberta, BC Interior and BC Coast),...

In this paper, we analyze the potential impact on producers’ land-use decisions in moving from support payments based on entitlements to a single farm payment (SFP). Further, we then consider a single farm payment with a greening component as part of the 2013 CAP reform. Using data for...

Weather derivatives based on heating degree days or cooling degree days have been traded in financial markets for more than 10 years. Although used by the energy sector, agricultural producers have been slow to adopt this technology even though agriculture is particularly vulnerable to weather...

In this paper, we examine the impacts of changes in Canada’s AgriStability program on crop allocation, particularly the change in the payment trigger associated with the shift from Growing Forward (GF) to Growing Forward 2 (GF2). To examine whether this change could affect production...

This study examines the impact of climate change on land use in the Prairie Pothole Region of Western Canada, with particular emphasis on how climate change will impact wetlands. A multi-region Positive Mathematical Programming model calibrates land use in the area to observed acreage in 2006....

Agricultural expansion and intensification in Canada’s Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) have contributed to declining waterfowl populations since the 1970s. Although this region represents a mere 10% of North America’s waterfowl breeding habitat, it produces over 50% of the continent’s duck...

The government of British Columbia imposes restrictions on the export of logs from public and private forestlands, primarily to promote local processing and associated employment benefits. Economists wholeheartedly oppose BC’s export restrictions, arguing that BC’s citizens are worse off as...

This paper deals with forest trade modelling from a theoretical, analytic and empirical perspective. An integrated dynamic log-lumber trade model is developed and then used to examine two trade issues, namely, a reduction of Russian taxes on log exports and removal of the taxes on Canadian...

Wildfires in British Columbia result not only in large direct damages, but also significant indirect losses associated with lost amenity values and the risk to life and property. The indirect values can potentially be measured by changes in property values. In this study, we assume that the...