The recent reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have exposed the European agricultural sector to a new set of constraints and challenges. The decoupling of direct payments from production is expected to make production decisions more market-oriented as farmers move from mainly subsidy...

This paper conducts a detailed, micro-focused investigation on the implications of recent agricultural policy changes on the structure of production systems in Ireland, Denmark and the Netherlands in terms of farm numbers, system switching, specialisation, the role of economies of scale, on-farm...

Recent reform of the Common Agricultural Policy has led to the decoupling of direct payments to farmers from production. This policy change is expected to make farmers’ production decisions more market oriented as their subsidy revenue maximization objectives become profit maximizing...

Sustainability Indicators (economic, environmental and social) are developed here using Irish National Farm Survey (FADN) data over a ten-year period (1996-2006) in an attempt to measure the sustainability of Irish agriculture at the farm-level. The general concept of sustainability is discussed...

This paper describes a methodology to assess the impact of the decoupling of payments on Irish farms at a regional level. The methodology is based on a farm level dynamic linear programming model which optimises regional gross margin under a set of constraints. Regionally representative farms...

Under the Mac Sharry and Agenda 2000 reforms, direct payments comprised a significant portion of farmers' income in the EU. Farmers had to engage in production to receive these payments but the payments were relatively risk-free and therefore risk may not have played an important role in the...

Quota trade in Ireland is ‘ring fenced’ to milk processors where farmers are not allowed to trade milk quota outside their designated milk processor. This ensures milk production staying within a region but has implications for the efficiency of milk production. In this paper, we simulated a...

Implementation of the Mid Term Review of the Common Agricultural Policy on farming in Europe is expected, and intended, to initiate structural changes in European agriculture. This impact of the agricultural policy reform will be triggered at the farm level with both up- and down-stream effects...

This paper explores the implications of an expansion of the EU milk quota. The paper begins by examining the relative competitiveness of dairy farming in the EU. FADN data is used to derive production cost measures and partial productivity indicators for selected Member States. The results show...