The environmental effects of various 'quality' and 'eco-labeling' programs in the Midi-Pyrenees region of the south of France are analyzed, using factor analysis, analysis of variance, and qualitative analysis. Implications for agri-environmental policies on both sides of the Atlantic are discussed.

The United Kingdom introduced the first agri-environmental scheme in the European Union in 1986. Since then, the United Kingdom has developed and implemented several other schemes that also feature stewardship payments to improve agriculture's environmental performance. In this article, lessons...

Multidisciplinary research and extension involving agricultural economics and sister agricultural disciplines entail several tensions arising out of differences in perspective and methodology. Recognition of these differences is essential to the achievement of effective and productive working...

The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) program, when launched in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1986, was the first agri-environmental program in the European Union (EU). This program grew to a total of 43 designated ESA schemes in the UK as a whole, 22 of which were in England. A variety of...

The potential of the USDA's new Conservation Security Program (CSP) for inducing farmers to adopt more ecologically diverse crop rotations in the Western Corn Belt is examined. Simulations are conducted for a representative farm model in southeastern South Dakota, using different assumptions...

Small-scale alcohol plants will have difficulty in supplying fuel that is competitive in cost with petroleum-based fuels. This is based upon economic findings form interdisciplinary research with a pilot fuel alcohol plant. Results of economic-engineering cost analyses and of fuel and feed...