In German agriculture structural change is mainly a result of the outmigration of smaller farms from the sector. The decisions of these farmers to leave or stay in the sector, are not based solely on financial data and market expectations. Other aspects are important such as the preservation of...

This paper presents a regional land-use model that conceives farms as independent agents aiming at maximum individual utility. Farm agents optimize their utility with the help of a linear-programming algorithm that takes into account natural, economic and personal restrictions. Interactions...

‘Farming for Nature’, a relatively new policy instrument being tried out in the Netherlands, is evaluated. The concept has been designed to allow dairy farmers to improve nature conservation on their farms. Under the scheme, no manure, fertilizer, or feed – concentrates or...

Dry land salinisation is a significant cause of land and water degradation in Australia. Changing land use from annual to perennial crops has been widely proposed as a means to reduce land degradation and increase the productivity of saline land. However, in many areas annual crops are...

The main objective of the paper is to study the importance of regional preferences in financing agri-environmental programs. The analysis is based on results of a case study conducted in South-eastern Poland. As environmental protection in agriculture is complex and often considered in political...

With the Water Framework Directive (WFD), the European Union has established a legal framework for the protection of all aquatic ecological systems, including groundwater. This directive may have advantages for the water regime in ecologically sensitive areas but may also bring some economic...

The increasing concern over climate change has led to a number of international agreements to control greenhouse gas emissions. Agriculture currently accounts for 28 percent of Ireland’s total greenhouse gas emission and therefore has a major role to play in Ireland achieving its emissions...

To improve the livelihood of the poor in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) much attention has been paid to the development of new agricultural technologies. We hypothesize that farmers can also improve their livelihood through cooperation. Partial cooperation, in which knowledge is shared or bargaining...

Livestock rations are formulated to minimize feed cost subject to nutritional requirements for a target performance level, which ignores the potentially substantial cost of disposing of nutrients fed in excess of nutritional requirements. We incorporate nutrient disposal costs into a modified...

The effects of considering variable within-farm soil runoff and leaching potential on costs of reducing nitrogen losses are analyzed for a Virginia dairy. Manure applications may cause nitrogen losses through runoff and leaching because of factors such as uncertain nitrogen mineralization....