Estimating the range of economic impacts on farms of nutrient leaching reduction policies

Fezzi, Carlo, Rigby, Dan, Bateman, Ian J., Hadley, David and Posen, Paulette (2008) Estimating the range of economic impacts on farms of nutrient leaching reduction policies. Agricultural Economics, 39 (2). pp. 197-205. ISSN 1574-0862

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Abstract

Declining agricultural incomes, increasing concern over rural poverty and sporadic crises such as those of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and Foot and Mouth Disease mean that the imposition of further costs on U.K. agriculture are likely to be politically and socially sensitive. Such additional costs are however on the agenda with the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD; European Commission, 2000). The WFD aims to achieve “good ecological status” in EU water bodies reducing, inter alia, diffuse pollution from agriculture. In this study, we assess four possible WFD measures proposed to the U.K. Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs: reducing inorganic fertilizer application, conversion of arable land to ungrazed grassland, reducing livestock stocking rates, and reducing livestock dietary N and P intakes. For each measure, changes in farm gross margins (FGMs) are estimated using a dataset of over 2000 farms. In contrast to previous analyses, which have focussed upon mean responses on stylized farms, our approach allows the analysis of the range of impacts across a wide variety of real-world farms and farm types. Findings reveal high variability in impacts. Cost-effectiveness analysis indicates that, on average, cropping farms seem capable of reducing nutrient leaching in a more cost-efficient way than livestock or dairy enterprises.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE) Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Resources, Sustainability and Governance (former - to 2018) Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Rosie Cullington
Date Deposited:	25 Feb 2011 10:53
Last Modified:	22 Apr 2023 01:03
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/24746
DOI:	10.1111/j.1574-0862.2008.00323.x

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