Food
Environment
Trade
Risk
BiorenewablesAgriculture and the Environment
Objective: To assess the environmental health of midwestern agriculture and the consequences of alternative agricultural and environmental management policies for environmental quality.
Economic incentives for conservation tillage adoption
In this study, we try to gauge the effect of a direct subsidy on the adoption of conservation tillage practices in the state of Iowa. The analysis used 1992 data and found that in that year, on average, a subsidy of $2.40 per acre for corn and $3.50 per acre per year for soybeans would have allowed Iowa farmers to overcome a possible profit loss and aversion to the risks they perceived in adopting conservation tillage practices. Because of the varying soil, weather, and farmer characteristics, the adoption is predicted to differ significantly across Iowa. See "The Subsidy for Adopting Conservation Tillage," CARD Working Paper 01-WP 286.
Economic assessment of multiple benefits of conservation tillage
We estimate empirically the multiple benefits of a subsidy policy that would offer payments to farmers in return for the adoption of conservation tillage and compare the outcomes of alternative targeting designs for such a policy.
We assess the costs and environmental consequences of two targeting options. The first is a practice-based policy instrument that maximizes the acres of land in conservation tillage, regardless of the level of environmental benefits achieved. The second is a performance-based instrument that yields the highest amount of environmental benefits per dollar spent. We consider four performance-based benefits: carbon sequestration in agricultural soils, reduction in nitrogen runoff, reduction of erosion of soil by wind, and reduction of erosion of soil by water. We find that the practice-based instrument provides high proportions of the four benefits relative to the performance-based instrument, especially at higher budget levels. Similarly, we estimate that targeting one of the four benefits provides high percentages of the other benefits compared to the amounts obtainable if they were targeted directly. See CARD Working Paper 03-WP 326. See also Carbon Sequestration.
Transaction costs in environmental policy: assessment for carbon sequestration in agricultural soils
The 2002 farm bill includes conservation programs that could pay farmers for adoption of carbon-friendly agricultural practices. If soil carbon storage can be measured at the field level, a payment program can target sites with higher carbon storage potential, thereby cost-effectively achieving sequestration. When field level measurement is not available, the program can only target at more aggregate levels, such as counties or crop reporting districts. This study estimates the value of accurate field-scale measurement by estimating the cost savings associated with the ability to target at the field level. See CARD Working Paper 03-WP 338.
Designing alternative green payment policies in the presence of farm heterogeneity and multiple benefits
We investigate the environmental impacts of several forms of policies that offer farmers subsides in return for adoption of conservation tillage. The policies differ in whether the tillage practice or one of the environmental benefits is targeted. We develop an Environmental Lorenz Curve that fully represents the performance of the targeting policies and show that these curves can be used directly to help select the optimal targeting strategy for special classes of social welfare functions. The model is applied to the state of Iowa. See CARD Working Paper 03-WP 341.
In this study, we try to gauge the effect of a direct subsidy on the adoption of conservation tillage practices in the state of Iowa. The analysis used 1992 data and found that in that year, on average, a subsidy of $2.40 per acre for corn and $3.50 per acre per year for soybeans would have allowed Iowa farmers to overcome a possible profit loss and aversion to the risks they perceived in adopting conservation tillage practices. Because of the varying soil, weather, and farmer characteristics, the adoption is predicted to differ significantly across Iowa. See "The Subsidy for Adopting Conservation Tillage," CARD Working Paper 01-WP 286.
Economic assessment of multiple benefits of conservation tillage
We estimate empirically the multiple benefits of a subsidy policy that would offer payments to farmers in return for the adoption of conservation tillage and compare the outcomes of alternative targeting designs for such a policy.
We assess the costs and environmental consequences of two targeting options. The first is a practice-based policy instrument that maximizes the acres of land in conservation tillage, regardless of the level of environmental benefits achieved. The second is a performance-based instrument that yields the highest amount of environmental benefits per dollar spent. We consider four performance-based benefits: carbon sequestration in agricultural soils, reduction in nitrogen runoff, reduction of erosion of soil by wind, and reduction of erosion of soil by water. We find that the practice-based instrument provides high proportions of the four benefits relative to the performance-based instrument, especially at higher budget levels. Similarly, we estimate that targeting one of the four benefits provides high percentages of the other benefits compared to the amounts obtainable if they were targeted directly. See CARD Working Paper 03-WP 326. See also Carbon Sequestration.
Transaction costs in environmental policy: assessment for carbon sequestration in agricultural soils
The 2002 farm bill includes conservation programs that could pay farmers for adoption of carbon-friendly agricultural practices. If soil carbon storage can be measured at the field level, a payment program can target sites with higher carbon storage potential, thereby cost-effectively achieving sequestration. When field level measurement is not available, the program can only target at more aggregate levels, such as counties or crop reporting districts. This study estimates the value of accurate field-scale measurement by estimating the cost savings associated with the ability to target at the field level. See CARD Working Paper 03-WP 338.
Designing alternative green payment policies in the presence of farm heterogeneity and multiple benefits
We investigate the environmental impacts of several forms of policies that offer farmers subsides in return for adoption of conservation tillage. The policies differ in whether the tillage practice or one of the environmental benefits is targeted. We develop an Environmental Lorenz Curve that fully represents the performance of the targeting policies and show that these curves can be used directly to help select the optimal targeting strategy for special classes of social welfare functions. The model is applied to the state of Iowa. See CARD Working Paper 03-WP 341.