A typical application of SEAMLESS-IF at macro level: a trade liberalization scenario applied to the EU

Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics,

IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF THE 2003 CAP REFORM AND THE NITRATE DIRECTIVE ON THE ARABLE FARMING SYSTEM IN THE MIDI-PYRÉNÉES REGION: BIO-ECONOMIC MODELING AT FIELD, FARM AND REGIONAL LEVELS

This paper analyses the impact of the 2003 CAP reform (the so-called Fischler Reform) and its interaction with the Nitrate Directive on the sustainability of selected arable farming systems in a French region (Midi-Pyrénées). The Nitrate Directive is one of the oldest EU environmental programs designed to reduce water pollution by nitrate from agricultural sources, through a set of measures, defined at regional level, and mandatory for farmers of vulnerable zones. This impact analysis is performed through a bio-economic modelling framework coupling the crop model CropSyst and the farm-based model FSSIM developed, within the EU FP6 SEAMLESS project (Van Ittersum et al., 2008). The 2003 CAP reform was compared first to the continuation of Agenda 2000 Regulations and then to a policy scenario combining the CAP reform with the application of the Nitrate Directive. Compared to the continuation of Agenda 2000 Regulations, the implementation of the 2003 CAP reform leads to (i) a decrease of durum wheat area, as the supplement for durum wheat in traditional production zones was reduced and integrated in the single payment scheme, (ii) a slight increase in the land used for irrigated crops, especially for maize grain, considering that 25% of the payments for these crops remain coupled and (iii) an amelioration of farm income due to a better crop allocation. Regarding the environmental results, the 2003 CAP reform induces a decrease of nitrate leaching mostly because of the drop in the level of durum wheat growing under cereal rotations in profit of soft wheat-sunflower rotation which generates less pollution levels. The impact analysis of the policy scenario shows that the potential 3% premium cut is not enough to compel farmers to adopt the Nitrate Directive and to substitute entirely the current activities by the alternative ones based on better N management. The farm income is marginally affected in spite of this premium cut thanks to the implementation of certain alternative activities which are more competitive. The impact on nitrate leaching is not always positive and swings between -6% to +5% depending on farm types. This implies that the partial adoption of better N management is not sufficient to ensure a reduction of leached nitrate. A sensitivity analysis shows that 17% of premium cut is required to enforce all arable farmers in the region to implement this directive.Integrated assessment, Agricultural Policy, Nitrate Directive, Bioeconomic modelling, multi-scale analysis., Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q18, Q52, Q58,

The major characteristics of environmental policies and agro-ecological technologies to be studied in Test case 2

Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use,

Agri-environmental policy in Germany: soil and water conservation

This paper is concerned with agri-environmental policy in Germany and focuses in particular on soil and water conservation. At first it discusses to what extent agriculture contributes to erosion and the pollution of surface waters and groundwater with nutrients and pesticides. Whereas erosion is a minor problem in Germany water pollution due to modern and intensive agriculture is of major concern. In theory, a broad range of environmental policy instruments exists. In practice, agri-environmental policy in Germany is dominated by command-and-control-measures, whereas incentivebased measures are of minor importance. In this paper recent developments of the most important legal and institutional settings concerning soil and water conservation policies are surveyed with special emphasis on the Federal Water Act and the Implementation of the EU Nitrate Directive into German legislation by the Fertilizer Ordinance. Since the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the EU heavily affects farm structure, production intensity and regional specialization in agriculture, agri-environmental issues cannot be discussed without taking into account agricultural policy. Hence, the paper argues, that for different reasons the CAP is likely to become more environmentally friendly in future. Furthermore, impacts of alternative water conservation policies are investigated by using a regionalized agricultural sector model. Information obtained by the model analysis cover the development of nitrogen balances, potential nitrate concentrations in the soil percolation water, potentially resulting costs and effects on the agricultural incomes in the former FRG on the county level. -- G E R M A N V E R S I O N: Im ersten Teil dieses Beitrages über Agrarumweltpolitik in Deutschland im Bereich des Bodenund Gewässerschutzes wird ein Überblick über den landwirtschaftlich bedingten Bodenabtrag und die Belastung von Oberflächengewässern und Grundwasser mit Nährstoffen und Pflanzenschutzmitteln gegeben. Während Erosion in Deutschland von geringer Relevanz ist, kommt der durch eine moderne und intensiv betriebene Landwirtschaft verursachten Gewässerverschmutzung eine erheblich größere Bedeutung zu. In der umweltökonomischen Theorie existiert eine Reihe von umweltpolitischen Instrumenten. In der Praxis wird die Umweltpolitik in Deutschland von Ge- und Verboten geprägt, während anreizorientierte Maßnahmen nur selten eingesetzt werden. Der Artikel untersucht die wichtigsten rechtlichen und institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen im Bereich der Boden- und Gewässerschutzpolitik, wobei das Schwergewicht auf dem Wasserhaushaltsgesetz und der Düngeverordnung liegt, mit der die EU-Nitratrichtlinie in deutsches Recht umgesetzt wird. Da die Gemeinsame Agrarpolitik der EU (GAP) die Betriebsstruktur, Produktionsintensität und die regionale Spezialisierung der Landwirtschaft beeinflußt, können Agrarumweltfragen nicht diskutiert werden, ohne die Agrarpolitik zu berücksichtigen. Aus verschiedenen Gründen ist es wahrscheinlich, daß die GAP in Zukunft etwas umweltfreundlicher gestaltet wird. Mit Hilfe eines regionalisierten Agrarsektormodells werden die Auswirkungen alternativer Grundwasserschutzstrategien analysiert. Die Modellergebnisse erlauben für die alten Bundesländer Deutschlands auf der Ebene der Landkreise Aussagen über die Entwicklung von Stickstoffbilanzen, potentiellen Nitratkonzentrationen im neugebildeten Grundwasser, hierdurch potentiell hervorgerufene Kosten und Auswirkungen auf die Einkommen in der Landwirtschaft.

Economics of Water Quality Protection from Nonpoint Sources: Theory and Practice

Water quality is a major environmental issue. Pollution from nonpoint sources is the single largest remaining source of water quality impairments in the United States. Agriculture is a major source of several nonpoint-source pollutants, including nutrients, sediment, pesticides, and salts. Agricultural nonpoint pollution reduction policies can be designed to induce producers to change their production practices in ways that improve the environmental and related economic consequences of production. The information necessary to design economically efficient pollution control policies is almost always lacking. Instead, policies can be designed to achieve specific environmental or other similarly related goals at least cost, given transaction costs and any other political, legal, or informational constraints that may exist. This report outlines the economic characteristics of five instruments that can be used to reduce agricultural nonpoint source pollution (economic incentives, standards, education, liability, and research) and discusses empirical research related to the use of these instruments.water quality, nonpoint-source pollution, economic incentives, standards, education, liability, research, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Evaluation of selected watershed characteristics to identify best management practices to reduce Nebraskan nitrate loads from Nebraska to the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River basin

Nebraskan streams contribute excess nitrogen to the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin and Gulf of Mexico, which results in major water-quality impairments. Reducing the amount of nitrogen (N) exported in these streams requires the use of best management practices (BMPs) within the landscape. However, proper BMP utilization has rarely been statistically connected to potential controls of N export within watersheds, particularly precipitation and soil characteristics. In this study, 19 watershed variables were evaluated in five categories (hydrological, physiographic, point sources, land use, and soil properties) to determine the characteristics that influenced variable nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N) concentrations in 17 Nebraska watersheds with known high NO3-N export rates. Each characteristic was derived from publicly-available datasets in an effort to develop a multiregional method. Of the 19 variables evaluated, 10 variables (developed, cropland, herbaceous, forest, excessively- drained soils, precipitation, base-flow index, slope, organic matter and point sources) were identified to statistically influence stream NO3-N concentrations. The 17 watersheds were divided into five subset groups using principal component analysis. Distributions of the 10 watershed variables were then used to determine the most applicable BMPs for NO3-N reductions for each stream subset: excessively drained with high baseflow index (Groups 1 and 2), dominantly row crop land usage with well-drained soils, higher precipitation, and an increased tendency for surface runoff concerns (Group 3), highly developed watersheds (Group 4), and single river dominated by wastewater treatment plant discharge (Group 5). Based on the most influential variables a variety of BMPs were recommended, including N fertilizer application management and accounting for N credit from mineralization and NO3-N in irrigation water (Groups 1 and 2), installation of riparian buffers and wetlands (Group 3), urban BMPs such as bioretention cells and permeable pavement (Group 4), and upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant (Group 5). This study provides an improved technique for facilitating watershed management by linking BMPs directly to the characteristics of each watershed to reduce current nitrate export

Approach towards an operational tool to apply institutional analysis for the assessment of policy feasibility within SEAMLESS-IF

Environmental Economics and Policy,