Investigating the Factors Influencing the Intention to Adopt Long-Term Land Leasing in Northern Ireland

Publication history: Accepted - 7 March 2023; Published - 9 March 2023.Short-term land rental agreements such as the traditional conacre system in Northern Ireland offer flexibility between the landowners and the farmers renting the land. However, the uncertainty of tenure linked to such short-term land rental systems does not allow for farmers renting the land to make longer-term investment planning and decisions, particularly around sustainable land management practices. Long-term tenancy agreements have been identified as a viable option to cope with short-term uncertainties and improve the environmental management of the land. In this study, we analysed the factors influencing farmers’ intention to adopt long-term land leasing with and without income tax incentives in Northern Ireland. To achieve our objective, we employed ordered logistic regression models complemented with qualitative analysis. The results of our analyses showed that varying factors including risk attitude, pro-environmental behaviour, profit consciousness, having a dairy enterprise, the area of farmland owned, the presence of a successor, and the age and education of the farmer influence farmers’ intention to adopt long-term land leasing. However, variability exists depending on the farmers’ rental status and availability of income tax incentives. It can be concluded from the study that policies aimed at encouraging long-term land leasing should take a holistic approach that incorporates environmental and socioeconomic factors.This research was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) as part of the Evidence and Innovation Programme (DAERA E&I), grant number 19-1-05

Analysis of the effect of alternative agri-environmental policy instruments on production performance and nitrogen surplus of representative dairy farms

peer-reviewedNitrogen (N) surplus is an important environmental problem on the island of Ireland (Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland), and the dairy sector has been identified as contributing more to this problem compared to other agricultural sectors. As a result, there has been increased demand for efficient policy measures to improve the economic and environmental performance of dairy farms in the region. In this study, we employed the positive mathematical programming (PMP) optimization modelling framework to simulate the economic and environmental impact of two alternative agri-environmental policy instruments on different dairy farm types. Specifically, the study considers the effects of an N surplus tax and an agri-environmental nutrient application standard on the production performance and N surplus of representative dairy farms using scenario analyses. The results of the analyses showed that the effects of the agri-environmental policy instruments vary across the two countries and clusters of dairy farms, resulting in clear differential effects on farm structure and N surpluses. The study concluded that in situations where the nutrient surplus is already high, as with the large farms clusters in this study, the use of manure application standards will be more effective in limiting nutrient surplus to soils compared to the use of nutrient surplus tax

Gamma and Beta functions

U ovom radu prezentirana su neka osnovna svojstva gama i beta funkcija te iskazan Bohr-Mollerupov teorem. Osim toga, razmatrane su primjene gama i beta funkcija pri računanju integrala koje nije moguće izračunati uobičajenim metodama.In this paper, some properties of gamma and beta functions are given and the Bohr-Mollerup theorem is presented. Applications of gamma and beta functions in calculating integrals that cannot be solved by conventional methods are also considered

EFFICIENCY DIFFERENTIALS OF FOREIGN AND LOCAL FARMERS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT The Nigerian agricultural sector is dominated by small scale farmers who by virtue of their low income have dwindling capacity to access and procure capital, labour and modern inputs. In theory, it is believed that foreign direct investment in agriculture is essential to ameliorate this problem of inadequate capital faced by the farmers and consequently raise agricultural productivity. However, debate relating to the veracity of this statement and the sustainability of the concept still rages on. This study therefore attempted to examine issues of productive efficiencies between foreign and domestic farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria. The study was conducted in Shonga, Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State. A two stage random sampling technique was used to obtain data from 50 domestic farmers and the enumeration of all the foreign commercial farmers from Zimbabwe in the study area. Major tools of analysis used for the study include: Descriptive Statistics and Data Envelopment analysis. Results of the study revealed a higher mean Technical Allocative and Economic Efficiencies for the New Nigerian farmers (Foreign Commercial Farmers) compared to that of the domestic farmers with a significant difference in the means of the overall Economic Efficiency between the two groups. It was therefore established in the study that foreign commercial farmers are more efficient than the domestic farmers. In line with the result of the study, it is recommended that the government should design policy strategies that would encourage private sector participation and technology transfer as well as ensure the use of modern farming techniques to increase efficiency of agricultural production in the country

Toward a Resilient Future: The Promise of Microbial Bioeconomy

Naturally occurring resources, such as water, energy, minerals, and rare earth elements, are limited in availability, yet they are essential components for the survival and development of all life. The pressure on these finite resources is anthropogenic, arising from misuse, overuse, and overdependence, which causes a loss of biodiversity and climate change and poses great challenges to sustainable development. The focal points and principles of the bioeconomy border around ensuring the constant availability of these natural resources for both present and future generations. The rapid growth of the microbial bioeconomy is promising for the purpose of fostering a resilient and sustainable future. This highlights the economic opportunity of using microbial-based resources to substitute fossil fuels in novel products, processes, and services. The subsequent discussion delves into the essential principles required for implementing the microbial bioeconomy. There is a further exploration into the latest developments and innovations in this sub-field. The multi-sectoral applications include use in bio-based food and feed products, energy recovery, waste management, recycling, and cascading. In multi-output production chains, enhanced microbes can simultaneously produce multiple valuable and sustainable products. The review also examines the barriers and facilitators of bio-based approaches for a sustainable economy. Despite limited resources, microbial-based strategies demonstrate human ingenuity for sustaining the planet and economy. This review highlights the existing research and knowledge and paves the way for a further exploration of advancements in microbial knowledge and its potential applications in manufacturing, energy production, reduction in waste, hastened degradation of waste, and environmental conservation

Economic Viability of Adoption of Automated Oestrus Detection Technologies on Dairy Farms: A Review

The decision for dairy farmers to invest in automated oestrus detection (AOD) technologies involves the weighing up of the costs and benefits of implementation. In this paper, through a review of the existing literature, we examine the impacts of investment in AOD technologies in relation to the profitability and technical performance of dairy farms. Peer-reviewed articles published between 1970 and 2019 on the investment viability of AOD technologies were collated and analysed. We capture the different measures used in assessing the economic performance of investment in AOD technologies over time which include net present value (NPV), milk production, Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR), internal rate of return (IRR) and payback period (PBP). The study concludes that investment in AOD technologies is not only worthwhile but also contributes to farm profitability

The impact of alternative agri-environmental policy instruments on the economic and environmental performance of dairy farms on the island of Ireland

Nitrogen (N) surplus is an important environmental issue on the island of Ireland (Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland), with dairy farms contributing more compared to other agricultural sectors. As a result, there has been increased demand for efficient policy measures to improve the economic and environmental performance of dairy farms in both countries. In this study, we employed the positive mathematical programming (PMP) optimization modelling framework to simulate the economic and environmental impact of two alternative agri-environmental policy instruments on different dairy farm types. Specifically, the study considers the effects of N surplus tax and agri-environmental nutrient application standard in which farms are not allowed to apply more than 170Kg of livestock N manure per hectare on dairy farms. The results of the analyses showed that the effects agri-environmental policy instruments vary across the two countries and clusters of dairy farms, resulting in clear differential effects on farm structure and N surpluses. The study concluded that in situations where the nutrient surplus is already high, as with the large farms clusters in this study, the use of manure application standards will be more effective in limiting nutrient surplus to soils compared to the use of nutrient surplus tax

Environmental technical efficiency and phosphorus pollution abatement cost in dairy farms : A parametric hyperbolic distance function approach

The dairy sector is an important sector in Northern Ireland being the single largest contributor to its agricultural economy. However, the sector contributes more to soil phosphorus (P) surplus compared to other agricultural sectors. Consequently, the goal of this research is to analyse the environmental technical efficiency of dairy farms making use of a novel parametric hyperbolic distance function approach. The model is able to internalise P surplus as undesirable output in the dairy production process by treating desirable and undesirable outputs asymmetrically, thereby allowing for the maximum expansion of the desirable output and an equi-proportionate contraction of the undesirable output. The stochastic production frontier model is analysed simultaneously with an inefficiency model to explain variability in efficiency scores assuming the existence of heteroskedasticity in the idiosyncratic error term. Additionally, we estimated the shadow price and pollution cost ratio of P surplus in dairy farms. Our results showed that the average environmental technical efficiency estimates for dairy farms in Northern Ireland is 0.93. Intensification resulting in increased use of concentrates feed was found to be negatively related to environmental technical efficiency. We also found that age of the farmer and share of milk output have a positive relationship with environmental technical efficiency