Does scale matter? Cost-effectiviness of agricultural nutrient abatement when target level varies

Agriculture is facing stringent requirements for nutrient loss reductions. These reductions should be done cost-effectively. For instance, the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) emphasizes cost-effectiveness in reaching good water status in European river basins by 2015. River Basin Management Plans specify the eventual reduction targets, which will differ between the basins. These differences have implications on cost-effectiveness assessments: changing the level of total abatement changes the relative shares of measures in the cost-effective allocation. In this paper we develop a model which determines the cost-effective allocation of three alternative measures to reduce phosphorus loss from fields. The model allows for comparisons with cost and reductions of all possible allocations. We show that, even for homogenous regions, the cost-effective allocation of measures is strongly dependent on the target level, and that using the allocation from one reduction level as a guideline for other levels violates cost-effectiveness seriously. On the grounds of these results we give recommendations for cost-effectiveness assessments in the context of the WFD

Does Scale Matter? Cost Effectiveness of Agricultural Nutrient Abatement When Target Level Varies

Agricultural production is facing high requirements on nutrient runoff reduction. Furthermore, the reductions should by done efficiently. For instance, the European Water Framework Directive calls for cost-effectiveness from schemes of measures to fulfill the target of good water quality in European river basins. In this paper we analyse the implications of target level variation on efficiency properties of agricultural phosphorus abatement. We analyse the robustness of cost-effectiveness as the scheme of measures is adopted from another, identical river basin with different target level on total phosphorus abatement. We find that even between homogeneous regions the cost-effective scheme of measures is unique for all target levels of reduction, and that the costs of adoting cost-effective allocations out of scale are high.cost-effectiveness, phosphorus abatement, buffer strips, wetlands, fertilizer use, water framework directive, Crop Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q18, Q25,

Dynamically optimal phosphorus management and agricultural water protection

This paper puts forward a model of the role of phosphorus in crop production, soil phosphorus dynamics and phosphorus loading that integrates the salient economic and ecological features of agricultural phosphorus management. The model accounts for the links between phosphorus fertilization, crop yield, accumulation of soil phosphorus reserves, and phosphorus loading. It can be used to guide precision phosphorus management and erosion control as means to mitigate agricultural loading. Using a parameterization for cereal production in southern Finland, the model is solved numerically to analyze the intertemporally optimal combination of fertilization and erosion and the associated soil phosphorus development. The optimal fertilizer application rate changes markedly over time in response to changes in the soil phosphorus level. When, for instance, soil phosphorus is initially above the socially optimal steady state level, annually matching phosphorus application to the prevailing soil phosphorus stock produces significantly higher social welfare than using a fixed fertilizer application rate. Erosion control was found to increase welfare only on land that is highly susceptible to erosion

Dynamically Optimal Phosphorus Management and Agricultural Water Protection

This paper puts forward a model of the role of phosphorus in crop production, soil phosphorus dynamics and phosphorus loading that integrates the salient economic and ecological features of agricultural phosphorus management. The model accounts for the links between phosphorus fertilization, crop yield, accumulation of soil phosphorus reserves, and phosphorus loading. It can be used to guide precision phosphorus management and erosion control as means to mitigate agricultural loading. Using a parameterization for cereal production in southern Finland, the model is solved numerically to analyze the intertemporally optimal combination of fertilization and erosion control and the associated soil phosphorus development. The optimal fertilizer application rate changes markedly over time in response to changes in the soil phosphorus level. When, for instance, soil phosphorus is initially above the socially optimal steady state level, annually matching phosphorus application to the prevailing soil phosphorus stock produces significantly higher social welfare than using a fixed fertilizer application rate. Erosion control was found to increase welfare only on land that is highly susceptible to erosion.precision nutrient management, agricultural phosphorus loading, cereal production, soil phosphorus reserves, agricultural water pollution, dynamic programming, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy,

From Top–Down Regulation to Bottom–Up Solutions: Reconfiguring Governance of Agricultural Nutrient Loading to Waters

Animal agriculture is shifting toward larger farms and regional agglomerations in many countries. In step with this development, manure nutrients have started accumulating regionally, and are leading to increasing eutrophication problems. Nevertheless, the same trend may also prompt innovations in manure treatment. For example, Valio Ltd (the largest dairy processer in Finland) is planning a network of facilities that would remove water from manure, fraction the nutrients in it, and produce biogas from the excess methane. One of the main hurdles in developing this technology is that the current regulatory framework does not support a shift from diffuse loading, which is seen in the traditional application of manure on fields, to point-source loading; the regulations may even prevent such a change. This article analyzes a governance framework that addresses this dilemma in EU–Finland, and discusses how the governance described could curtail the nutrient loading of agriculture to waters. The approach is based on adaptive governance theory. We argue that traditional top–down regulation, which emphasizes food security, contains serious shortcomings when it comes to managing agricultural nutrient loading to waters, and that the current regulatory framework does not necessarily have the adaptive capacity to facilitate new, bottom–up solutions for manure treatment. Interestingly, the strict water quality requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) open new windows of opportunity for such solutions, and thus for improving the overall sustainability of animal agriculture

Animal waste regulation and transboundary water quality

Control of animal waste has been a major policy challenge. We identify the properties of efficient regulation and suggest that effective policies to control animal waste will enhance utilization of manure in local production and may change land allocation among crops. We also show that policies that aim to control local environmental problems, ignoring spillover among regions, may be significantly suboptimal and need to be replaced by policies with a global perspective.vo

An integrated simulation model to evaluate national policies for the abatement of agricultural nutrients in the Baltic Sea

This study introduces a prototype model for evaluating policies to abate agricultural nutrients in the Baltic Sea from a Finnish national point of view. The stochastic simulation model integrates nutrient dynamics of nitrogen and phosphorus in the sea basins adjoining the Finnish coast, nutrient loads from land and other sources, benefits from nutrient abatement (in the form of recreation and other ecosystem services) and the costs of agricultural abatement activities. The aim of this study is to present the overall structure of the model and to demonstrate its potential using preliminary parameters

An integrated simulation model to evaluate national policies for the abatement of agricultural nutrients in the Baltic Sea

This study introduces a prototype model for evaluating policies to abate agricultural nutrients in the Baltic Sea from a Finnish national point of view. The stochastic simulation model integrates nutrient dynamics of nitrogen and phosphorus in the sea basins adjoining the Finnish coast, nutrient loads from land and other sources, benefits from nutrient abatement (in the form of recreation and other ecosystem services) and the costs of agricultural abatement activities. The aim of this study is to present the overall structure of the model and to demonstrate its potential using preliminary parameters. The model is made flexible for further improvements in all of its ecological and economic components. Results of a sensitivity analysis suggest that investments in reducing the nutrient runoff from arable land in Finland would become profitable only if Finland’s neighbors in the northern Baltic committed themselves to similar reductions. Environmental investments for improving water quality yield the highest returns for the Bothnian Bay and the Gulf of Finland, and smaller returns for the Bothnian Sea. In the Bothnian Bay, the abatement activities become profitable because the riverine loads from Finland represent a high proportion of the total nutrient loads. In the Gulf of Finland, this proportion is low, but the size of the coastal population benefiting from improved water quality is high.ecosystem services, nutrient abatement, Monte Carlo simulation, recreation, valuation, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Kansalaisten näkemykset vesivoiman tuotannosta ja sen luontovaikutusten hallinnasta : Kansalaiskyselyn tulokset

Vesivoima on merkittävä osa Suomen energiantuotantopalettia. Vesivoima tuottaa suhteessa muihin tuotantotapoihin vähän päästöjä ja on merkittävä tapa tuottaa säätösähköä. Se on myös olennainen tekijä ilmastonmuutoksen hillinnässä. Vesivoiman patorakenteet ja virtaamien säännöstely vaikuttavat kuitenkin haitallisesti jokiympäristöjen ekosysteemiin, vaelluskalakantoihin ja maisemaan. Suomalaisen vesivoiman tulevaisuus on puristuksissa energiamarkkinoiden kehittymisen, energiahuoltovarmuuden, Euroopan unionin ilmasto- ja biodiversiteettistrategioiden ja vesipuitedirektiivin vaatimusten keskellä. Kansalaisten näkemykset vesivoiman tuotannosta ja sen luontohaittojen hallinnasta voivat osaltaan tukea pitkäjänteistä päätöksentekoa. Tämä raportti selventää kansalaisten näkemyksiä ja arvoja liittyen vesivoiman tuotantoon ja sen aiheuttamien luontohaittojen hallintamenetelmiin ja tavoitteisiin vuonna 2021 tehdyn verkkokyselyn perusteella. Tulosten perusteella jokiympäristöissä virkistäytyy aktiivinen, erityisesti lähialueillaan liikkuva ihmisten joukko. Retkeilemään jokiympäristöt kutsuvat toki myös kauempaa. Virkistyskäyttöarvot eivät ylitä luonnonarvoja asennekysymyksissä. Luontohaittojen hallinnan asenteissa haetaan kompromisseja yhdessä energiantuotannon huoltovarmuuden kanssa. Vesivoimatuotannon kohdistaminen eniten energiaa tuottaviin vesistöihin suurissa toimintayksiköissä saa kannatusta. Ekologinen kompensaatio saa toimintatapana varovaista tukea, kunhan vaikutusalueiden ihmisiä kuullaan ja sitä käytetään teknisten keinojen loputtua. Vesivoimantuottajia pidetään vastuullisina vähentämään aiheuttamaansa luontohaittaa. Kansalaiset ovat silti valmiita osallistumaan taloudellisesti jokivesien kunnostamisen kustannuksiin. Maksuhalukkuus jokiympäristöjen kunnostustoimista kohdistuu erityisesti laajoihin toimenpiteisiin, joissa uusien vaelluskalavesistöjen syntymisellä on erityismerkitys. Tunnistamme lisäksi mieltymyksiltään kolme erilaista ryhmää, sekä tutkimme puoluekantojen liittymistä asenteisiin. Tutkimus kuuluu Suomen Akatemian rahoittamaan SusHydro - Kohti ympäristöllisesti, taloudellisesti ja yhteiskunnallisesti kestävää vesivoimatuotannon hallintaa -hankkeeseen

Toward the Baltic Sea Socioeconomic Action Plan

Abstract This paper analyzes the main weaknesses and key avenues for improvement of nutrient policies in the Baltic Sea region. HELCOM’s Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP), accepted by the Baltic Sea countries in 2007, was based on an innovative ecological modeling of the Baltic Sea environment and addressed the impact of the combination of riverine loading and transfer of nutrients on the ecological status of the sea and its sub-basins. We argue, however, that the assigned country-specific targets of nutrient loading do not reach the same level of sophistication, because they are not based on careful economic and policy analysis. We show an increasing gap between the state-of-the-art policy alternatives and the existing command-and-control-based approaches to the protection of the Baltic Sea environment and outline the most important steps for a Baltic Sea Socioeconomic Action Plan. It is time to raise the socioeconomic design of nutrient policies to the same level of sophistication as the ecological foundations of the BSAP. Keywords Cost-effectiveness Incentives Innovation Manure Performance-based policyAbstract This paper analyzes the main weaknesses and key avenues for improvement of nutrient policies in the Baltic Sea region. HELCOM’s Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP), accepted by the Baltic Sea countries in 2007, was based on an innovative ecological modeling of the Baltic Sea environment and addressed the impact of the combination of riverine loading and transfer of nutrients on the ecological status of the sea and its sub-basins. We argue, however, that the assigned country-specific targets of nutrient loading do not reach the same level of sophistication, because they are not based on careful economic and policy analysis. We show an increasing gap between the state-of-the-art policy alternatives and the existing command-and-control-based approaches to the protection of the Baltic Sea environment and outline the most important steps for a Baltic Sea Socioeconomic Action Plan. It is time to raise the socioeconomic design of nutrient policies to the same level of sophistication as the ecological foundations of the BSAP. Keywords Cost-effectiveness Incentives Innovation Manure Performance-based policyPeer reviewe