A generic template for FSSIM

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

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,

A generic template for FSSIM

The aim of this report is to describe the generic template of the Farm System Simulator FSSIM) designed to be applied for any farming systems across Europe for simulating farmer behaviour and assessing policy impacts. FSSIM is a bio-economic farm model which integrates biophysical processes, farm decision making and resource endowment. It consists of an agricultural management module (FSSIM-AM) and a mathematical programming model (FSSIM-MP). FSSIM-AM aims to identify current and alternative activities and to quantify their input output coefficients (both yields and environmental effects). FSSIM-MP seeks to describe the farmer’s behaviour given a set of biophysical, socio-economic and policy constraints and to predict his/her reactions under news technologies, policy and market changes

EU‐wide impacts of the 2013 CAP direct payments reform: a farm‐level analysis

This paper analyzes the microeconomic effects of the 2013 reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This is done using the EU-wide individual farm model (IFM-CAP). Simulation results show that although the reform succeeded to partially harmonize direct payments (DP) among farms and Member States, relatively strong differences in the distribution still remain in place. Around 62% of the farms increase their income, whereas the remaining 38% lose from the reform. The reform benefits small farms, while large farms lose out. As measured by the Gini coefficient, the 2013-CAP reform only partially reduces the disparity in the distribution of DP and farm income among farms. The Gini decomposition shows that subsidies (in particular decoupled payments) contribute to a decrease in the inequality of total farm income. The future CAP reform needs to have a stronger overhaul of the DP system in order to achieve a substantial reduction in inequality in the distribution of payments among farms and regions in EU

Modelling Livestock Component in FSSIM

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

FSSIM, a bio-economic farm model for simulating the response of EU farming systems to agricultural and environmental policies

The disciplinary nature of most existing farm models as well as the issue specific orientation of most of the studies in agricultural systems research are main reasons for the limited use and re-use of bio-economic modelling for the ex-ante integrated assessment of policy decisions. The objective of this article is to present a bio-economic farm model that is generic and re-usable for different bio-physical and socio-economic contexts, facilitating the linking of micro and macro analysis or to provide detailed analysis of farming systems in a specific region. Model use is illustrated in this paper with an analysis of the impacts of the CAP reform of 2003 for arable and livestock farms in a context of market liberalization. Results from the application of the model to representative farms in Flevoland (the Netherlands) and Midi-Pyrenees (France) shows that CAP reform 2003 under market liberalization will cause substantial substitution of root crops and durum wheat by vegetables and oilseed crops. Much of the set-aside area will be put into production intensifying the existing farming systems. Abolishment of the milk quota system will cause an increase of the average herd size. The average total gross margin of farm types in Flevoland decreases while the average total gross margin of farms in Midi-Pyrenees increases. The results show that the model can simulate arable and livestock farm types of two regions different from a bio-physical and socio-economic point of view and it can deal with a variety of policy instruments. The examples show that the model can be (re-)used as a basis for future research and as a comprehensive tool for future policy analysis

Integration of all FSSIM components within SEAMLESS-IF and a stand alone Graphical User Interface for FSSIM

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