'Cijfers noodzaak in onderhandelingen'

De Nederlandse regering wil directe steun aan boeren vervangen door een beloning voor maatschappelijke diensten. De onderhandelingen daarover in Brussel zullen moeilijk worden, voorspelt Hans van Meijl van LEI. De Europese Unie is divers en Brussel is beducht voor het inleveren van macht

Consequences of EU Biofuel Policies on Agricultural Production and Land Use

This article assesses the implications of European Union (EU) biofuel policies based on a general equilibrium framework with endogenous land supply. The results show that, without policy intervention to stimulate the use of biofuel crops, the targets set by the EU Biofuels Directive will not be met. European biofuel policies boosting demand for biofuel crops have a strong impact on agriculture globally and within Europe, leading to an increase in land use. On the other hand, the long–term declining trend in real agricultural prices may slow down or even reverse

Modelling the consequences of increasing bioenergy demand on land and feed use

The aim of this paper is to show the consequences of a model extension towards the presentation of by-product in the production of biofuels. By-products can be used as a substitute for feed grain use in livestock production. A boost in biofuel production will also show a strong increase in the availability of by-products. To identify the impact of modelling biofuel production with and without presentation of by-products two different model versions have been applied. The simulation results of both model versions show that the EU mandatory blending mandate has a pronounced impact on the markets for grains, oilseeds and sugar but a rather limited impact on production level of aggregated primary agricultural output. The analysis shows that apart from direct effects of an enhanced demand for bioenergy on production and land use, the indirect effects of the EU Biofuel Directive (BFD) dominates. Additional production of biofuel crops within and outside the EU leads to strong indirect land use changes which are partly compensated for a higher availability of feed byproducts of biofuel productio

Trade Liberalization and Developing Countries under the Doha Round

We explore the impact of multilateral liberalization, with emphasis on distributional effects across countries. We first develop a realistic "base1ine" that takes into account events such as the entry of China into the WTO and the enlargement of the EU, allowing us to focus on those effects that are specifically attributable to further trade liberalization in the Doha Round. We then employ a global applied general equilibrium model, featuring capital accumulation and imperfect competition. Our Doha scenarios include agriculture, manufactures, and services liberalization, and trade facilitation. With agglomeration, OECD agricultural liberalization is not uniform1y positive for developing countries

Adjustment and differences in farm performance : a farm management perspective from the Netherlands

There are differences in performance between farmers. In the Netherlands this has been a major topic of research for at least 30 years. Research has shown that the managerial capacities of farmers play a major role in differences in economic and environmental performance. Management can be measured and the optimal level is not the maximum level. Farmers differ in their objectives, competences and local external situation and there-fore their strategies. These strategies can be identified. In recent years strategic management has become more important and this can be supported with consultancy. Farmers also differ in their adoption and innovation behaviour. These micro-economic results, which correlate with large differences in income and high prices of fixed assets with a limited supply, can be explained as being consistent with economic theory on perfect markets. Although these findings suggest that some farm households have attractive strategies that can cope with policy adjustments, the research supports the hypothesis but does not (yet) prove that a severe adjustment of agricultural policy e.g. towards a more market oriented policy, induces more innovation, and that due to this innovation the effects of adjusting the agricultural policy are less severe than estimated ex ante with current dynamic policy models