An information approach to the dynamics in farm income: implications for farmland markets

The valuation of farmland is a perennial issue for agricultural policy, given its importance in the farm investment portfolio. Despite the significance of farmland values to farmer wealth, prediction remains a difficult task. This study develops a dynamic information measure to examine the informational content of farmland values and farm income in explaining the distribution of farmland values over time

Impact of land readjustment project on farmland use and structural adjustment: The case of Niigata, Japan

This paper examines the impact of farmland readjustment projects on farmland use and structural adjustment in Niigata, Japan. We use census data of rural communities for 1990 and 2000 to conduct pooled regression, first-difference, difference-in-differences, and propensity score matching estimations. We find positive impact of farmland readjustment projects in alleviating farmland abandonment and in facilitating outsourcing of agricultural works and farmland rental. The results suggest that farmland consolidation may be an effective option to resolve farmland fragmentation and to promote structural adjustment in concentrating farmland to efficient farmers which is a premise for strengthening the agricultural sector under economies of scale.land readjustment, consolidation, fragmentation, farmland rental, farmland abandonment, Japan, Land Economics/Use,

UNDERSTANDING THE DEMAND FOR FARMLAND PRESERVATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR MICHIGAN POLICIES

The diversity of opinion on farmland preservation suggests that a close look at the issue is warranted as state and local governments consider how best to preserve the state's farmland resource. Public support for farmland preservation programs will be required if those programs are to be successful and will only be forthcoming if there is greater agreement about questions that underlie the policy debate. These questions include whether farmland loss is occurring, whether farmland preservation is needed, how farmland preservation programs should be designed, and what farmland should be preserved. This paper discusses each of these issues, in turn, and describes how current Michigan farmland preservation efforts are or are not addressing them.Land Economics/Use,

Trends in High Nature Value farmland studies: A systematic review

Background. Since the High Nature Value (HNV) concept was defined in the early 1990s, several studies on HNV farmland has been increasing over the past 30 years in Europe, highlighting the interest by scientific community of HNV farming systems supporting biodiversity conservation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the trends and main gaps on HNV farmland peer-reviewed publications in order to contribute to the effectiveness of future research in this field. Methods. Searches were conducted using the databases Web of SciencesTM and Scopus in order to identify only peer-reviewed articles on HNV farmland, published prior to July 2017. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were developed a priori. Data as year, country, type of document, subject area, taxa studied and biodiversity metrics assessed were extracted and explored in order to analyse the spatial and temporal distribution of the concept, including the main topics addressed in HNV farmland literature. Results. After screening 308 original articles, 90 were selected for this review. HNV farmland studies involved several disciplines, mainly biodiversity and conservation and environmental sciences and ecology. Most peer-reviewed articles focused on HNV farming were conducted in Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal. The main studied taxa were plants and birds. Taxonomic diversity was the biodiversity metric more often used to assess the biodiversity status on HNV farmland areas. A positive correlation was found between HNV farmland area and HNV farmland studies conducted in respective countries. Discussion. The HNV farmland research subject is a relative novel approach, and this systematic review provides a comprehensive overview about the main topics in the HNV farmland peer-reviewed literature contributing to highlight the main gaps and provide some considerations in order to assist the performance of HNV farming systems and conservation policies, addressed to sustain high levels of biodiversity

An Information Approach to the Dynamics in Farm Income: Implications for Farmland Markets

The valuation of farmland is a perennial issue for agricultural policy, given its importance in the farm investment portfolio. Despite the significance of farmland values to farmer wealth, prediction remains a difficult task. This study develops a dynamic information measure to examine the informational content of income to farmland in explaining the distribution of farmland values over time.information theory; farmland markets; farm income

EVALUATING FARMLAND INVESTMENTS CONSIDERING DYNAMIC STOCHASTIC RETURNS AND FARMLAND PRICES

This paper examines farmland investment decisions using a stochastic dynamic programming framework. Consideration is given to the dynamic, stochastic nature of farmland returns, linkages between farmland returns and farmland prices, and the effects of the above dynamic factors on a farmÂ’s financial structure. Optimal decisions to purchase or sell farmland are found for a central Illinois farm with high quality farmland. Sizes and debt distributions are then determined, given that the optimal decision rule is followed. Decisions from the dynamic programming model also are compared to a capital budgeting model.Land Economics/Use,

Testing Speculative Behavior in Farmland Demand

Substantial increases in farmland demand in sub-urbanization have had profound effects on agriculture and produced a surge in farmland values. With escalating land values, farmland can take on the characteristics of a speculative asset and farmland owners may be more responsive to the investment value of farmland than the productive value. Speculation has been shown to have a significant impact on the agricultural production decisions of farms, and may encourage farmers to curtail capital investments and prematurely idle productive farmland. This paper investigates the effects of farmland value appreciation on agriculture and isolates the speculative component of land use demand, using New Jersey as a case study. A conceptual model of land use and investment behavior is developed and estimated. Two empirical models are used in the analysis; one that accounts for speculation and one that does not. The former is found to be superior. An inverse relationship is estimated between the rate of appreciation and the demand for farmland, suggesting a direct relationship between appreciation and land supplied to development. The relationship, however, is found to be positive at rates of farmland value appreciation in excess of the risk free rate of return. This suggests an identifiable speculative demand component whereby farmland owners retain farmland at high rates of appreciation. Results also support the conjecture that when the rate of appreciation is lower than the risk free rate, the speculative behavior of farmland owners is to keep less land in agriculture.Land Economics/Use,

THE IMPACT OF SWINE PRODUCTION ON LAND VALUES IN ILLINOIS

Based on a spatiotemporal hedonic farmland price model and county-level data in Illinois from 1979 to 1999, we examined the impact of swine production on farmland values. Our results show that, in addition to the conventional determinants of farmland values, an increase in swine production intensity has a negative relationship with farmland values while an increase in swine operation scale had a positive association with farmland values at the county level in Illinois. We also estimate the impact of changes in the Illinois swine industry over the period 1980-1999 on farmland values at the state level and find that changes in swine inventory and scale of swine operations have led to changes in farmland prices from $-10.56 to$62.96 per acre. In general, the changes in Illinois swine industry increase farmland values in Illinois.Land Economics/Use,

Setting the Standard for Farmland Preservation: Do Preservation Criteria Motivate Citizen Support for Farmland Preservation?

The multifunctional set of services provided by farmland complicates the task of identifying which farmland should be preserved. For this reason many states and local governments establish criteria to rank and select parcels of farmland for protection. This study examines whether criteria commonly used by state programs to guide purchases of agricultural conservation easements influence public demand for farmland preservation. The results provide policy makers with additional information to assess current ranking criteria that set the standard for farmland preservation.Land Economics/Use,

PUBLIC OPINIONS ABOUT FARMLAND AND FARMLAND PRESERVATION: RESULTS FROM A SURVEY IN KENT COUNTY, MICHIGAN

Retention of agricultural land has become a principal goal for Michigan and its local governments. Purchase of Development Rights is one farmland preservation policy option being considered by many local units of government. Maximizing the benefits from such a program requires an understanding of why the public is interested in farmland preservation. The type and magnitude of benefit will differ depending upon which land is targeted for preservation. This paper reports the results of a survey conducted to ask residents of Kent County, Michigan, what characteristics of farmland are important and how farmland preservation programs should be targeted. The survey also asked whether respondents would support farmland preservation. Results indicate that characteristics of farmland do matter and that support of a farmland preservation program is likely driven by program cost.Land Economics/Use,