From weed to wealth? Prospects for medic pastures in the Mediterranean farming system of north-west Syria

Medic (Medicago spp.) pastures are widely grown in rotation with dryland cereal crops in Mediterranean climate zones of Australia. Attempts since the 1960's to introduce this system to Mediterranean west Asia and north Africa (the native region of medic) have not lead to significant adoption; farmers in the region recognize medic, but as a weed and natural pasture plant. This first detailed economic evaluation of the rotational medic system was conducted using a whole-farm linear programming model based on the agricultural system of north-west Syria. The model represents in detail impacts of rotation on yields, labor requirements of alternative farm activities, availability of family and hired labor, subsistence income requirements, livestock feed sources and uses at different times and a choice of sheep stocking rates. Biological data for the analysis are based on a large six-year cropping and grazing experiment near Aleppo on terra-rossa soil with rainfall mainly in winter and averaging about 330 mm annually. The trial compared a dryland medic-wheat system and traditional two-year rotations of wheat with: fallow, watermelon, lentil and vetch. Results indicate that, given current prices and yields from the trial, medic is less profitable than traditional rotations. The model was used to investigate situations in which medic would be economically preferred. Selection of a medic rotation by the model was found to be particularly sensitive to the area of the farm and the price of labor. On small farms, labor availability per hectare is high, favouring the production of labor intensive crops such as lentil and watermelon. On larger farms, labor costs of these enterprises are substantial, increasing the relative profitability of medic, especially if labor prices increase. Interestingly, the relative desirability of medic is more sensitive to its impact on subsequent wheat crops than to the level of pasture production. We also found that modest increases in the prices of sheep products (especially milk) have a major impact on the economic performance of medic. These insights will allow improved focusing and targeting of future research and extension activities.     

Dairy sheep farms in semi-arid rangelands: A carbon footprint dilemma between intensification and land-based grazing

In recent decades there have been significant changes in land use and production orientation in certain marginal agricultural areas in the southwest of Spain. The abandonment of rainfed cereal crops and their change of use as natural pastures grazed by milk sheep, have led to an improvement in the profitability of the farms, greater industrialisation and a positive impact on rural development.This paper calculates the carbon footprint (CF) of farms in the context of life cycle assessment with the objective to identify the system that accounts for the lowest CF while maintaining adequate levels of profitability and revitalising the rural environment. The data were obtained through surveys carried out on dairy sheep farms of different typologies, ranging from the semi-intensive farms with small grazing areas, to the extensive farms with large areas of natural pastures. Findings could help farmers evaluate the environmental impact of their activities, while at the same time provide consumers with valuable evidence to be used in further marketing actions.Greenhouse gas emissions vary from 1.77 to 4.09 Kg CO₂eq/kg of milk, where the lowest values correspond to the most intensive farms and the highest values to the most extensive and least productive farms. Enteric fermentation, followed by feeding, are the emissions with the greatest impact. Enteric fermentation reaches its maximum value (52.22 % of the total emissions) in the most extensive farms.On other hand, this study found that carbon sequestration varies between 0.09 and 2.04 kg of CO₂eq/kg of milk, a figure that can considerably reduce the carbon footprint calculation and justifies its inclusion in the Life Cycle Assessment.     

What carbon farming activities are farmers likely to adopt? A best–worst scaling survey

Transferring carbon from the atmosphere into terrestrial sinks through carbon sequestration practices (so-called ‘carbon farming’) has been proposed as an important component in Australia’s efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. We use a Best–worst scaling survey to determine which carbon sequestration practices farmers would be most and least likely to adopt, and what factors were most important in any potential adoption decision. The survey was distributed to dryland cropping and mixed crop-livestock farmers in Western Australia. Farmers ranked improved soil quality and reduced soil erosion as the most important potential co-benefits of carbon farming. Factors discouraging farmers from participating in carbon farming contracts were policy and carbon price uncertainty and the uncertain impact of carbon farming practices on productivity and profitability. Farmers had strong preferences for stubble retention and no-till cropping practices as carbon farming strategies. The practices that farmers preferred least were applying biochar and planting trees. Farm and farmer characteristics, including (lack of) awareness of carbon farming policies and opinions about climate change, influence the potential willingness to adopt different carbon farming practices. Given recent policy uncertainty and farmer preferences revealed in this study, it is important to communicate potential co-benefits (rather than opportunities to earn compensation or carbon credits) to increase farmers’ engagement in carbon sequestration activities.     

Farmers’ decisions to adapt to climate change under various property rights: A case study of maize farming in northern Benin (West Africa)

Making the assumption that property rights might determine whether farmers adopt particular strategies, this study aims at modelling farmers’ decisions to adapt to climate change by focusing on their property rights – declined as institutional arrangements on land and rights on land – as well as their socio-economic and demographic characteristics. The case study took place in northern Benin (West Africa). In this zone, 308 farmers producing maize and adapting to climate change were randomly sampled. The study was conducted by a survey method on respondents using structured interviews based on a questionnaire. A simultaneous modelling using a Multivariate Probit (MVP) model highlighted that socio-economic and demographic characteristics, institutional arrangements on land, and rights on land determine the farmers’ decisions to adapt to climate change. The land ownership has a positive effect on the decision to adopt any adaptation strategy. Subsequently, securing farmers’ property rights would help to enhance their capacity to adapt to climate change.     

Expected Economic Effects of BST in The Netherlands

The calculated profitability of using Bovine Somatotropin (BST) on typical dairy farms in The Netherlands ranges from Dfl.160 to 300 per cow per year, assuming 1985 prices and circumstances, and ignoring the costs of BST. A 20% increase in milk production and no change of the feed/milk relation were used for the calculations. BST is more profitable on intensive farms or on farms with more opportunities for alternative uses of land, buildings and labour. The quota system, however, leads to a considerable reduction of profitability. At a national level, and with an unchanged milk price, a 28% adoption rate of BST would increase national income about Dfl.120 million. However, the cost of BST or any decrease in milk price could reduce this amount, even to below zero. It is apparent that some dairy farmers who apply BST will earn more income whereas others will lose income.     

Tactical responses to seasonal conditions in whole-farm planning in Western Australia

In dryland agricultural systems, efficient farm management requires a degree of flexibility according to variations in climate from year to year. Tactical adjustments to the mix of farm enterprises can capitalize on good growing conditions and minimise losses under poor growing conditions. In this paper, a discrete stochastic programming model of dryland wheat-sheep farms in Western Australia is used to identify optimal tactical adjustments to climate and to calculate the value of these tactical adjustments. The model, MUDAS, includes nine discrete season types with a wide range of options for tactical adjustments in each. In the standard model, optimal tactical responses increase expected net cash surplus by approximately 22% relative to a fixed or inflexible strategy. In most season types, changes to the long term farm strategy are made on less than 10% of the farm area, although in some seasons over 25% of the farm can require adjustments to the enterprise selected. The benefits of flexibility are not evenly distributed across different season types but occur predominantly in the best and worst seasons. The magnitude of benefits is affected differently by different commodity prices. Benefits of flexibility are due to capitalizing on knowledge about the greater volatility of profits from cropping than from livestock production. Deterministic models and even stochastic models which don't include activities for tactical adjustments miss this key feature of the system.     

Accounting for the Gender Technology Gap Amongst Smallholder Rice Farmers in Northern Ghana

Narrowing the gender technology gap in agricultural production has become a critical policy issue in sub‐Saharan Africa. A better understanding of the gender technology gap is essential for policy formulation and programme planning to ensure equity in resource allocation, and household‐level food security in low and middle income countries, such as Ghana. We employ a metafrontier approach to analyse the differences in the efficiency of male and female farmers, recognising the endogeneity of some of the variables in the inefficiency effects model, in particular the credit constraints of the rice farmers under study. Our findings show that while the rice farms themselves are very similar, average yields for male managed farms tend to be significantly higher than female managed farms reflecting higher seeding and fertiliser application rates on male managed farms. However, there is no significant difference between the genders in either land used for rice or total output per farm household. We find some evidence that relative to the metafrontier, male managed farms are less efficient than female managed farms. The results further show gender technology gap amongst the smallholder rice farmers with females’ technology gap ratio being significantly greater than that of males, with females operating on a production frontier closer to the metafrontier. Policies that provide females more access to productive resources and other agricultural services could assist in the generation of relatively higher output.     

Tenants’ land access in the rental market: evidence from northern Ethiopia

The purpose of this study is to investigate the allocation efficiency in the tenancy market, and thereby the potential of the market to facilitate operational farm size adjustment that can help land‐poor tenant households to transform into smallholder commercial farms. We analyzed three rounds of balanced panel data for the production seasons 2005–2006, 2009–2010, and 2014–2015 collected from 320 smallholder farms in Tigrai region in northern Ethiopia. Random effects dynamic probit and tobit models are used to assess how land‐poor tenants’ access and extent of access to land are affected by state dependency (earlier participation in the market), kinship ties, climate shocks, and legal restrictions. The results indicate that state dependency and kinship ties with the landholder had strong positive effects on participation and intensity of participation. Climate shocks significantly affected the intensity of participation of tenants already in the rental market. Tenants’ overall access to rented land had not improved from 2005–2006 to 2014–2015. The amount of land accessed by those already in the market was insufficient for them to become commercial farmers. The important policy implication is that orchestrated interventions at community level are needed to reduce transaction costs and thereby improve land access of entrepreneurial tenants.     

Potential of woody biomass production for motivating widespread natural resource management under climate change

In this study we assessed the potential of woody biomass (short-rotation Mallee Eucalypts) for renewable energy generation as an economically viable way of motivating widespread natural resource management under climate change in the 11.9 million ha Lower Murray agricultural region in southern Australia. The spatial distribution of productivity of agricultural crops and pasture, and biomass was modelled. Average annual economic returns were calculated under historical mean (baseline) climate and three climate change scenarios. Economically viable areas of biomass production were identified where the profitability of biomass is greater than the profitability of agriculture under each scenario for three factory gate biomass prices. The benefits of biomass production for dryland salinisation, wind erosion, and carbon emissions reduction through biomass-based renewable energy production were also modelled. Depending on climate scenario, at the median price assessed ($40/tonne) biomass production can generate $51.4–$88 M in annual net economic returns, address 41,226–165,577 ha at high risk of dryland salinisation and 228,000–1.4 million ha at high risk of wind erosion, and mitigate 10.4–12 million tonnes of carbon (CO₂^−e) emissions annually. Economically viable areas for biomass production expanded under climatic warming and drying especially in more marginal agricultural land. Under the baseline, the area at high risk of dryland salinisation was more than double that at high risk of wind erosion. However, under climatic warming and drying the relative importance of these two natural resource management objectives switched with the area at high risk of wind erosion becoming much larger. As biomass production can achieve multiple natural resource management objectives, it may provide a land use policy option that is adaptable to changing priorities and economically resilient given climatic uncertainties. For such a significant and enduring land use change policy it is prudent to assess both the economic and environmental potential under climate change.     

农户向家庭农场流转土地的续约意愿及影响因素研究

当前,农地流转期限普遍较短、流转合同不规范、合同违约率高等问题导致家庭农场土地经营权不稳定,严重抑制了家庭农场主对流入土地的长期投入。因此,如何引导农户向家庭农场长期稳定地流转土地,成为推动家庭农场可持续发展的关键所在。本文基于湖南省498家农户土地流转数据,运用计划行为理论和结构方程模型分析了农户向家庭农场流转土地的续约意愿及其影响因素。研究结果表明:①在农户向家庭农场流转土地的续约意愿模型中,行为态度是主要影响因素,主观行为规范和知觉行为控制也是重要影响因素;②在农户行为态度方面,农户对土地流转预期收益越有信心,或农户对家庭农场上一轮土地流转行为越满意,在此基础上构建起的行为态度越能促进农户土地流转续约意愿的形成;③在主观行为规范方面,当农户感知到来自周围的人特别是亲人对农户续约的支持态度越强烈,在此基础上构建的主观行为规范越能促进农户土地流转续约意愿的形成;④在知觉行为控制方面,农户对农户禀赋和环境禀赋两方面的感知会影响农户土地流转续约意愿的形成,其中户主工作性质和上一轮流转期限影响最大。     

Farmers’ perspectives on climate change manifestations in smallholder cocoa farms and shifts in cropping systems in the forest-savannah transitional zone of Ghana

The study was conducted to explore actual manifestations of climate change in smallholder cocoa farms to aid extension response to climate impacts, and to understand the reasons for a renewed interest in cocoa production in the forest-savanna agro ecological landscape in Ghana, in spite of unfavorable climatic conditions. Two hundred cocoa farmers were interviewed in nine cocoa farming communities. Selected farms were also visited to document on-farm manifestation of climate impacts as well as innovations and strategies farmers are employing to respond to the adverse impacts of climate change on their cocoa systems. The results revealed various manifestations of climate impacts on cocoa farms which included, increased incidence of pests and diseases, wilting of cocoa leaves, high mortality of cocoa seedlings which affected expansion and farm rehabilitation, and wilting of cherelles resulting in low yield. The farmers maintained that their response to the immediate impacts of climate on cocoa was a shift to cereals due to the unpredictable climatic patterns and the shortened duration of rainfall. However, a combination of storage and supply chain challenges and low returns from cereal production, coupled with land scarcity in the Western Region, where most of them are migrant farmers accounted for their decision to return to cocoa production lately. It was observed, among other adaptive responses, that some farmers plant about three times the plantain suckers they usually plant, to provide a dense temporary shade over cocoa seedlings, and resort to planting more cocoa seedlings randomly per unit area on new farms, contrary to recommended planting approach, as a form of insurance against seedling mortality. More importantly, a community-based fire response system was identified to be a major safeguard mechanism to the threat of fire. Clearly, the farmers are not replanting cocoa in the forest-savanna agro ecological landscape because it is more productive than cereals, but they believe that a low yielding cocoa is far better than a productive cereal cropping systems that offer low returns when compared to cocoa. The study brings out the sustainable livelihood challenges of the rural farmer within the context of a changing climate for appropriate policy response.     

The factors influencing the profitability of leased land on dairy farms in Ireland

The Republic of Ireland possesses a land market that is constrained by minimal sales each year, less than 1%. In an effort to capitalise on milk quota abolition and to increase dairy production, a suite of tax incentives has recently been introduced in the Republic of Ireland to encourage land mobility and long-term leasing among Irish dairy farmers. Using Irish Farm Accountancy Database Network (FADN) data from 2011–2017 to examine this, a Heckman sample selection model explores two aspects; (i) the factors that influence a farmer’s decision to rent, or continue renting, land and (ii) the profitability of dairy farmers renting in land. We find self-selection into the rental market is driven by farm traits that include a high level of hired labour, the presence of a successor, intensive farming practices and dairy discussion group membership. The results show that rental agreements assist farms in achieving economies of scale. The findings provide evidence to support government intervention such as tax incentives for renting out land and knowledge sharing discussion groups.     

The Role of Innovation in Farm Economic Sustainability: Generalised Propensity Score Evidence from Irish Dairy Farms

We assess the impact of innovation on Irish dairy farm economic sustainability by focusing on profitability, productivity of land and market orientation. A generalised propensity score method is applied to a representative sample of 342 Irish dairy farms. Our empirical findings reveal that innovation increases economic sustainability, but not in a linear way. More specifically, economic gains depend on the level of innovation. Small efforts to increase innovation can lead to economic gains of over €200 per hectare. The results also reveal that innovative farmers can achieve higher economic gains by further innovation. Overall, our findings support the current focus of the Irish extension system on fostering the uptake of innovative technologies and practices in order to achieve an economically sustainable expansion of the dairy sector.     

Combining management plans and payment schemes for targeted grassland conservation within the Habitats Directive in Saxony,Eastern Germany

As central policies for biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes in the European Union (EU), the Habitats Directive and Agri-environmental programmes (AEP) have largely failed to halt biodiversity loss. In response, the German federal state of Saxony combined the instrument of management plans with AEPs to support the implementation of the Habitat Directive. In this study, we investigate the determinants of a farmers’ decisions to adjust their farming practices. Our data set consists of a quantitative survey with 131 farmers conducted between 2004 and 2011, complemented by implementation data from 333 grassland-plots. Determinants of farmers’ decisions to conserve grassland were estimated using a multinomial logit model. Our results show that a combination of management plans and AEPs can increase farmers’ disposition to adopt nature conservation measures. As central determinants, structural and location factors as well as the complementary provisiion of specifically designed AEPs increase farmers’ willingness to adopt conservation practices for grassland management. It can be concluded that additional costs are a major barrier to farmers’ adoption, particularly to those farms directing their farm management towards the optimisation of productivity and profitability . The findings highlight the complementary potential of integrated policy packages to incentivise specific measures of nature conservation within the framework of the Habitats Directive.     

Determinants of climate change adaptation strategies and its impact on the net farm income of rice farmers in south-west Nigeria

A multivariate probit (MVP) model was used to analyse the determinants of strategies adopted for adapting to climate change in a sample of smallholder rice farmers in south-west Nigeria. An efficient endogenous switching regression model (ESRM) was used to estimate the impact of climate change adaptation strategy on the net income of rice farmers. The MVP results show that the socio-economic factors, the institutional factors, and locational variables of some households statistically influenced the choice of climate change adaptation strategies employed. Complementarities among all the adaptation strategies used by the farmers were revealed by the positive pair-wise correlation matrix of the MVP model. The study also indicated that farmers affected by prolonged drought and incidences of flood were more likely to adopt adaptation strategies on their farmlands. The ESRM treatment effect indicated that the average net income per rice farm of those who adopted the strategies was significantly higher than that of those who did not. Thus, the government, stakeholders, and donor agencies must provide capacity-building innovations related to agricultural extension systems and climate change education through information and communication technologies. This investment in education is essential for development and would encourage farmers to adopt appropriate climate change adaptation strategies.     

Smallholder farms’ adaptation to the impacts of climate change: Evidence from China’s Loess Plateau

The impacts of climate change on agriculture in developing countries will depend on the extent to which agricultural production in those regions adapts to climate change’s influences. This study uses a whole-farm land use optimisation approach to explore climate change impacts, when including adaptation, on farm profitability, production and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Loess Plateau of northern China. The results show that with adaptation activities, the losses in smallholder farm profitability caused by the climate change could be moderate. Declining rainfall results in land use changes that generate higher on-farm GHG emissions with the most economically beneficial adaptations. With 5 % or 10 % decline in annual rainfall, the introduction of agricultural carbon tax would generate substantial reduction in on-farm GHG emissions. With 30 % rainfall reduction, agricultural carbon tax is not likely to bring about considerable emission reduction. The economically optimised land uses are generally sensitive to potential changes. When rainfall reductions appear, there is a clear trend toward reducing cropping area and transiting to pasture. With 5–10% rainfall reductions, increasing agricultural carbon tax with same rainfall reduction leads to the expansion in cropping enterprises. However, with 30 % rainfall reduction, land allocations are not sensitive to agricultural carbon tax. When with declining annual rainfall, in the optimal enterprises more oats-pasture rotations are employed to reduce wheat dominated rotations. Besides land use patterns, adaptations through altering farm management practices are also necessary. The economically optimised sheep flock would be increased considerably with declining rainfall. Overall, policymakers are suggested to initial more educational schemes to tell smallholder farmers how to make the best use of available adaptation strategies and consider changes in climate when design and implement agricultural policy.     

Evolution of the Amazonian frontier: Land values in Rondônia, Brazil

Patterns in property values provide strong signals about the future and sustainability of land use. This paper analyzes the determinants of land value in an Amazonian frontier settlement. We estimate hedonic price functions to identify factors that affect the value of farm properties in the western Brazilian Amazon. Distance to market explains nearly one-third of the variation in farm value, as predicted by the von Thünen model. After controlling for location relative to the central market and for municipality, we find that investment in the farms (as reflected in the stocking rate of pastures and the establishment of home gardens) has the next largest impact on land value. The value per hectare of land is negatively related to total lot size, suggesting that any economies of scale are outweighed by the cost of accessing remote corners of large properties. We do not find that land values are related to available measures of biophysical factors or to historic or current land use. Our results do not identify any premium for forest cover or for land uses considered to be more sustainable than pasture on the property itself. However, farm values are affected by neighboring land cover, specifically, the extent of barren land. Thus, local knowledge of factors contributing to future productivity, as summarized in land values, confirms that soil exhaustion can lead to a general decline in property values, while investments in a property both as a homestead and as a farm can help sustain frontier settlements.     

Understanding the adoption of climate change adaptation strategies among smallholder farmers: Evidence from land reform beneficiaries in South Africa

Climatic change has a negative impact on people’s livelihoods, agriculture, freshwater supply and other natural resources that are important for human survival. Therefore, understanding how rural smallholder farmers perceive climate change, climate variability, and factors that influence their choices would facilitate a better understanding of how these farmers adapt to the negative impacts of climate change. A Zero-inflated double hurdle model was employed to estimate the factors influencing farmers’ adoption of adaptation strategies and intensity of adoption at the household level in South Africa. Different socioeconomic factors such as gender, age, and experience in crop farming, institutional factors like access to extension services, and access to climate change information significantly influenced the adoption of climate change adaptation strategies among beneficiaries of land reform in South Africa. Concerning intensity of adoption, age, educational level, farming experience, on-farm training, off-farm income, access to information through ICT and locational variables are the significant determinants of intensity of adaptation strategies. Thus, education attainment, non-farm employment, farming experience are significant incentives to enhance smallholder farmers' adaptive capacity through the adoption of many adaptation approaches. This study therefore concluded that farm-level policy efforts that aim to improve rural development should focus on farmers’ education, on-farm demonstration and non-farm employment opportunities that seek to engage the farmers, particularly during the off-cropping season. The income from non-farm employment can be plough-back into farm operations such as the adoption of soil and water conservation, use of improved planting varieties, insurance, among others to mitigate climate variability and subsequently increase productivity. Policies and investment strategies of the government should be geared towards supporting education, providing on-farm demonstration trainings, and disseminating information about climate change adaptation strategies, particularly for smallholder farmers in the country. Thus, the government, stakeholders, and donor agencies must provide capacity-building innovations around the agricultural extension system and education on climate change using information and communication technologies.     

确立主体地位与被征地农民多元保障机制完善路径思考

[目的]研究集体土地所有权行使主体的明确与完善被征地农民多元保障机制的路径。[方法]运用文献梳理法,分析农村集体土地所有权行使主体模糊引发"群体性事件"的现状,揭示其在建立健全集体土地的所有权消极权能实现、权能夯实、管理权限行使与集体成员受益权能保护等农民多元保障机制方面产生的负面影响;运用逻辑归纳法,提出"集体土地所有权行使主体明确是多元保障机制完善的灵魂"。[结果]破解"有意制度模糊"必须从实体和程序制度上明确集体土地所有权行使主体,才能有效保证被征地农民的多元利益。[结论]当前改革已进入攻坚期与深水区,农村集体土地所有权行使主体模糊引发的"冲突和社会动乱"等负性外部效应也日益凸显,完善被征地农民的多元保障机制(即以集体土地所有权行使主体确立为灵魂,以使用权入市、征用征收公平补偿、增值公平分配、财产性合法收入保障、社会保障为现实路径)应加快提上议事日程。     

An actor-oriented approach to understanding dairy farming in a liberalised regime: A case study of Ireland’s New Entrants’ Scheme

With the abolition of dairy quotas in 2015 major change in Europe’s dairy industry is anticipated at the level of individual farms, with consequences for how land is utilised and managed. Critical questions in this context are how farmers react to the myriad challenges coming forth from changed policy circumstances and, more specifically, the factors that influence their responses to these challenges at farm level. As part of a broader multi-disciplinary research project, this paper presents a narrative analysis of dairy farmers participating in Ireland’s New Entrants’ Scheme, an initiative that has facilitated the establishment of over two hundred new dairy farms. Salient with an increasing literature on Agriculture Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKISs) within agriculture, the paper focuses specifically on the actors who influence the decisions of the New Entrants (NEs) at this critical juncture in the transformation of dairy policy. Led by Norman Long’s actor-oriented approach, we examine social interfaces involving NEs and different categories of actors. We found that interfaces conditioned by coercive behaviour on the part of actors had a narrow scope of influence on farmers’ decisions compared to interfaces characterised by relatively equal power relations. The latter interfaces had the capacity to be strongly influential on broad habitual production and management decisions. Interfaces involving family members, however, had ultimate influence on major strategic decision-making, including decisions to establish new enterprises. Overall, our analysis suggests that NEs are empowered decision-makers in their social interfaces with other AKIS actors and our biographical approach to the analysis indicates that quota deregulation itself has not led to radical changes in who influences NEs’ decision-making.