Cross Compliance Research Articles

Single artifact inverse RCSA with improved cross compliance identification

Single artifact inverse RCSA with improved cross compliance identification

Farmers’ evolving attitudes on environmental conditionality in the CAP: a farm level examination of temporal shifts

AbstractGiven the anticipated shift in the allocation of resources under the common agricultural policy (CAP) toward increasing positive environmental outcomes, this study explores farmer attitudes toward the current principle of connecting direct payments to environmental conditionality, known as cross compliance. Furthermore, we explore whether there have been changes in farmer attitudes toward cross compliance over time by posing identical questions to farmers in both 2010 and 2018. A supplementary survey was designed and administered in conjunction with the core EU Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) to assess farmers’ attitudes to linking CAP payments to environmental conditionality. The findings of a generalized ordered logit model indicate a high level of support among farmers for linking direct payments to good agricultural practices and cross compliance standards. Factors influencing farmers’ acceptance of cross compliance can be categorized into several domains, including farm and farmer characteristics, social and institutional attributes, and economic factors. Notably, the level of subsidy dependency emerges as a highly significant factor, with farmers who rely more heavily on direct payments being more inclined to disagree with cross compliance requirements.

Landscape structure model based estimation of the wind erosion risk in Brandenburg, Germany

The paper presents the development, adaptive improvement and use of the method to estimate the wind erosion risk in Germany for Cross Compliance (CC) regulations, based on the German standard DIN19706. It is illustrated by the example of the Federal State of Brandenburg. A landscape structure model was developed which calculates the sheltering effects of landscape elements. Basic inputs are the heights of all landscape elements and the frequencies and directions of erosive winds. In combination with the soil map of erodibility the wind erosion risk is derived in a high spatial resolution according to the CC requirements. In addition to improving the input data in terms of its spatial resolution by using air-borne laser scanning data, an innovative approach is presented which derives the sheltered areas behind landscape elements from the transport capacities of wind speeds above a threshold. Thus, our analysis represents one of the most comprehensive wind erosion assessment of cropland that can be used for landscape structure assessment well beyond CC use. The derivation of effective protection zones from the frequencies of erosive winds when critical thresholds are adjusted represents an innovative approach that provides an objective and transferable assessment of wind protection of landscape features in different wind regimes.

Retraction: Temporary ditches are effective in reducing soil erosion in hilly areas. An evaluation with the RUSLE model

To: Pier Paolo Roggero, Editor-in-Chief, Italian Journal of Agronomy, and Michele Moscato, PAGEPress Publications, Publisher
 We take note of your communication following the report by Dr. Paolo Bazzoffi regarding the copyright infringement of the paper ‘Effectiveness of the GAEC cross-compliance standard short-term measures for runoff water control on sloping land (temporary ditches and grass strips) in controlling soil erosion’ (Authors: Bazzoffi, Ciancaglini, Laruccia), that can be found at the following address: https://www.agronomy.it/index.php/agro/ article/view/ija.2011.6.s1.e3. The title of the retracted publication is: ‘Temporary ditches are effective in reducing soil erosion in hilly areas. An evaluation with the RUSLE model’ (Authors: Francaviglia, Neri), that can be found at the following address: https://www.agronomy.it/index. php/agro/article/view/1762). The undersigned authors thoroughly agree with the points raised by Dr. Paolo Bazzoffi in relation to the copyright infringement. In particular, we agree that the original paper ‘Effectiveness of the GAEC cross compliance standard short-term measures for runoff water control on sloping land (temporary ditches and grass strips) in controlling soil erosion’ was not clearly indicated as original data source in the paper ‘Temporary ditches are effective in reducing soil erosion in hilly areas. An evaluation with the RUSLE model’. We also recognize that we did not give credit to Dr. Paolo Bazzoffi of the original methodology, particularly: i) the original materials and methods; ii) the GIS elaboration; and iii) the original data and results. The authors declare that: - they considered the opportunity to review the data published by Dr. Bazzoffi et al. shown in Table 7 of their original publication after a data re-elaboration, as shown in Table 3 of the publication to be retracted, with the aim to provide a statistical comparison of erosion in hilly agricultural land among the Italian Regions, as well as introducing an evaluation of the weight of the parameters implemented in the RUSLE model using a multiple regression technique; - they are aware of not having adequately recognized the copyrights of Dr. Bazzoffi and co-authors Ciancaglini and Laruccia. For these reasons, and as requested, we retract the paper ‘Temporary ditches are effective in reducing soil erosion in hilly areas. An evaluation with the RUSLE model’ from publication. We apologize to Dr. Bazzoffi, Dr. Ciancaglini and Dr. Laruccia for the unpleasant inconvenience caused. We also take the opportunity to thank Dr. Paolo Bazzoffi for coordinating the EFFICOND and MONACO projects, in which we participated in various work packages, offering the possibility of a valuable and constructive work experience.
 Sincerely, Rosa Francaviglia and Ulderico Neri

ADAPTATION OF FLOURISHING AS POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY CONCEPT IN LATVIA

The aim of the study is to adapt linguistically and psychometrically the construct of flourishing and to compare four most popular measuring instruments by looking at their psychometric validity indicators and examining in more details the flourishing level of randomized sample in Latvia (N=312). As this construct was not adapted in Latvia jet, it is a new concept both – in terms of content and psychometry. Therefore, the tasks of research were more related to the study of the construct’s own content by comparing most popular flourishing measuring instruments, their internal consistency, analyzing the convergent validity of measuring instruments, and studying of the relationships between various demographic indicators and the level of flourishing. The research results confirm that flourishing scores of all four measuring instruments mutually correlate, that suggests cross compliance of all four instruments. Demographic indicators as education and occupation are the only ones which are mathematically plausible, but only at trend level correlate with flourishing characteristics. The data adapted in the study and psychometrically tested methodologies can be used in the practice of psychologists and in other studies in the future. The discussion raised the question of why neither gender nor age correlate with flourishing, that contradicts other similar studies in the word. Keywords: flourishing characteristics, measuring instruments, positive psychology, well-being

Greening Chinese agriculture: can China use the EU experience?

PurposeChina's Government in 2015 announced its goal of stabilizing the use of fertilizers and pesticide by the year 2020. However, implementation of effective policies is not straightforward, while one may even argue that the policy goal is by far not ambitious enough. Hence, it is useful to look at experiences of other countries that have gone through a similar process. In this paper, the authors explicitly consider the case of European Union's (EU’s) policies aimed at greening agriculture. The choice for the EU is motivated by the fact that the EU is about 35 years ahead of China in implementing a policy agenda to counter the problems China is facing now.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the authors focus on agricultural inputs, in particular fertilizer and pesticides, as well as land use and their impact on food safety, air and water quality, soil degradation, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and biodiversity. Policies related to those issues are discussed for both, China and the EU. Given that implementation and monitoring are critical for the success of policies, the authors also discuss how policies are implemented and monitored under different governance and institutional conditions.FindingsFrom the EU experiences, positive and negative, three central lessons are drawn: (1) China should strive for cross compliance but in two steps. In the first step, arrangements for on-farm monitoring must be made, coupled with a pilot program of cross-compliance conditions for large farms in selected counties; in the second step, cross-compliance requirements must be introduced for all farmers, with additional funds for rural development in vulnerable areas. (2) Strong stakeholder commitment should be sought in the formulation as well as implementation of greening policies. (3) Monitoring of greening results should be harmonized and standardized across the country, with a limited number of indicators.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the policy discussion by comparing the agricultural greening measures in the EU (which was some 35 years ago in the same situation as China now) with the measures taken in China so far.

Complex characterization of kurgans in the Csanádi-hát region, Hungary

During the inventory of the mounds of the Körös-Maros National Park, the completre characterisation of those situated in the Csanádi-hát micro-region was conducted as well. We visited every existing and already destroyed prehistoric burial mound (most of them are Yamnaya kurgans from the Late Copper Age) based mainly on maps of the 18th and 19th centuries. We prepared a complete list of vascular plant species of each kurgan, except those ones where the total surface was ploughed. The investigated area covers 1039.41 km2. 254 kurgans were documented. From these, 64 have been already carried away or destroyed (25.2% of the total number of mounds). We have evaluated the still existing 190 kurgan’s recent stage (74.8%). 96 features (37.8%) from the total amount are used as arable fields, these were inadequate for botanical studies. On 94 mounds (37.0%), despite the annually changing agricultural utilization, different vegetation fragments were documented (forest-belts, alleys, roadside, channel banks, triangulation points, cemeteries, etc.). Several burial mounds are still preserved as fragments of the ancient loess meadow STEPPE and forest steppe vegetation. Some of the valuable plant species found dining the study are: Agropyron cristatum, Ajuga laxmannii, Carduus hamulosus, Chamaecytisus virescens, Glaucium corniculatum, Hylotelephium maximum, Inula germanica, Ornithogalum pyramidale, Papaver hybridum, Phlomis tuberosa, Ranunculus illyricus, Rosa gallica, Sternbergia colchiciflora, Vinca herbacea. Despite the fact that nature and heritage protection laws provide national conservation for these kurgans, the practical operation of the legislative is not solved. For the long-term conservation of the special vegetation of kurgans it would be required to take out the entire surface of the most valuable mounds from agricultural production and maintain their habitat (abandonment of ploughing). With the introduction of the cross compliance system (common agricultural policy of European Union), forward-looking practical initiatives have already been taken.

The Sustainability Cross Compliance of the Commodities Market in its Relationship with Derivative Financial Instruments

Over the past decade, agricultural commodity prices underwent wild swings. Periods of high growth in 2008 were followed by periods of sudden decrease in 2009. The excessive increase in food price volatility is a subject of great interest because it has to do with the survival of mankind. Recent academic studies and policy makers have reached sharply different conclusions about the dynamics of such fluctuations. Also, some of them have indicated the main cause in speculative transactions and in the little regulation of futures markets. This paper analyzes weather agricultural price increases are due to increased speculative activity or to factors relating specifically to the commodities markets. The results of analysis do not show a direct relationship between the increase in speculative transactions and spot prices, rather a more developed future market can be of benefit also to spot prices, as argued in many academic studies.

Scalable Parcel-Based Crop Identification Scheme Using Sentinel-2 Data Time-Series for the Monitoring of the Common Agricultural Policy

This work investigates a Sentinel-2 based crop identification methodology for the monitoring of the Common Agricultural Policy’s (CAP) Cross Compliance (CC) and Greening obligations. In this regard, we implemented and evaluated a parcel-based supervised classification scheme to produce accurate crop type mapping in a smallholder agricultural zone in Navarra, Spain. The scheme makes use of supervised classifiers Support Vector Machines (SVMs) and Random Forest (RF) to discriminate among the various crop types, based on a large variable space of Sentinel-2 imagery and Vegetation Index (VI) time-series. The classifiers are separately applied at three different levels of crop nomenclature hierarchy, comparing their performance with respect to accuracy and execution time. SVM provides optimal performance and proves significantly superior to RF for the lowest level of the nomenclature, resulting in 0.87 Cohen’s kappa coefficient. Experiments were carried out to assess the importance of input variables, where top contributors are the Near Infrared (NIR), vegetation red-edge, and Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) multispectral bands, and the Normalized Difference Vegetation (NDVI) and Plant Senescence Reflectance (PSRI) indices, sensed during advanced crop phenology stages. The scheme is finally applied to a Lansat-8 OLI based equivalent variable space, offering 0.70 Cohen’s kappa coefficient for the SVM classification, highlighting the superior performance of Sentinel-2 for this type of application. This is credited to Sentinel-2’s spatial, spectral, and temporal characteristics.

Adoption of Farm Management Systems for Cross Compliance – An empirical case in Germany

In Germany, Farm Management Systems (FMS) have been introduced as a support to farmers' compliance with environmental and other regulations, aiming at the increase of farm level performance and sustainable farming practices. Different kinds of FMS were developed and promulgated with various approaches, determined by each federal state's agricultural advisory system. Knowledge on the FMS′ uptake and effectiveness has been lacking so far. The overall aim of this paper is to provide an analysis of the implementation process and selected outcomes of the policy-driven instrumental innovation of FMS. In particular, the objectives are i) to reveal how and with what success the introduction of FMS has been realised in Germany and ii) to analyse and discuss the FMS′ adoption in the federal state of Brandenburg. For the first part of the study, we elaborate a situational analysis of the policy implementation through a desk study and expert interviews. In the second part, selected results from a farmers' survey in Brandenburg are presented and a switching regression model is developed to assess the factors responsible for the uptake of FMS and to understand the role of FMS in improving the confidence in complying with Cross Compliance regulations. We found a high degree of diversity among FMS developed in the different federal states. FMS adoption rates varied, but were generally low. Institutional environment seems to have a significant influence as the same FMS had very different adoption rates among federal states. For Brandenburg, our findings show that farmers' confidence to face CC check was increased by the adoption of FMS. However, counterfactual scenario analysis proved that especially farmers who did not adopt FMS would have benefitted most if they had adopted the tool. Our study shows that there is a need for systems supporting farmers in dealing with bureaucratic requirements. Future FMS should be easy to understand, adaptable to individual farmers' needs and be available at low costs. Furthermore, there is a need to design FMS in a participatory way that integrates farmers' expectations.

Use of welfare outcome information in three types of dairy farm inspection reports.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine the use of outcome-based observations within Assured Dairy Farm scheme (ADF), Soil Association Organic Standards (SA), and cross compliance (CC) farm assessment reports.MethodsA total of 449 ADF reports, 37 SA reports and 26 CC reports were analyzed and their objective comments categorized as either resource-based or outcome-based.ResultsA mean of 61.0% of ADF questions were responded to with comments, in comparison to 25.0% of SA and, 21.0% of CC report questions. The SA and CC reports had significantly more outcome-based comments than the ADF (p<0.001). The assessors’ tendency of choosing resource-based approach was revealed in the questionnaire results.ConclusionGenerally, the comments were comprehensive and contained professional judgements. Large numbers of comments provided in the ADF reports were mostly compliant and resource-based evidence, which serves as proof of assessment rather than aiding the certifying process. The inclusion of specific welfare outcome measures in the SA inspection likely increased the use of outcome-based comments in the reports, irrespective of whether the farm achieved compliance with a given standards. The CC scheme, on the other hand, focused on providing outcome-based evidence to justify noncompliant decisions.

Corporate social responsibility representation of the German water-supply and distribution companies: from colourful to barren landscapes

How is corporate social responsibility (CSR) practiced in line with the ISO 26000 by the German water companies? German water-supply and distribution companies (WSCs) operate in a monopolistic landscape. WSCs are closely interlocked with the agricultural, pharmaceutical and energy sector as well as private households, and are facing changing and increasing water pollution. CSR focuses on the entrepreneurial impacts upon society. Therefore, 110 German WSCs and their CSR representation, like ISO 26000 elements and management tools, were analysed on the basis of content analysis and by means of correlation analysis. The research showed that the ISO 26000 elements, a sustainable energy use and sustainable management systems are just marginally communicated in this sample. Many WSCs do not make CSR credible to public. Yet, there are valuable examples for good CSR practice, like cross compliance, own renewable power generation or extra filtrations.

Evaluation of Ecological Criteria of Biofuel Certification in Germany

The share of biofuels has increased significantly over the last decade, which has lead to several negative impacts on the environment. As a solution, several governments worldwide have promoted the use of certification systems, which have been implemented and in some cases have even been established as mandatory regulations. Due to the focus of the public debate, standard-setting has mainly been limited to developing and newly industrializing countries. Hence, the issues of environmental impacts as a consequence of agricultural intensification in Germany has been given little attention, and the question whether existing biofuel certification systems sufficiently cover ecological issues remains. In order to answer this question, this study performs a benchmarking analysis of selected certification systems, whereby their ability to ensure ecological sustainability is evaluated and compared. The assessment reveals that the currently existing national ordinances, like Cross Compliance, are in many aspects insufficient to ensure sustainability. Contrarily, they often deter necessary discussions to tackle these issues.

ANALISIS PERHITUNGAN PPH 21 BERDASARKAN UNDANG-UNDANG PERPAJKAN PADA PT. BUMI LINTAS TAMA CABANG 21

This study To determine procedures for application of income tax (VAT) of article 21 made by the company PT. Earth Cross Cab themes. Bone. In writing the lines, the author uses the comparative analysis method by comparing pph 21 according to the tax laws with 21 pph calculations by the company PT. Earth Cross Cab Scene, Bone. Dala results of this study in which the calculation of income tax (VAT) 21 according PT.Bumi Scene Cross compliance with the tax laws so that the hypothesis can be accepted, still there are some employees who have not registered as taxpayers or do not have a TIN, are reduction of tax payments year to year because of changes

ROLE AND MEANING OF CROSS-COMPLIANCE IN DIRECT PAYMENTS FOR FARMERS IN 2015-2020

The article presents the legal regulations of the European Union in the fi eld of cross-compliance requirements. The requirements were thought to change agricultural production in less intensive direction with respecting of the environment. The regulations encouraged the development of organic production methods. Cross compliance in the new fi nancial perspective means greater relation between the amount of direct payments earned by farmers and non-investment payments received from the Rural Development Programme. Studies show that new regulations adopted for the period 2015–2020 aimed at development of sustainable farming systems so that farmers can respond to many challenges awaiting them, not just those connected with climate change and increasing pressure associated with the use of natural resources.

Nitrate framework directive and cross compliance: two case studies from the MO.NA.CO. monitoring network

The Act A4 refers to Articles 4 and 5 of Directive 91/676 / EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources. The A4 Act applies to farms that have land within a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ); it also applies to farms, with or without herds, that participate in measure 214 of the Rural Development Plans. The monitoring was performed in two experimental farms belonging to CREA-FLC. Both monitoring sites are located in vulnerable areas designated by the Lombardy Region. In the monitoring period MO.NA.CO., the regional standard of reference were the Decrees of the Regional Government DGR5868 / 2007 and DGR2208 / 2011. The average cost attributable to administrative requirements was about € 600 / year / company and was mainly due to a professional agronomist who prepared the Agronomic Utilization Plan (PUA), assisted the farm in preparing its communication, provided advice and informed farm managers on regulatory updates. An informal, not systematic survey made possible to detect that the cost to fulfil the obligations of communication can be very variable depending on the farm’s characteristics (size, production, size of the herd) and the type of consultant assisting the breeder (freelancer, association, cooperative). For example, in some cases the cost is based on the area of the farm, in others on the number of animals in the herd; and in other situations, the associations and freelance agronomist apply a flat rate for the compilation of the PUAs which is unaffected by farm characteristics and ranging from a minimum of € 100 / year / company practiced by some farmers’ association to a maximum of € 800 / year / company required by some freelance agronomist. At Baroncina farm the storage capacity of the slurry, during the monitoring period, was not compliant with the law because the volumes produced could not be stocked for 120 days as required by the standard. New storage facilities have been designed and built; the overall cost of implementation of new tanks was about € 50 / m3.

Adjusting the CPmax factor in the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE): areas in need of soil erosion protection in the Czech Republic

ABSTRACTWater erosion is identified as the most severe type of soil degradation in the Czech Republic. Systematic protection preventing water erosion is not carried out in large areas of agricultural land. The map of the maximum tolerable CP factor value (the cover-management and the support-practice factors) – CPmax was compiled in order to assess erosion hazard on agricultural land. It estimates the requirements of the conservation practices which would not cause soil erosion above the tolerable limit of annual soil loss. The map is based on calculations using an adjusted Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and is easy to apply. It has already been applied in the Czech Republic when creating the map of erosion vulnerability for the purposes of delimitation of Standards of Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs), within Cross Compliance. The map covers the whole territory of the Czech Republic (scale 1:1,000,000).

Environmental effectiveness of the cross compliance Standard 4.6 ‘Minimum livestock stocking rates and/or appropriate regimens’

The paper presents the main results of the monitoring on the effectiveness of the cross compliance Standard 4.6 ‘Minimum livestock stocking rates and/or appropriate regimes’ carried out in two case studies within the project MO.NA.CO: sheep grazing in medium-rich pastures in southern Apennines and in the plain of Sardinia, Italy. The monitoring involved aspects related to soil, flora, livestock and economics (competitiveness differential). The study showed, although in the short term, that the minimum stocking rate 0.2 LU/ha/year was not effective and, conversely, the effectiveness of the maximum level of stocking rate (4 LU/ha) for the maintenance of the habitat. The generalization in applying minimum and maximum rate, not taking into account the climatic conditions, forage resources or farming system (including the species of grazing animal) may lead to a serious nullification of the conditions of the Standard. The authors recommend to identify homogeneous areas and eligible specific stocking rates from all Italian regions, also considering the animal species.

Effect of Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions on erosion and soil organic carbon balance: A national case study

Since, the Common Agricultural Policies (CAP) reform in 2003, many efforts have been made at the European level to promote a more environmentally friendly agriculture. In order to oblige farmers to manage their land sustainably, the GAEC (Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions) were introduced as part of the Cross Compliance mechanism. Among the standards indicated, the protection of soils against erosion and the maintenance of soil organic matter and soil structure were two pillars to protect and enhance the soil quality and functions. While Member States should specifically define the most appropriate management practices and verify their application, there is a substantial lack of knowledge about the effects of this policy on erosion prevention and soil organic carbon (SOC) change. In order to fill this gap, we coupled a high resolution erosion model based on Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) with the CENTURY biogeochemical model, with the aim to incorporate the lateral carbon fluxes occurring with the sediment transportation. Three scenarios were simulated on the whole extent of arable land in Italy: (i) a baseline without the GAEC implementation; (ii) a current scenario considering a set of management related to GAEC and the corresponding area of application derived from land use and agricultural management statistics and (iii) a technical potential where GAEC standards are applied to the entire surface. The results show a 10.8% decrease, from 8.33Mgha−1 year−1 to 7.43Mgha−1 year−1, in soil loss potential due to the adoption of the GAEC conservation practices. The technical potential scenario shows a 50.1% decrease in the soil loss potential (soil loss 4.1Mgha−1 year−1). The GAEC application resulted in overall SOC gains, with different rates depending on the hectares covered and the agroecosystem conditions. About 17% of the SOC change was attributable to avoided SOC transport by sediment erosion in the current scenario, while a potential gain up to 23.3Mt of C by 2020 is predicted under the full GAEC application. These estimates provide a useful starting point to help the decision-makers in both ex-ante and ex-post policy evaluation while, scientifically, the way forward relies on linking biogeochemical and geomorphological processes occurring at landscape level and scaling those up to continental and global scales.

Economic impact of cross compliance in the field of animal welfare (Acts C18 and C16)

The paper reports the results of assessment of animal welfare at farm level on two dairy cattle farms, identification of structural and management actions to improve the animal welfare and estimate of the costs of such actions; furthermore the economic impact of the potential support under measure 215 of the Rural Development Plan was also simulated. At the time of assessment, no severe break of compliance was detected at the two farms; however some weaknesses were identified and improvement were proposed in order to maintain the current animal welfare status and avoid future failures. The two use cases showed that investments to improve animal welfare were partly self funded in the mid and long term due to the higher milk yield and the better animal health that were expected as consequence; however, in the short term, a large part of expenses was fully borne by farmers if not supported by a public grant or higher market prices. The support provided by the measure 215 is effective in rewarding farmers who undertake to adopt standards of animal husbandry which go beyond the relevant mandatory standards.