Farmland Conservation Research Articles

Food, Farming & Sustainability: Perspectives on U.S. Agricultural Production

This article offers a discussion of the U.S. agricultural sector and its current focus on an industrialized model of production. Challenges to the longterm sustainability of this approach are presented and an approach based more on natural processes is advocated. The article was prepared for the inaugural symposium of the Agricultural and Food Law Institute in South Korea, “The Conservation and Conversion of Farm Land” held at Yeungnam University Law School in Gyeongsan, South Korea.

Yields of Miscanthus × giganteus and Panicum virgatum decline with stand age in the Midwestern USA

AbstractFor the C4 perennial grasses, Miscanthus × giganteus and Panicum virgatum (switchgrass) to be successful for bioenergy production they must maintain high yields over the long term. Previous studies under the less conducive climate for productivity in N.W. Europe found little or no yield decline in M. × giganteus in the long term. This study provides the first analysis of whether yield decline occurs in M. × giganteus under United States. Midwest conditions in side‐by‐side trials with P. virgatum over 8–10 years at seven locations across Illinois. The effect of stand age was determined by using a linear regression model that included effects of weather. Miscanthus × giganteus produced yields more than twice that of P. virgatum averaging 23.4 ± 1.2 Mg ha−1 yr−1 and 10.0 ± 0.9 Mg ha−1 yr−1, respectively, averaged over 8–10 years. Relationships of yield with precipitation and growing degree days were established and used to estimate yields corrected for the stochastic effects of weather. Across all locations and in both species, yield initially increased until it reached a maximum during the fifth growing season and then declined to a stable, but lower level in the eighth. This pattern was more pronounced in M. × giganteus. The mean yields observed over this longer term period of 8–10 years were lower than the yields of the first 5 years. However, this decline was proportionately greater in M. × giganteus than in P. virgatum, suggesting a stronger effect of stand age on M. × giganteus. Based on the average yield over the period of this study, meeting the United States Renewable Fuel Standard mandate of 60 billion liters of cellulosic ethanol by 2022, would require 6.8 Mha of M. × giganteus or 15.8 Mha of P. virgatum. These appear manageable numbers for the United States, given the 16.0 Mha in the farmland Conservation Reserve Program in addition to another 13.0 Mha abandoned from agriculture in the last decade.

Conceptual Model for the Evaluation and Optimization of Sustainable Land Use

Sustainable land use plays a vital role in the process of regional development. To pursuit the sustainable use of land resources will be the effective approach to address the conflictions among farmland conservation, social development and environment protection. This paper reviewed the relevant research and studies on the field of sustainable land use including its various definitions, the sustainability evaluation and optimization of land resources, got some conclusions about the prospects in the study on sustainable land use and finally addressed the conceptual model for evaluating and optimizing sustainable land use.

The importance of northern Spanish farmland for wintering migratory passerines: a quantitative assessment

SummaryMigratory birds are critically dependent on adequate wintering habitats for their long-term survival. Cantabrian farmland, a mixed agricultural landscape extending across the coastal lowlands of northern Spain, constitutes an important wintering area for many short-distance migrants coming from central-western and northern Europe. Unfortunately, the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union and national afforestation schemes have resulted in a massive replacement of farmland by pinePinusspp. and eucalyptEucalyptussp. plantations. This work assesses the importance of Cantabrian farmland as wintering grounds for short-distance European migrants and for wintering species that originate in nearby woodlands. We examined the seasonal changes in passerine bird populations in the Cantabrian region and used winter ringing recoveries obtained in the area to evaluate the contribution made by European migrants to winter populations. Bird communities were surveyed along 299 500-m long transects distributed between 67 farmland patches, 67 lowland forests and 14 upland forests. Winter assemblages were more diverse and species more abundant in farmland than in lowland or upland forests, whereas these differences were smaller in the spring. Bird numbers in farmland tripled in winter, numbers increasing by about 6.9 million birds compared to breeding populations. Most of this increase was accounted for by species that also bred in the region and that considerably increased their abundance (65.6% of all wintering birds, with the ChaffinchFringilla coelebsresponsible for 31.4% of the total increase) and by five exclusively wintering species (34.4%, with the Meadow PipitAnthus pratensisaccounting for 25.2% of the total increase). The main bulk of this increase is caused by the influx of European migrants. The importance of halting the current spread of eucalypt plantations (which increased over 400% over the past 30 years) and of applying more effective agri-environment schemes to achieve appropriate farmland conservation is discussed.

Farmland conservation in West Africa: how do hedgerow characteristics affect bird species richness?

Capsule The value of farmland for birds at a site in Nigeria, West Africa, was highly dependent upon the habitat structure, with wider and more continuous hedges supporting more bird species. Aim To understand the value of hedges in Nigerian farmland to bird species richness. Methods We used line transects to survey birds and vegetation on 166 systematically selected hedgerows on fallow, cultivated and harvested fields in Jos East, Nigeria. Results Wider hedges supported higher species richness. Plant species composition was a weak predictor of bird species richness compared to hedge width. There was no observed difference in distribution of bird richness across field types, suggesting that the value of hedgerows for biodiversity is comparable, regardless of farming method. Continuous hedgerows (hedgerows with vegetation gap < 1.5 m) held higher species richness compared with discontinuous (hedgerows with vegetation gap > 1.5 m) hedges. Conclusion This result suggests that hedge size and structure, rather than plant species composition, is an important predictor of avian species richness in hedgerows surrounding farmland. Therefore, the value of farmland for birds in this part of Africa is highly dependent upon the habitat structure, with wider and more continuous hedges supporting more bird species.

Measures of the Farm Land Conservation Developed for the Kanagawa Urban Agriculture Land Promotion

Measures of the Farm Land Conservation Developed for the Kanagawa Urban Agriculture Land Promotion

Plan Generation for Farm Land Conservation and Improvement of Agricultural Production Base in Small and Aging Community

Plan Generation for Farm Land Conservation and Improvement of Agricultural Production Base in Small and Aging Community

Food Science Education Publications and Websites

Food Science Education Publications and Websites

The elephant in the room: Absentee landowner issues in conservation and land management

In this article, we provide a synthesis of the peer-reviewed literature and state and federal policies focused on absentee landowners of forestland, rangeland, or farmland in the U.S. The synthesis indicates absentee owners, as compared to those living on the land, appear to be much more likely to live in urban areas, are less dependent financially upon the land and much more likely to own land for amenity reasons than production purposes. Absentee owners are also less likely to be engaged in active management practices, decision making regarding these practices, and less likely to have contact with extension and local natural resource agency program staff. In addition, little formal policy was identified as having any direct or explicit emphasis on absentee landownership issues involving private forest, range, or farmland.Based on our review we conclude there is a need for: (1) Improved research to understand conservation management and absentee landownership, (2) Improved research and policy that considers the role of the tenant operator in farmland conservation, (3) Improved research and policy that considers the role of the ranch manager in conservation, (4) Creating, implementing and evaluating outreach models and (5) Coordinated efforts on research and outreach.

Peri-urban farmland conservation and development of alternative food networks: Insights from a case-study area in metropolitan Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain)

There has been a growing literature on alternative food networks (AFNs); structures that reconfigure the systems of production, distribution and consumption of food. Part of this literature emphasises the local scale and the idea of proximity. In a world that is increasingly urban, AFNs at a local scale can be more easily developed by linking peri-urban farmlands and cities. However, agriculture in the rural–urban fringe struggles to survive in the face of urban pressures and sprawl; a process which undermines viable agricultural production in the city's countryside. A widely used strategy to address these pressures has been farmland protection, undertaken in different ways depending on the legal framework of particular countries. This paper considers farmland conservation and AFNs development issues through a case-study of the Baix Llobregat Agricultural Park (BLAP) in metropolitan Barcelona. It concludes that AFNs in peri-urban areas are only possible if farmland preservation is guaranteed, and that the former does not come as a direct consequence of the latter. The specific conditions in which both can occur will be of interest for scholars as well as policy-makers and planners.

飼料米を使って生産された鶏卵の市場評価

Japan has experienced an increase in abandoned farmland. Our research has focused on the production and marketing of chicken eggs with rice feed, with further study aimed at creating sustainable local agriculture and farmland conservation by increasing rice production and the use of feed. To realize this vision, consumers need to accept an increase in cost due to egg production using rice feed. We have estimated, on the basis of conjoint analysis, the willingness of consumers to pay for the use of rice feed for egg production.As a result, this willingness to pay was found more in consumers of higher age groups and by information flow from person to person through conversation. The effects of advertising media, such as leaflets or text panels, were not confirmed.We concluded from these results that to continue with this effort, it is important to communicate information through conversations between consumers, specifically those who have previously purchased the eggs andthose who are purchasing them for the first time.

Subsidence control and farmland conservation by solid backfilling mining technology

Solid backfilling mining technology, which decreases the height of fissure zone and caving zone, and alleviates the subsidence, is a new technology for farmland conservation. Based on the situation analysis of farmland destruction in mining area, three ways for farmland protection were proposed. In order to improve the feasibility of this technology, the limited filling materials should be used to increase resources recovery ratio, and then the surplus materials could be backfilled into goaf. An index, namely farmland conservation ability, was put forward to optimize the ways for farmland conservation. At last, the Wanbei coal mine was taken as a case for farmland conservation. It was shown that 3240 t dull coal was substituted and 52 hm 2 farmland was conserved by solid backfilling mining in this coal mine.

Is Oregon's land use planning program conserving forest and farm land? A review of the evidence

Planners have long been interested in understanding ways in which land use planning approaches play out on the ground and planning scholars have approached the task of evaluating such effects using a variety of methods. Oregon, in particular, has been the focus of numerous studies owing to its early-adopted and widely recognized statewide approach to farm and forest land protection and recent experiment with relaxation of that approach in 2004 with the passage of ballot Measure 37. In this paper we review research-based evidence regarding the forest and farm land conservation effects of Oregon land use planning. We document the evolution of methods used in evaluating state land use planning program performance, including trend analysis, indicator analysis, empirical models, and analysis of indirect effects on the economic viability of forestry and farming. We also draw on data documenting Measure 37 claims to consider the degree to which Measure 37 might have altered land use and development trends had its impacts not been tempered by a subsequent ballot measure – Measure 49. Finally, we provide a synthesis of the current state of knowledge and suggest opportunities for future research. Common to nearly all of the studies we reviewed was an acknowledgement of the difficulty in establishing causal relationships between land use planning and land use change given the many exogenous and endogenous factors involved. Despite these difficulties, we conclude that sufficient evidence does exist to suggest that Oregon's land use planning program is contributing a measurable degree of protection to forest and farm land in the state.

五箇山相倉集落における農地保全に関する研究

The objective of this research is to study the way of conservation of the farmland in Gokayama Ainokura Village, which the entire village has been preserved as cultural properties. This research focused on the following two points; the transition of historic land use, and the present problems of the farmland conservation projects. As a result, it became clear that there is the gap of the agricultural products among the historic land use, the present farmland, and the picture of the future by conservation. It became also clear that the present farmland conservation projects have financial problem. In conclusion, this research could suggest the following three points about the direction of farmland conservation in the future; share the role of each conservation actor, raise awareness about the historic land use as cultural property, and separate the areas of the farmland conservation, for example, the core conservation zone from other zones where gently return to the forest.

農村環境保全施策の導入にともなう地域自治運営の再編

The revitalization of rural community can be accomplished by a appropriate environmental conservation.However, the appropriate rural environmental conservation is the difficult situation, because the wreaking community and land improvement district has been conserved it in a lot of rural areas. Such a situation the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries administration might try to be viewed the new actor composed by participation of various subjects is invented in which more rural communities cooperate in the large area and the city community and the rural community are collaborated. It is necessary to reorganize the local autonomy system for this view. Because an environmental preservation is a basis of local autonomy. If the city resident and NPO, etc. that do not take part in autonomy immediately are made to participate in this act, it is necessary to review the local autonomy system.For the reorganization of the local autonomy system, a new logic to revolutionize the autonomy management(political process) first of all will be requested. New logic is a method of the reach a consensus (new public space). It is an adjusting method to compete for not the adjusting method for mutual agreement but various opinions. However, a rural community that becomes accustomed to a past adjusting method doesn't easily accept new logic. What is the reason why a present rural community refuses the revolution of the autonomy management? And, what is the hint that enables the reorganization of the regional autonomy system? This research examines the method of reorganizing the local autonomy system that executes appropriate rural environmental preservation.This thesis observes the correspondence process of local autonomy according to the introduction of “The policy for conservation of farmland, water, and environment”, and looks for the problem of the local autonomy system reorganization.

Labor Input Allocation for Farmland Conservation in the Hilly and Mountainous Areas

The objective of this paper is to investigate labor requirements for farmland conservation in the hilly and mountainous areas, where aging and depopulation are serious problems. A Random Coefficients Regression (RCR) model with Agricultural Settlements Cards of the Agricultural Census in 2000 is applied to five municipalities in mountainous parts of Hiroshima Prefecture. Each dataset for the model consists of about 100 to 400 agricultural settlement units mainly cropped with rice. Explanatory variables are planted areas of rice paddy categorized into three levels of consolidation condition, beans, vegetables, miscellaneous, and uncropped farmland. The dependent variable is person-days of work on agriculture in each unit. The estimation result supports an observation that farmers are inputting considerable amount of labor although other sampled farm-based statistics, the Statistical Survey on Farm Management and Economy for example, reports further less labor input requirement. Small and unconsolidated rice paddy fields require about 30 to 40 percent more labor input than consolidated ones to be cultivated. Farmers input considerable level of labor even on uncropped farmland. Conversion in monetary value of the labor inputs indicates that current direct payment schemes are not necessarily enough to cover the efficiency gap between small and large field plots. Without direct payments, agricultural income is not sufficient to cover the labor input by farm household members on consolidated rice paddy, and neither to pay out rents both for owned and tenant farmland.

What explains property‐level variation in avian diversity? An inter‐disciplinary approach

Summary Modern farmed landscapes have witnessed substantial losses in biodiversity principally driven by the ecological changes associated with agricultural intensification. The causes of declines are often well described, but current management practices seem unlikely to deliver the EU‐wide policy objective of halting biodiversity losses. Available evidence suggests that property‐scale factors can be influential in shaping patterns of biodiversity; however, they are rarely included in studies. Using 44 upland farms in the Peak District, northern England, we investigate the roles of ecological, agricultural and socio‐economic factors in determining avian species richness, for the first time incorporating information from all three influences. Although we might expect that habitat quality would be the main factor affecting species richness, these variables had little influence. The landscape context of each property was unimportant in explaining any of the three measures of species richness (Total, Upland and Conservation Concern) used here. Within‐property habitat quality did explain 42% of the variation in richness of upland specialist species, but had no influence on Total or Conservation Concern Richness. Socio‐economic circumstances of farms alone accounted for 24% of the variation in Total Richness, with land tenure and labour inputs important predictors of avian diversity. However, net income, rental value and the level of Agri‐Environment Scheme (AES) payments did not play a role in predicting species richness. Farm management variables, including many of the main prescriptions outlined in AES, accounted for 23% of the variation in the richness of species of Conservation Concern, but less than 10% for Total Richness. However, no farm management variable alone was shown to offer better predictive power of avian species richness than random. Synthesis and applications. The agricultural landscape is managed by a mosaic of landowners, all of whom can influence biodiversity conservation. We demonstrate that variation at the property‐scale in habitat, management and socio‐economics can feed into determining patterns of biodiversity. Currently, farmland conservation policy largely assumes that socio‐economic barriers and financial costs of implementing conservation measures are constant. Incorporating a consideration of the varying circumstances of individual properties into policy design is likely to result in substantial biodiversity gains.

Structural Conservation Practices in US Wheat Production: A Cost-Function Technology Adoption Approach

Abstract Based on 2004 CEAP-ARMS Phase II data, higher-sales farms not participating in a conservation programme adopted farmland conservation structures much more intensively on wheat fields than did any other farm-size type among conservation programme participants or non-participants. Survey results suggest that wheat farms not participating in a conservation programme more frequently adopted infield conservation structures, while conservation programme participants more often installed field perimeter conservation structures. Wheat producers, particularly those not participating in a conservation programme, recognize productivity and profitability benefits of infield structures as sufficient to promote their adoption without programme incentives. However, for field perimeter structures, programme incentives may be needed to encourage their adoption because benefits are more commonly off-site. To supplement univariate comparisons between conservation programme participants and non-participants, we used a cost-function based acreage allocation model to examine adoption of structural conservation practices, including such practices as strip cropping, terraces, grassed waterways, field borders, and stream-side herbaceous buffers. To accurately assess the potential environmental impacts of conservation programmes, it is important to account for the variability in on-site field, farm, and environmental conditions influencing producer adoption decisions. Econometric models suggest that not accounting for factors such as field, farm, operator, and environmental attributes will likely under- or overestimate adoption of conservation structures with respect to input and commodity prices, regardless of programme participation status.

Easement Exchanges for Agricultural Conservation: A Case Study Under the Williamson Act in California

Abstract Rapid population growth has made farmland conservation a concern throughout the world, leading state and local decision-makers to conserve agricultural land through a variety of policy tools. Among the most prominent strategies in recent years has been the direct purchase of development rights or the acquisition of agricultural conservation easements through purchase, donation, or exchange. However, the effectiveness of conservation easements has been questioned recently by scholars while public accountability for their adoption has been relatively thin. This article evaluates implementation of California’s Williamson Act contract cancellation and easement exchange program (WAEE) as a mitigation measure against the loss of agricultural land, offering important insights into the strengths and weaknesses of exchanges as a policy tool. We recommend a significant modification to the existing structure of the program that should also be considered by other jurisdictions exploring easement exchanges as a means of conserving agricultural land. Cancellation fees from non-exchanges should be transferred directly to the state budget for the acquisition of conservation easements in the region in which contracts are being cancelled, thereby creating an incentive for the state conservation agency to conduct a more critical evaluation of the proposed easement exchange in comparison to direct acquisition of other conservation easements.

California's Farmland Preservation Programs, Taxes, and Furthering the Appropriate Safeguarding of Agriculture at the Urban Fringe to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

California has long been a leader in both its attempts to preserve land devoted to agricultural production and in its approach to funding its state and local governments. Recently it has become the leader in creating a statewide policy (AB 32) to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases generated within its border. California's policy choices regarding state and local revenue reliance, farmland preservation, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are interrelated. There is concern among environmental and agricultural stakeholders that elements of the system of state and local taxation that developed in California after Proposition 13 discourages the retention of land in agriculture, and this subsequently generates greater urban sprawl in the state. Many of these same stakeholders point to the presence of the state's three major farmland conservation programs (and other programs and multiple policies throughout different codes) as encouraging the retention of agricultural land and thus resulting in less urban sprawl in the state. The overall purpose of this paper is to examine these two claims in as unbiased a manner as academically possible and to offer an opinion on their validity. Such an opinion is necessary to offer an informed comment on the desirability of reforming the state's tax system, and/or expanding the state's system of farmland preservation, to reduce the degree of sprawl experienced in California and thus be better poised to achieve the reduction in GHGs mandated by AB 32.