Opportunity Cost Of Land Research Articles

Accounting for deep soil carbon in tropical forest conservation payments

Secondary tropical forests are at the forefront of deforestation pressures. They store large amounts of carbon, which, if compensated for to avoid net emissions associated with conversion to non-forest uses, may help advance tropical forest conservation. We measured above- and below-ground carbon stocks down to 1 m soil depth across a secondary forest and in oil palm plantations in Malaysia. We calculated net carbon losses when converting secondary forests to oil palm plantations and estimated payments to avoid net emissions arising from land conversion to a 22-year oil palm rotation, based on land opportunity costs per hectare. We explored how estimates would vary between forests by also extracting carbon stock data for primary forest from the literature. When tree and soil carbon was accounted for, payments of US$18–51 tCO2–1 for secondary forests and US$14–40 tCO2–1 for primary forest would equal opportunity costs associated with oil palm plantations per hectare. If detailed assessments of soil carbon were not accounted for, payments to offset opportunity costs would need to be considerably higher for secondary forests (US$28–80 tCO2–1). These results show that assessment of carbon stocks down to 1 m soil depth in tropical forests can substantially influence the estimated value of avoided-emission payments.

Polish Dairy Farm Transformations and Competitiveness 20 Years after Poland's Accession to the European Union.

Poland is one of the leading milk producers in the EU, being the fifth largest after countries such as Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands. From Poland's accession to the European Union in 2004 up to 2022, Polish milk production experienced dynamic development. In this, there occurred a strong decline in the number of dairy farms (by -78%) and the number of cows (by -21%), an increase in dairy herd size (3.5 times) and increase in milk production (+60%) and milk yield per cow (by +62%). These were among the highest growth dynamics among the analysed countries. As a result of this significant transformation, Poland maintained an important position in milk exports, with a 31% export share in production in 2022. The scale of milk production was the basic factor determining the efficiency and competitiveness of dairy farms in Poland. Milk yield, farmland productivity, labour productivity, milk price, and the Corrected Competitiveness Index (based on labour and land opportunity costs) all showed a positive relationship with cow herd size on the farm. Milk production is highly uncompetitive for smaller farms (<15 cows). Despite substantial public support, the smaller farms, where subsidies equal up to 47% of total production value, could not earn sufficient income to cover the cost of capital, risk, and management in 2008, and even more so in 2021. This is because the farm income is too small to cover the extremely high opportunity cost of labour. The larger farms (with 30 cows and more) are competitive and responsible for the majority (~60-70%) of milk produced and delivered to the market. The most challenging from the sectoral policy point of view are medium farms (10-29 cows), whose share in production and deliveries is still important. To survive as economically viable units, these farms have to increase in scale and improve productivity. Otherwise, they will be gradually supplanted by larger farms.

Spatially Varying Costs of GHG Abatement with Alternative Cellulosic Feedstocks for Sustainable Aviation Fuels.

Cellulosic biomass-based sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) can be produced from various feedstocks. The breakeven price and carbon intensity of these feedstock-to-SAF pathways are likely to differ across feedstocks and across spatial locations due to differences in feedstock attributes, productivity, opportunity costs of land for feedstock production, soil carbon effects, and feedstock composition. We integrate feedstock to fuel supply chain economics and life-cycle carbon accounting using the same system boundary to quantify and compare the spatially varying greenhouse gas (GHG) intensities and costs of GHG abatement with SAFs derived from four feedstocks (switchgrass, miscanthus, energy sorghum, and corn stover) at 4 km resolution across the U.S. rainfed region. We show that the optimal feedstock for each location differs depending on whether the incentive is to lower breakeven price, carbon intensity, or cost of carbon abatement with biomass or to have high biomass production per unit land. The cost of abating GHG emissions with SAF ranges from $181 Mg-1 CO2e to more than $444 Mg-1 CO2e and is lowest with miscanthus in the Midwest, switchgrass in the south, and energy sorghum in a relatively small region in the Great Plains. While corn stover-based SAF has the lowest breakeven price per gallon, it has the highest cost of abatement due to its relatively high GHG intensity. Our findings imply that different types of policies, such as volumetric targets, tax credits, and low carbon fuel standards, will differ in the mix of feedstocks they incentivize and locations where they are produced in the U.S. rainfed region.

Assessing the economic feasibility of voluntary carbon markets in land use management scenarios for Scottish saltmarshes

Saltmarshes have been valued for their multiple ecosystem services, including agriculture, recreation, habitats for fish and birds, coastal protection and carbon sequestration and long-term storage. However, because of the many threats faced, including rising sea levels, limited sediment supplies and anthropogenic impacts, saltmarshes require careful restoration and protection management to continue providing these benefits. In this study, we examined the feasibility of land abandonment caused by reinstated tidal flow in Scottish saltmarshes, based on the differential gains in soil carbon stock between natural saltmarshes and those manged for agricultural uses, and suggested considerations for a voluntary carbon market plan. The study's results showed that the proportion of Scottish saltmarshes used for agricultural activities was not very large (2.56 %, equivalent to 179.73 ha). The average net benefit (i.e., after removing the opportunity cost of land) of the new land use is GBP £ 5368.71/ha after a 67-year post-abandonment management program, showing that this model is economically viable to implement a carbon market mechanism. A voluntary carbon market scheme may be easier to implement than a compliance scheme, although the price of carbon credits under the voluntary carbon market is not high to fully compensate for the opportunity costs of land in all the Scottish regions. In effect, the carbon price at the break-even point (e.g., that balances the opportunity cost of land) in the Scottish regions varied widely (range £ 1.06–59.83/tC), which means that for regions with higher opportunity costs there is a need to consider compensating farmers through a blended private-public mechanism. Despite these difficulties, implementing saltmarshes management models for carbon market initiatives can benefit society in a broader sense, not just mitigate climate change.

Rows make the field: Winter wheat fields with manipulated crop architecture show potential for ecological intensification based on higher natural pest and weed seed control

Ecological intensification aims to reduce environmental costs of agricultural production by increasing biodiversity and using the associated ecosystem services instead of, or in combination with, external inputs, so that yields are maintained at high levels or increased. However, to date there are few measures available for which such benefits have already been demonstrated in the field.In this study, the seeding pattern in winter wheat fields was manipulated to create a diversified crop architecture consisting of ‘unsown-rows’ and ‘densely-sown-rows’ in treatment fields in comparison to ‘conventionally-sown-rows’ in control fields to assess whether (i) in-field structural and microclimatic conditions are more heterogeneous in fields with manipulated crop architecture compared to conventionally managed fields, (ii) a change in crop architecture is related to higher species richness, activity density and altered body size distribution of carabid communities, (iii) this in turn increases natural pest and weed seed control, but (iv) does not lead to yield loss.In-field structural and microclimatic conditions were more heterogeneous in treatment fields compared to control fields, which was associated with significantly increased body sizes of predatory carabids and a trend for increased predatory carabid species richness (in the ‘unsown-rows’ of treatment fields). These changes were related to significantly stronger pest suppression in the ‘densely-sown-rows’ of treatment fields compared to ‘conventionally-sown-rows’ in control fields, with 10 % higher experimental pest predation rates and 56 % reduced crop damage caused by cereal leaf beetles. Moreover, carabids known to consume weed seeds showed significantly higher activity densities in ‘unsown-rows’ compared to ‘conventionally-sown-rows’, which was related to significantly higher experimental weed seed predation in ‘densely-sown-rows’. Wheat yields were not significantly different in fields with or without manipulated crop architecture.The results suggest that the simple measure of manipulating the seeding pattern in winter wheat fields creates a diversified crop architecture, thereby promoting carabid diversity and altering their community composition and activity density such that important ecosystem services are increased without yield losses. Thus, beyond fostering biodiversity, this measure has, although not directly tested here, the potential for being used for ecological replacement of pesticides through enhanced ecosystem services without entailing agronomic and economic disadvantages such as land opportunity costs or increased workload.

Adaptive approaches to REDD+ are needed for countries with high forest cover and low deforestation rates

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) aims to maintain forest carbon stocks above benchmark reference levels through financial compensation. However, countries with high forest cover and low deforestation (HFLD) are unlikely to be compensated fairly if REDD+ initiatives fail to conserve existing forests and to incentivize low deforestation rates. Here we analyze the submissions of forest reference levels (FRLs) of five HFLD countries [Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Republic of the Congo (Congo), Guyana, Papua New Guinea, Suriname] to the REDD+ platform of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. We assessed if the FRLs are likely to yield compensation payments that maintain carbon stocks above the business-as-usual scenario and compared the FRLs with quantitative emission data. Our results show that only Guyana submitted an FRL that yielded sufficient monetary incentives for low deforestation rates. Compensation payments will likely be insufficient in Suriname, Papua New Guinea, and the Congo. The FRL of the DRC would generate the highest compensation payment (on average US$ 1.3 billion annually). Overall, our results suggest that payments from REDD+ will fail to provide adequate incentives for most HFLD countries. We suggest that the FRL should allow for post hoc adaptation to changes in the drivers of deforestation. This implies that REDD+ schemes need sufficient flexibility to reflect changes in the opportunity costs of alternative land uses, which is particularly acute for HFLD countries where pressure on forests can accumulate rapidly. More adaptive REDD+ likely better rewards HFLD countries in ways that preserve their valuable forest ecosystems.

Development of a Swine Production Cost Calculation Model.

Simple SummarySwine production is a for-profit activity; however, most farms have deficient internal controls and empirical management and do not even know the cost of the market hog produced. Knowing the production cost of what will be commercialized is crucial for any process that involves business management, and in pig production, it is no different. However, the lack of a standard method and simple and easily accessible tools make it difficult for producers to organize the economic management of their businesses. In this sense, the present work aimed to develop a free and easy-to-use tool that calculates swine production costs and serves as a management tool in commercial properties.This paper aims to present a tool that offers pig producers a standard method to calculate and control their production costs and, consequently, provides the necessary information to guide strategic decision-making. Following these premises, a mathematical model to estimate swine production costs were developed using Microsoft Excel® software (version 2207). Case studies were used to assist in the characterization and construction of the model. Through the panel method, the tool was validated by professionals in the sector. Costs were considered according to the Neoclassical Economic Theory of Costs and allocated in the order of variable costs, fixed operating costs, and opportunity costs of capital and land. These costs together create the total cost. The model provides the total cost per batch, per market pig, per arroba, and per kilogram, which facilitates the interpretation of the results and economic evaluations of the system. The model is adaptable to different types of swine farming, as well as the consideration of all costs involved in the production system, whether explicit or implicit. The model developed has the potential to be used as a management tool in commercial swine production systems, assisting the producer in the decision-making process through the management and control of production costs.

Multi-objective forest restoration planning in Costa Rica: Balancing landscape connectivity and ecosystem service provisioning with sustainable development

Degradation, fragmentation, and loss of tropical forests has exponentially increased in the last decades leading to unprecedented rates of species extinctions and loss of ecosystems functions and services. Forest restoration is key to recover ecosystems health and achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, restoring forests at the landscape scale presents many challenges, since it requires balancing conservation goals and economic development. In this study, we used a spatial planning tool (Marxan) to identify priority areas for restoration satisfying multiple objectives across a biological corridor in Costa Rica. Biological corridors are critical conservation instruments promoting forest connectivity while acknowledging human presence. Increasing forest connectivity requires restoration initiatives that will likely conflict with other land uses, some of them of high national economic importance. Our restoration plan sought to maximize the provision of forest-related services (i.e., seed dispersal, tourism and carbon storage) while minimizing the impact on current land uses and thus avoiding potential conflicts. We quantified seed dispersal and tourism services (birdwatching potential) using species distribution models. We used the carbon sequestration model of InVEST to quantify carbon storage potential. We tested different restoration scenarios that differed in whether land opportunity costs of current uses were considered or not when identifying potential restoration areas, or how these costs were estimated. We showed how a landscape-scale forest restoration plan accounting for only forest connectivity and ecosystem service provision capacity can greatly differ from a plan that considers the potential impacts on local livelihoods. Spatial planning tools can assist at designing cost-effective landscape-scale forest restoration plans, identifying priority areas where forest restoration can maximize ecosystem provision and increase forest connectivity. Special care must be paid to the use of adequate estimates of opportunity cost, to avoid potential conflicts between restoration goals and other legitimate land uses.

PSVIII-12 An economic and emergy approach to evaluate the level of sustainability of lamb production: A case study in Brazil

Abstract This study employed the Economic Theory (ET) to calculate the production costs and the Emergy Methodology (EM) to identify the contributions of nature and economy of lambs produced in an intensive system located in Cravinhos city, State of São Paulo. In addition, was employed Emergy Methodology (EM) to identify the contributions of nature and economy in the system. The adopted scheme of cost allocation followed the classification according to ET, under Variable Cost (VC), Operational Fixed Cost (FC), Opportunity Costs of land and capital (OC), and Total Cost (TC). The EM manages to quantify all the resources used in the system in Contributions from Nature (I) and Feedback from the economy (F). The I originate from the Sum of Renewable (R) and Non-renewable (N) local resources, while that F is composed of the Materials (M) and Services (S) from the economic system. We found that to produce 935 lambs per year the TC was US$ 96,021.08. VC represented 19.08% of TC, while 76.6% were represented by FC, and 4.3% by the IF. The cost produced per animal and kg of live weight was US$ 72.73 and US$ 1.82, respectively. On the other hand, the total energy flow (Y) required by the system was 3.05E+16 seJ/yr (Solar Joules per year) for produce (Ep) 1.68E+06J/yr (Joules per year). Y was represented in a 53.92% by I (7.98% for R, from the sun, rain, and wind; and 45.94% for N, from the soil loss and groundwater), and 46,08% by F (27.8% for M, from the feed, minerals, steel, fueled, etc. and 10.7% for S, from manpower, other services external, taxes, etc.). These results show that the studied system has a %Renewability (%R = R / Y) of 7.98%. Thus, we can conclude that the system depends on 92.02% of resources from non-renewable sources.

Comparative life cycle assessment of plant and beef-based patties, including carbon opportunity costs

Legume-derived foods have been shown to have comparatively low greenhouse gas (GHG) intensities whilst providing high amounts of nutrients. However, processing legumes into meat analogues can incur significant energy costs. Here, we undertake a comprehensive life cycle assessment of plant-based and (Brazilian and Irish) beef burger patties. Sixteen impact categories are supplemented with the carbon opportunity cost of land occupation, and benchmarked against nutrient density units (NDU) to provide holistic evidence on the potential contribution of plant-based patties to environmentally-sustainable nutritional density. Plant-based patties have a smaller environmental footprint across most categories, including a 77% smaller climate change burden, but incur 8% more energy use compared with Brazilian beef patties. Normalised scores (person equivalents) were significantly larger (p < 0.05) for the beef products across key categories including land use, acidification, and marine and terrestrial eutrophication. Sensitivity analyses indicated significant variance across impact categories if beef cattle are reared in South Africa, France or the United States, including a 16-fold difference in land occupation. Biophysical allocation of co-products reduced environmental burdens of beef burgers. However, owing to a 68% higher NDU per serving, reflecting higher fibre and essential fatty acid content, plant-based patties are associated with 81–87% less climate change and 92–95% less marine eutrophication per NDU compared with beef burger patties. Accounting for carbon opportunity cost of land further increased the climate change advantage of plant-based patties by 25–44%. A simple extrapolation indicates that switching from beef to vegetable patties in the UK could save between 9.5 and 11 million tonnes CO 2 e annually, representing up to 2.4% of territorial GHG emissions.

To What Extent Are Cattle Ranching Landholders Willing to Restore Ecosystem Services? Constructing a Micro-Scale PES Scheme in Southern Costa Rica

Deforestation and the unsustainable management of agricultural and livestock production systems in tropical mountain areas have caused fragmented and degraded landscapes. Payment for ecosystem services (PES) could be an effective policy instrument with which to reduce deforestation and restore disturbed ecosystems. The national-scale PES program in Costa Rica is recognized as being successful; however, its financial resources have been mostly dedicated to forest protection, and much less to reforestation projects. This paper aims to construct a micro-scale PES scheme by using primary data generated through spatial modeling and socio-economic and stated preference surveys (choice experiment) in southern Costa Rica. The results suggest that, on average, landholders would agree to implement restoration projects on their own private pasturelands if an appropriate holistic place-based approach was applied encompassing biophysical, social, economic, and institutional aspects. Willingness-to-accept values allow payments to be linked to cattle farmers’ estimates of specific ecosystem services (ES) and land opportunity costs. The economic valuation of three ESs (erosion control, water availability, and biodiversity) allows construction of a layered payment scheme, which could encourage the development of a potential partnership between national and local institutions and NGOs as alternative buyers of ESs, reduce transaction costs, and improve household well-being.

Mega-projects and mega-events: evaluating Vancouver 2010 stadium and convention infrastructure

ABSTRACT This paper evaluates two infrastructure mega-projects connected to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver’s downtown peninsula: the renovation of BC Place Stadium and the Vancouver Convention Centre expansion. These projects correspond to two categories of mega-projects often constructed alongside sporting mega-events with intended tourism development legacies that have a history of financial underperformance. Touching upon literatures concerning mega-events, event leveraging, urban development, as well as the public finance of sport and convention venues, this work focuses on fiscal impacts and opportunity costs for venue site locations where there are already high property values, with the aim of providing lessons for comparable future mega-event hosts contemplating similar event-related mega-projects. In addition to arguing for the alignment of venue design to efficiently maximize long-term operating returns and event portfolios for tourism development, this article highlights that venue location within a host city shapes the opportunity costs for government investors and that cost overruns to meet a fixed event deadline can undermine what may other be a sustainable financial structure. While a mega-event-related stadium or convention centre is at significant risk of becoming a financial loser when considering both capital and operating costs, as well as a sub-optimal platform for maximising an event portfolio, this does not have to be the case. Beyond more traditional measures of project return, this article highlights and further develops another key measure of evaluating financial and revenue outcomes, which can be summed up as the opportunity cost of alternative land uses on a venue site.

The cost of restoring carbon stocks in Brazil's Atlantic Forest

AbstractKnowing which restoration approach provides the best returns on investment for accumulating carbon is essential to foster restoration planning, financing, and implementation. Here, we explored the cost‐effectiveness and drivers of aboveground and soil carbon accumulation in restored forests across an agricultural landscape of Brazil's Atlantic Forest. The recovery of aboveground and soil carbon stocks, as well as the implementation and land opportunity costs, was assessed across chronosequences (10–60 years) of second‐growth forests and mixed‐species tree plantings and old growth, reference forest remnants. Plantations accumulated approximately 50% more aboveground carbon than second‐growth forests throughout the chronosequence. When controlling for soil clay content, soil carbon stocks were higher in reference than in restored forests, but they were comparable between plantations and second‐growth forests. After 60 years of stand development, recovery of total carbon stocks in both restoration approaches reached only half of the average stocks of reference forests. Total cost‐effectiveness for carbon accumulation, including both implementation and land opportunity costs, was on average 60% higher for second‐growth forests than for plantations (15.1 and 9.4 kgC US$−1, respectively). Although tree plantations initially showed higher rates of carbon storage than second‐growth forests, their higher implementation and land opportunity costs make them less cost‐effective for carbon farming. Our results further suggest that, at current pricing levels, carbon markets alone have a limited potential to up‐scale restoration efforts in Brazil's Atlantic Forest.

Associations between socio‐environmental factors and landscape‐scale biodiversity recovery in naturally regenerating tropical and subtropical forests

AbstractNatural regeneration is key for large‐scale forest restoration, yet it may lead to different biodiversity outcomes depending on socio‐environmental context. We combined the results of a global meta‐analysis to quantify how biodiversity recovery in naturally regenerating forests deviates from biodiversity values in reference old‐growth forests, with structural equation modeling, to identify direct and indirect associations between socioeconomic, biophysical and ecological factors and deviation in biodiversity recovery at a landscape scale. Low deviation within a landscape means higher chances of multiple sites in naturally regenerating forests successfully recovering biodiversity compared to reference forests. Deviation in biodiversity recovery was directly negatively associated with the percentage of cropland, forest cover, and positively associated with the percentage of urban areas in the surrounding landscape. These three factors mediated the indirect associations with rural population size, recent gross deforestation, time since natural regeneration started, mean annual temperature, mean annual water deficit, road density, land opportunity cost, percentage cover of strictly protected forest areas, and human population variation in the surrounding landscape. We suggest that natural forest restoration should be prioritized in landscapes with both low socioeconomic pressures on land use conversion to pasturelands and urban areas, and high percentage of forest cover.

Quantifying the Carbon Sequestration Costs for Pinus elliottii Afforestation Project of China Greenhouse Gases Voluntary Emission Reduction Program: A Case Study in Jiangxi Province

Afforestation and reforestation (AR) is an important component of China’s Greenhouse Gases (GHG) Voluntary Emission Reduction Program, acting as a valuable nationwide carbon sink. Although a number of studies have explored the costs of creating a carbon sink, such an assessment is lacking for China’s GHG Voluntary Emissions Reduction Program. This study develops an economic carbon sink costs measurement model for the Pinus elliottii afforestation project, based on the land opportunity cost method, which incorporates carbon sink transaction costs and leakage costs. From this, an empirical analysis on the carbon sink costs and its sensitivity factors was conducted. The results show that, firstly, the carbon sequestration costs of afforestation projects are generally high, ranging from 44.2 Yuan/tCO2e to 425.4 Yuan/tCO2e with and without considering the benefits of wood, respectively. This is higher than the current average carbon sink price of 20 Yuan/tCO2e. Secondly, forestry carbon sink transaction costs have a positive impact on carbon sequestration costs, but the impact is weak. Thirdly, carbon sequestration costs are negatively affected by timber prices but positively influenced by increasing labor prices and discount rate, which is not conductive to the development of carbon sink afforestation projects. In order to strengthen role of forestry in combating climate change, the study holds that the government departments should take measures to reduce carbon sink transaction costs, establish and improve the forestry carbon sink compensation mechanism in the future, and encourage wood-processing companies to make technological innovations to produce and sell durable wood products. The project owners can explore multiple operating models to increase their revenue, including market and non-market benefits, when the carbon sink afforestation project has been launched according to relevant methodologies.

Costs and Carbon Benefits of Mangrove Conservation and Restoration: A Global Analysis

Blue carbon in mangroves represents one of highest values of carbon stocks per hectare, and could play an important role in climate change mitigation. In this study we estimated the carbon prices needed to promote mangrove conservation and restoration under mechanisms of payment for ecosystem services (PES). We mapped the remaining and deforested mangroves across the globe in 2017, and crossed this information with carbon stocks in the biomass and soil and with land opportunity and restoration costs. In accordance with previous studies we found that Southeast Asia holds the largest opportunities for blue carbon programs to support conservation and restoration. Conserving remaining mangroves would avoid the release of up to 15.51 PgCO2 to the atmosphere, and could be achieved at carbon prices between 3.0 and 13.0 US$ per tCO2 for 90% of remaining mangroves. Restoring mangroves can sequester up to 0.32 PgCO2 globally. Carbon prices between 4.5 and 18.0 US$ per tCO2 could support the restoration of 90% of deforested mangroves. Such prices, however, may not apply to contexts of high-profit alternative land-uses. In such contexts, the valuation of co-benefits and the combination of carbon-based mechanisms and sustainable management may be a viable pathway.

Revisiting the land use assumptions in forest carbon projects through a case from India

Forest carbon projects are based on the premise of stable land use over long durations generally ranging from 20 to 100 years. This narrative is based on two assumptions- first, that project will be able to offset the opportunity cost of land and labour through carbon and other benefits and second assumption being that social, economic, political and biophysical factors will remain largely stable and not affect the land use significantly. This research critically evaluates these assumptions with the help of empirical evidence from a project in Haryana in India. The analysis suggests that various socioeconomic factors such as the development context of the region, changes in crop, wage and carbon prices have increased the opportunity cost of land manifold. Similarly, factors such as increased uncertainty over resource rights and biophysical factors have adversely affected the land use choices and project viability. Around 50% of the participants have changed the land use affecting the project viability. The opportunity cost of participation has been unevenly high for marginal and poor participants, who are worst affected. Hence, it can be argued that these universal land use assumptions of forest carbon projects are questionable.These findings have implications for the role and design of forest carbon projects in the broad context of climate mitigation. The land use change and forestry options through market based forest carbon projects might not offer as big a mitigation opportunity as is generally projected in the literature due to changing opportunity costs of land, complex property rights and other factors. Hence it might require recalibration of the role of these projects in the mitigation strategies at local,national and global levels. Similarly, the forest carbon projects need to be designed based on a comprehensive assessment of land use, which considers not only a dynamic and differential opportunity cost across various stakeholders, but also other sociocultural and political factors, which can impact the land use and sustainability of the project.

Competitiveness of Polish dairy farms in the European Union

This article analyses the competitiveness of dairy farms in Poland in relation to selected EU countries. The competitive advantage of dairy farms was evaluated and compared based on remuneration for family labour. Two variants of the above indicator were calculated: (1) Remuneration for family labour (FL1) as the relationship between farm net income and the farmer’s unpaid labour input, and (2) Remuneration for family labour (FL2) as the relationship between farm net income minus the opportunity costs of own land and capital to the farmer’s unpaid labour input. The calculations were performed based on EU FADN (European Union Farm Accountancy Data Network) data for an average dairy farm in 2005, 2010 and 2016. The study revealed the highest average remuneration for family labour (FL1) in Irish and German dairy farms. The value of the second indicator (FL2) was also highest in Germany, followed by France. The analysis produced interesting results regarding dairy farms in Denmark and the Netherlands which were characterised by the highest scale of production in the evaluated period (high net value added), but very low farm incomes and remuneration for family labour. The study revealed that Polish dairy farms were characterised by average competitiveness relative.

Trends and Drivers of Change of Pastoral Beef Production Systems in a Mediterranean-Temperate Climate Zone of Chile.

Simple SummaryLivestock production systems show modifications over time due to both internal and external variables. The relationships between internal variables allow the definition of typological groups of production systems. Knowing the typological groups and their temporal evolution allows the identification of continuity strategies at the private and public levels. With this aim and using data from livestock surveys conducted in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015, four typological groups of beef production in a Mediterranean-temperate climate zone of Chile were identified. The typological groups differed in size, productive orientation, breeds used, and response to changes in external variables, among other aspects. These groups require different continuity strategies, which include, their sustainable intensification and the need to focus on pastoral production using low external inputs to enhance the production of “natural” beef for high-value niche markets.The present study used surveys of the cattle sector over the period of 2009–2015 to develop a typology of cattle farms to evaluate their evolution over time and to identify variables that may be associated with systems’ adaptive changes and continuance. Four groups of farms were defined using multivariate analyses as follows: Group I are small calf-cow operations using non-specialized beef breeds; Group II is similar to Group I but employs specialized beef breeds; Group III is dedicated to finishing cattle, and Group IV are larger farms (>1000 animals) with a complete cycle of breeding and fattening. In general, beef cattle production in the temperate—Mediterranean Southern Zone of Chile is declining in response to the opening up of the economy that allows for ample imports, the high opportunity cost of land, and recurrent droughts associated with climate change. Current policies and regulations have modified farms’ businesses models depending on their ease of access to markets, farm size and financial capacity. The defined groups require different development paths and strategies. Sustainable intensification is an alternative strategy for farms in Group I and II, particularly if they were to contract the finishing stage of their cattle with Group III farms. In contrast, it is suggested that Group IV farms concentrate on pastoral production using low external inputs to enhance the production of “natural” beef for high-value niche markets, with positive externalities.

Valuing Carbon Sequestration to Finance Afforestation Projects in China

Afforestation programs have huge potential to store carbon, thereby contributing to mitigate climate change. However, the voluntary acceptance by landowners crucially depends on their economic outcome. We (i) assess the carbon sequestration potential of afforestation projects in various Chinese regions by comparing different tree species, project durations and regional particularities, (ii) analyze the costs and benefits of tree species used for timber and fruit production as well as bamboo, and (iii) compare them with alternative crops under different climatic and economic conditions. Finally, we calculate the minimum compensation required by farmers to convert cropland to forests assuming a joint production of timber or fruits and carbon sequestration. No compensation is needed when cropland with relatively low revenues is to be converted. In contrast, compensation payments must be high for converting land used for cash crops, such as sugarcane. For fruit trees, the amount of carbon sequestered is low, but selling fruits and nuts is quite profitable. Consequently, in most cases there is no compensation needed. The minimum price per carbon credit decreases with increasing project duration because more carbon is stored per hectare, and in consequence, the required payments per credit are lower. This does not hold for fast-growing trees like eucalyptus and poplar, for which the minimum price increases with extended project duration. Bamboo shows a high carbon sequestration potential, and becomes economically more attractive by including carbon revenues. Carbon credits can often compensate the opportunity costs of alternative land uses, except for afforestation on highly productive cropland. We demonstrate that the economic attractiveness of afforestation projects is strongly context dependent and varies substantially across regions. The findings can contribute to the cost-efficient design of carbon sequestration projects. The methodology can be applied to other regions in the developing world.