A three-year study conducted by Simanti Banerjee, assistant professor of agricultural economics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, offers insights about how producers can be incentivized to implement pro-environmental land use practices.
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account and connect your subscription to it by clicking here.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active, online-only subscription then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
LINCOLN, Neb. – A three-year study conducted by Simanti Banerjee, assistant professor of agricultural economics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, offers insights about how producers can be incentivized to implement pro-environmental land use practices.
In an effort to conserve and restore natural habitat and other environmental functions, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has implemented Payment for Ecosystem Services schemes to encourage voluntary participation. In exchange for a yearly rental payment, producers enrolled in a PES scheme, such as the Conservation Reserve Program, agree to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production or implement various practices on their working lands under the Conservation Stewardship Program.
While the schemes address enrollment and acreage objectives, Banerjee’s research considers enrollment across adjacent properties that may require coordination between neighboring producers. For instance, the habitat and water quality on a producer’s parcels adjacent to a neighbor’s CRP land may affect the biodiversity of the enrolled, environmentally sensitive land.
“Since these programs are an integral part of the agricultural system of the U.S., scientific investigation is important to identify economic and non-economic mechanisms that can generate environmental benefits for agricultural communities and society at large,” Banerjee said.