Improving targeting of farmers for enrollment in agri-environmental programs
Date
2023-05-18
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy
Abstract
Agricultural cost-share research and planning tend to focus on one program at a time, and hence overlook additional efficiencies that might be obtained by considering the possibility that enrollment decisions are related across different programs. Models of multiple-program participation decisions enable these relationships to be considered as part of conditional enrollment predictions, providing more complete and accurate understanding of enrollment behavior. Analysis of data from farmer surveys in Maryland and Ohio show complementary drivers across program participation. Results are consistent with economies of scale and/or scope among different agri-environmental programs. The data also show the gains in prediction accuracy when the model accounts for participation in other programs, thereby enabling improved targeting and program design. For instance, enrollment in commodity-type programs causes a much larger marginal increase (12.6%) in the probability of Maryland cover crops participation than does the increase from Conservation Reserve Program enrollment (4.4%).
Description
This article was originally published in Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13227. © 2022 The Authors. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Agricultural & Applied Economics Association.
Keywords
cost-share, cover crops, purchase of ecosystem services, soil health, sustainable agriculture, zero hunger
Citation
Duke, Joshua M., Robert J. Johnston, Amy L. Shober, and Zhongyuan Liu. 2023. “ Improving targeting of farmers for enrollment in agri-environmental programs.” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 45(2): 1072–1096. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13227