Environmental Effects of Agricultural Land-Use Change: The Role of Economics and Policy
By Ruben N. Lubowski, Shawn Bucholtz, Roger
Claassen, Michael J. Roberts, Joseph C. Cooper,
Anna Gueorguieva, and Robert Johansson
Economic Research Report No. (ERR-25) 82 pp,
August 2006
This report examines evidence on the relationship between agricultural land-use changes, soil productivity, and indicators of environmental sensitivity. If cropland that shifts in and out of production is less productive and more environmentally sensitive than other cropland, policy-induced changes in land use could have production effects that are smaller—and environmental impacts that are greater—than anticipated. To illustrate this possibility, this report examines environmental outcomes stemming from land-use conversion caused by two agricultural programs that others have identified as potentially having important influences on land use and environmental quality: Federal crop insurance subsidies and the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), the Nation’s largest cropland retirement program.
Keywords: Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), crop insurance, erosion, extensive margin, farm policy, imperiled species, land use, land-use change, land quality, nutrient loss, soil productivity, Agricultural Economics, ERS, USDA
In this report ... Chapters are
in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.
- Abstract, Acknowledgements, Contents. and Summary, 62 kb.
- Agricultural Policy and Environmental Effects of Marginal Cropland Changes, 63 kb.
- The Extensive Margin of Cultivated Cropland, 1,147 kb.
- Land Quality and Land-Use Change, 78 kb.
- Environmental Characteristics of Economically Marginal
Cropland, 3,468 kb.
- Environmental Effects of Policy-Induced Land-Use Changes, 168 kb.
- Conclusions, 25 kb.
- References, 49 kb.
- Appendix, 772 kb.
Order this report (stock #ERR-25)
Updated date: August 31, 2006
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