Environmental Effects of Agricultural Land-Use Change: The Role of Economics and Policy
by Ruben N. Lubowski, Shawn Bucholtz ,
Roger Claassen, Michael Roberts,
Joseph 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
In this publication...
- Report summary,
110 kb
- Abstract, Acknowledgements, Contents. and Summary,
61 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,
77 kb
- Environmental Characteristics of Economically Marginal Cropland,
3,468 kb
- Environmental Effects of Policy-Induced Land-Use Changes,
167 kb
- Conclusions,
25 kb
- References,
49 kb
- Appendix,
772 kb
- Entire Document,
2,384 kb
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