Volume 126 - Issue 3

The geopolitical developments that occurred in 2022 shook the global fertiliser market. One of the issues that the EJP SOIL ‘Scenario modelling for assessing impacts of policy changes and socio-economic effects on ecosystem services of soils (SIMPLE)’ project currently investigates is the potential consequences of increased fertiliser price on its demand and subsequent application. Looking at this question from an economic perspective, an answer can be found via the estimation of the relevant elasticity of demand. Therefore, we aim at providing empirical evidence on the responsiveness of demand for nitrogen (N) fertiliser to changes in its price. Having a better understanding of how farmers can react to changes in the price of this production input is key for several reasons. Firstly, lower fertiliser application can reduce soil productivity, leading to price increases of agricultural commodities due to lower production volumes. Secondly, an increase in the cost of inputs can affect negatively the financial viability of those farming activities which rely on mineral fertiliser. Thirdly, important negative environmental impacts are associated with its excessive use, creating a need to curb demand under certain circumstances. Taking Sweden as a case study, three different econometric techniques (OLS, FE and FE-IV) are applied to...

Increasing scholarly attention is being paid to understanding the roles of different actors involved in digital agriculture. This study contributes to this field of research by exploring farmers’ level of trust in digital agricultural actors. Based on a survey of 203 arable farmers from southern Germany, it investigates how adopters and non-adopters of digital technologies perceive the trustworthiness of different actors. The results suggest that farmers have varying levels of trust in innovation actors providing advice and information. Farmers express relatively more trust in other farmers, the agricultural press, and associations and less trust in research institutions, agricultural authorities, private advisory services, agricultural technology, and downstream actors. Significant differences between adopters and non-adopters are observed across the three types of digital technologies examined in the study (disembodied digital, embodied-knowledge and information-intensive technologies). The study highlights the importance of rethinking the roles and practices of innovation actors in the context of digital agriculture. Greater attention to trust can help to better align information and innovation processes between farmers and other innovation actors in the digital agriculture innovation system, enabling farmers to make informed decisions about adopting digital technologies. The results of this study may be of particular interest to those interested...

This article aims to assess the firm performance of the wine industry in Portugal. A two-stage efficiency analysis was applied to a sample of firms from the Amadeus database, where a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and a fractional regression model were used to quantify efficiency and to determine the influence external environmental factors have on it. The results highlighted a dichotomy in terms of resources and strategies between small and medium-sized companies on the one hand, and large companies on the other hand. Efficient and inefficient companies differ mainly in terms of their output variables. Territorial opportunities associated with sustainability and innovation positively influence firm performance in the industry. Our findings extend knowledge relating to the relationship between efficiency, environmental context and firm strategy, and may help managers to adopt measures to improve performance and policymakers to design new policy measures.

Studies on the impact assessment of subsidy schemes on farm performance indicators show contradictory results. Some studies indicate improvements in farm efficiency, while others highlight distortions and negative externalities. This paper analyses the impact of budgetary support provided to dairy farms in Albania based on a structured farm survey. The impact is assessed using causal forest, an adaptation of Breiman’s random forest algorithm for treatment effect estimation. Results suggest that subsidies positively impact the number of milking cows, output (quantity of milk sold), and revenues but have no impact on employment, yields, investment, or future investment plans. The study suggests that public support to dairy farmers should be conditioned on technology improvement measures and CAP-like cross-compliance obligations.

The Brazilian forestry sector plays a significant role in Brazil’s economy. Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in the country, and its forestry sector is a sustainable development activity. Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) is an economic approach that offers an analytical framework for understanding how institutions shape the functioning of agro-industrial chains. This article aims to analyse the governance of forestry transactions in southern Brazil in the light of TCE. The research methodology is descriptive and uses a mixed methods approach. The qualitative stage used semi-structured interviews with key players in the forestry chain. The quantitative part sought to measure the characteristics of farm-level transactions by applying a questionnaire to 24 producers who own forests in 16 cities in southern Brazil. Content analysis (qualitative stage), descriptive statistics, non-parametric hypothesis tests, and logistic regression (quantitative stage) were used as data analysis techniques. The research results show that the largest eucalyptus production areas are used for cellulose production, the sale of which to paper industries is negotiated via contracts. On the other hand, the forestry production of the smaller areas is destined for firewood, whose suppliers trade via the market and transact, as a rule, with end consumers. The logistic...

The rearing of young stock in tropical countries is considered a substantial investment for dairy farmers due to non-productivity and the higher risk of mortality in the first 2 to 3 years of youngstock life. ICalculating the rearing costs of young calves, especially on non-commercial farms, is challenging due to incomplete farm records. This study, which was conducted at Keningau, Sabah, East Malaysia, estimated the costs of rearing dairy young stock from birth to the first calving age, taking into account uncertainty regarding young stock mortality. A stochastic bioeconomic model was developed at the animal level to calculate the cost of young stock rearing. Our results revealed that the average total costs of rearing dairy young stock from birth to the first calving age for non-commercial and commercial farms were €1,689 and €1,645, with average mortality costs of €15 (0.88%) and €13 (0.79%), respectively. The first calving age of dairy young stock were 32.1 months (442.87 kg) and 24 months (585 kg) in non-commercial and commercial farms, respectively. Sensitivity analysis showed that a 2% decrease in mortality rate reduced rearing costs by €7 for non-commercial farms and €5 for commercial farms. In conclusion, non-commercial (smallscale) dairy farmers should pay more...