Modelling farm-level economic potential for conversion to organic farming

Kerselaers, Eva; Cock, Lieve De; Lauwers, Ludwig; Huylenbroeck, Guido Van

doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2007.02.007

Cited by 78 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…In the said regard, Pietola and Lansink (2001) add an indicator of the size of the agricultural business with an assumed negative effect on the implementation of the organic technology, which was included in the model of the probability of the implementation of the organic production technology by way of a proxy variable (LF k,t ). Kerselaers et al (2005) also add geographic and climatic conditions as the pre-conditions for the transition to and the implementation of the organic production technology. The said indicator was modelled by way of a dummy variable of the location of the farm in a less favourable production area (LFA k,t ), or alternatively, a proxy variable characterising the quality of natural conditions by way of the official price of agricultural land (Q k,t ) was utilised.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another factor taken into consideration was the price advantage of organic products (see Darnhofer et al 2005 andKerselaers et al 2005) and the change in the income of farms associated with it. The said factor was modelled as the volume of proceeds that were achieved per hectare of farmed land in time "t -1" (RH k,t-1 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The producer making decisions on the basis of the level of proceeds per hectare of the farmed land will probably prefer the conventional farming as opposed to the organic farming. The decision on the implementation of the organic production technology is also affected by the cost effectiveness; see Kerselaers et al (2005). The said determinant was included in the model by the way of return on costs (RC k,t ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The determinants of adopting organic farming practices: a case study in the Czech Republic

Malá¹,

Malý²

2013

AGR ECON-CZECH

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Th e presented article focuses on an analysis of the phenomena appearing in the implementation of the transition from classic conventional technology in the production of agricultural food products to an ecological manner of farming. Th e main objective is an empirical analysis of the determinants of the implementation of ecological production technology, whereby not only is their defi nition focused on, but also the quantifi cation of the level of their eff ect. Th e primary methodological tool for achieving the objective is a binary choice model, which was estimated in three variants -probit model, logit model and linear probability model. Th ese estimations are conducted on the basis of the unbalanced panel data from 531 agricultural businesses -legal entities obtained over the time period [2004][2005][2006][2007][2008]. Results of the analyses indicate that the transition to and implementation of the organic production technology is negatively aff ected primarily by the higher age of the farmers and the high productivity of labour. On the other hand, the subsidies for the support of organic agriculture, as well as a high return on cost can be considered as the factors which positively infl uence the implementation of the organic technology. Given this fact, it is possible, through agricultural policy, to eff ectively infl uence the number of organically managing farmers, as well as the acreage of the organically managed land. And from the achieved outputs, the type of farm is subsequently characterised where a transition to organic farming may most likely be expected.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The determinants of adopting organic farming practices: a case study in the Czech Republic

Malá¹,

Malý²

2013

AGR ECON-CZECH

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“…There are previous studies that have analyzed the feasibility of conversion of farms to organic or agro-ecological production systems [22,[28][29][30]37]. However, the above-mentioned methodology allows not only assess the feasibility of conversion to the organic system set by European regulations and the principles of organic production, but also addresses important issues and challenges for the analyzed farms (SWOT and future challenges).…”

Section: Calculation Of Conversion Index: Individual Conversion Scorementioning

confidence: 99%

Beef Cattle Farms’ Conversion to the Organic System. Recommendations for Success in the Face of Future Changes in a Global Context

Escribano¹

2016

Sustainability

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Dehesa is a remarkable agroforestry system, which needs the implementation of sustainable production systems in order to reduce its deterioration. Moreover, its livestock farms need to adapt to a new global market context. As a response, the organic livestock sector has expanded not only globally but also in the region in search for increased overall sustainability. However, conversions to the organic system have been commonly carried out without analyzing farms' feasibility to do so. This analysis is necessary before implementing any new production system in order to reduce both the diversity of externalities that the variety of contexts leads to and the vulnerability of the DDehesa ecosystem to small management changes. Within this context and in the face of this gap in knowledge, the present paper analyzes the ease of such conversions and the farms' chances of success after conversion in the face of global changes (market and politics). Different aspects ("areas of action") were studied and integrated within the Global Conversion Index (GCI), and the legal requirement for European organic farming, organic principles, future challenges for ruminants' production systems, as well as the lines of action for the post-2013 CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) and their impacts on the beef cattle sector were taken into account. Results revealed that farms must introduce significant changes before initiating the conversion process, since they had very low scores on the GCI (42.74%), especially with regard to health and agro-ecosystem management (principle of Ecology). Regarding rearing and animal welfare (principle of justice/fairness), farms were close to the organic system. From the social point of view, active participation in manufacturing and marketing of products should be increased.

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“…Several farm level studies exist, for example, Acs, Berentsen, and Huirne (2007) use dynamic programming to study the conversion process of farms from conventional to organic and apply sensitivity analysis to show the effects of organic prices, depreciation and availability of labor at peak periods. Kerselaers, De Cock, Lauwers, and Van Huylenbroeck (2007) model the economic potential of farmers for conversion to organic farming. Pacini, Wossink, Giesen, and Huirne (2004) compare the economic and environmental performances of conventional farms and organic farms in Italy under different regulations and support schemes.…”

Section: Linear Programming In Agricultural Planningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic Farming Suffices to Feed a Country: a Large-Scale Linear Programming Model to Develop an Organic Agriculture Plan for Turkey

Aslan¹,

Demir²

2018

SAR

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A frequently voiced critique is that due to lower yields on organically managed farmlands, one cannot feed a country using organic agriculture. In this paper, we aim to mathematically disprove this claim by developing a linear programming model and produce a detailed agriculture plan for Turkey sufficient to feed her population with a 2400 kcal daily menu on average, solely comprising of organic foods. The model uses information about population sizes and food needs of 81 cities in Turkey, and yields of 120 food, feed, forage crops, and four animal products. Intensive and extensive livestock production methods as well as food transportation between cities has been incorporated into the model. The resulting problem with 950 thousand variables and 40 thousand constraints can be solved with an optimization package in under a minute. Results, prescribing how many acres of each crop should be grown in each city, indicate that to feed the country fully on organic produce, 63% of the arable land suffices, yielding 8.9 million hectares of unused land where further organic foods could be grown for export or aid. We also run the model under different scenarios: fully vegetarian diet, omnivore model, different transportation structures, drought conditions and a limit on fruit trees. With this work, we have shown that it is possible to feed the whole population of Turkey with an agricultural practice that is not harmful to human health, soil, water and air; respects biological cycles and reduces food miles and fossil fuel consumption, thus contributing to sustainability and fighting climate change. We tested preliminary scenarios to understand the robustness of organic agriculture in the face of extreme weather events. The proposed model can also be applied to other countries when appropriate data are used.

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Modelling farm-level economic potential for conversion to organic farming

Cited by 78 publications

References 19 publications

The determinants of adopting organic farming practices: a case study in the Czech Republic

The determinants of adopting organic farming practices: a case study in the Czech Republic

Beef Cattle Farms’ Conversion to the Organic System. Recommendations for Success in the Face of Future Changes in a Global Context

Organic Farming Suffices to Feed a Country: a Large-Scale Linear Programming Model to Develop an Organic Agriculture Plan for Turkey

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