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Administrative burdens are transaction costs due to administrative activities conducted solely because of regulation requirements. Since the shift from market support to cross-compliance-based direct payments, farmers increasingly complain about substantial administrative burdens related to the direct payment scheme. Using data from a survey among 100 Swiss farmers, group comparisons and regression analyses revealed significant differences in working time requirements to meet cross-compliance information obligations across farm types. Dairy producers need significantly more working time than crop producers. The age and education of farmers were not found to affect time requirements. Applying the standard cost model, administrative burdens for all Swiss farmers were estimated to be 136 Mio CHF in 2018 and about 5% of the budget spent on direct payments was needed to cover these costs. Policy measures to reduce administrative burdens should focus on specialized dairy producers, which contribute 37% to the sectoral costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we test the hypothesis that farmers' experienced administrative burden affects their policy perceptions. Based on survey data from 808 randomly chosen Swiss farmers, a latent class approach is used to depict the heterogeneity of farmers' policy perceptions. We find that 20 percent of farmers are grumpy with the current direct payment policy, 23 percent are supporters, and 57 percent are indifferent, meaning that the latter group of farmers neither agree nor disagree with the direct payment policy. Regression results indicate that the higher the perceived administrative burden, the higher the probability of belonging to the grumpy class of farmers. Additionally, our results show that grumpy farmers have less social exchange than their peers and exhibit lower environmental awareness. Our findings show that the bureaucracy involved in agricultural policy matters not only because it increases private and public administrative costs but also because it negatively shapes farmers' view of agricultural policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to propose an improved methodology to determine a viable farm size for potential emerging farmers as land reform beneficiaries. Land reform in South Africa has been criticised because of poor implementation and slow pace, accompanied by poor productivity in redistributed land. To explain this, it has been suggested that commercial farms are too large for emerging farmers who have little or no experience in commercial farming. Thus, there have been calls for measures to make subdivision of land easier and cheaper. To this end, cross–sectional survey data from 833 potential emerging farmers in three rural provinces are analysed to determine a viable income for emerging farm households as a basis for calculating a viable farm size, using the income aspiration literature, farm household economics theory as a point of departure. Off–farm income, farm income and aspirational income are included in the calculation. The viable income was matched to the existing commercial farm enterprise gross margins per hectare obtained from the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy, which are then used as the basis for suggesting "viable farm sizes" for different emerging farm households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reduce the negative impacts of agricultural production, Switzerland and the EU introduced environmental and animal welfare regulations in their direct payment policy schemes. Compliance with these regulations is monitored, and fines are imposed if deficiencies in implementation are identified. Non-compliance with these regulations reduces the effectiveness of direct payment measures and creates public and private administrative transaction costs. Therefore, a better understanding of the reasons behind farmers' non-compliance with direct payment regulations can help the government develop targeted measures to increase the effectiveness of direct payment policies. We used data on self-reported compliance with direct payment regulations from a survey of 808 Swiss farmers to develop a framework that explains the likelihood of receiving penalties based on the following influencing factors: (1) knowledge of rules, (2) acceptance of rules, (3) costs and benefits of non-compliance, and (4) farmer and farm characteristics. We found that 28% of the participants had experienced receiving penalties because of non-compliance with direct payment rules. Based on a hierarchical binary logistic regression model, our findings revealed that better knowledge of inspection measures, higher educational levels, and higher acceptance of entrepreneurial restrictions associated with direct payment regulations significantly reduced the likelihood of receiving penalties as a result of non-compliance. We further found that non-compliance with direct payment rules could hardly be explained by farm size or farm types. Information about the reasons for farmers' non-compliance with direct payment regulations can help the government develop targeted measures to increase the effectiveness of policy measures. • Non-compliance with these regulations reduces the effectiveness of direct payment measures. • We analysed reasons behind farmers' non-compliance with direct payment regulations based on self-reported survey data. • We found that 28% of the participants had experienced receiving penalties. • Better knowledge of inspection measures, higher education, higher acceptance of entrepreneurial restrictions reduced the likelihood of receiving penalties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Meat commitment is a negative and significant predictor for the importance of animal welfare. • Committed meat eaters are less likely to endorse universalistic values (i.e. animal welfare). • Animal welfare remains important when it is in direct conflict with three different policy goals. • Animal welfare appeals directly to personal values. • Agricultural policy needs to evolve together with personal values. Animal welfare is one of the key agricultural policy goals and is considered extremely important by consumers. With the increasing urgency for a sustainable and healthy dietary shift, it could be one of the key motivators for behaviour change. Therefore, we investigate how consumers perceive the importance of animal welfare not only as an agricultural policy goal but also in comparison to conflicting goals, such as domestic food production, farmers' income, and consumer prices. We investigate how the weighing of animal welfare as an agricultural policy goal is related to individual behaviour (i.e. meat consumption), values and attitudes, such as meat commitment, the perceptions of farmers and the Ecological Welfare scale (which includes animal welfare and environment protection). Thus, we conducted an online survey in October 2022, recruiting a sample of 1542 participants (51.5% women) in equal parts from the German-, French-, and Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland. Participants were asked to evaluate the importance of increased animal welfare in three situations with the following conflicting policy goals: (1) increasing domestic food production, (2) reducing consumer food prices, and (3) increasing farm incomes. Regression analysis revealed that the influential predictors in all three models were similar. Being a woman, politically left leaning, and less committed to meat eating, having a more negative perception of farmers, and assigning more importance to ethical food consumption increased the probability of putting more weight on animal welfare in all three goal conflicts described above. The finding that participants who were more committed to meat eating tended to assign less importance to animal welfare when weighing the three conflicting agricultural policy goals is well-aligned with the current literature. Implications for agricultural policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmers' subjectively perceived that administrative transaction costs are of high importance for the uptake of agri-environmental programs with direct effects on the effectiveness and efficiency of these programs and the well-being of farmers. This paper empirically estimates private administrative transaction costs resulting from an uptake of the newly introduced grassland-based milk and meat program in Switzerland, based on farmers' perceived administrative workload. Using ordered logit models, we analyze how the administrative tasks and farm and farmer characteristics influence the perceived administrative workload. We find that the time spent on monitoring or inspection tasks has no effect. In contrast, an outsourcing of program-related administrative tasks significantly reduces the perceived administrative workload. We also find that a better understanding of agricultural policy regulations significantly reduces the farmers' perceived administrative workload. We recommend that public administration improve the communication of agricultural policy regulations, rather than investing in the simplification of administrative forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Seasonal alpine grazing is organised around the migration of livestock between alpine pastures in the summer season and lower permanently settled regions the rest of the year. Seasonal alpine grazing fulfils important functions for the environment, agriculture and regional economy, as well as for society. The Swiss Agricultural Sectoral Information and Forecasting System (SILAS) is used to forecast pasture-management trends as well as analyse their economic impact on Swiss agriculture and biotic communities. Model results show the great economic importance of alpine grazing for the farms in the mountain region, where roughly one-third of total factor income is linked to summering. The income contribution of alpine grazing can also be interpreted as the reward for the provision of public goods which are directly or indirectly linked to alpine grazing. Despite the high income contribution for farmers in the permanently settled mountain area, model results show that transhumance payments do not prevent a decrease in the number of summered animals. This is mainly due to the abolition of the alpine milk quota in Switzerland, which reduces the competitiveness of milk production in the alpine area. A decline in the number of grazing animals affects the maintenance of open landscape and the existence and variety of species. The effects can be beneficial for the high nature values associated with established agricultural practices, if the same area will continue to be grazed, but less intensively than before. The effects can be also unfavourable if fewer areas will be grazed, but with the same or a higher intensity as before. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• We study people's perceptions of agricultural policy goals. • We conduct a survey in Switzerland on the importance of eight policy goals. • Animal welfare is perceived as the most important goal. • Differences between the Swiss language regions indicate cultural differences. • Policy needs to take into account cultural differences within the population. Agricultural policy goals should be legitimised by the population, as agriculture is an important recipient of governmental support in Europe. Questions arise as to how people assess these policy goals, which factors affect the perception of agricultural policy goals and to what extent cultural differences influence this assessment. We address these questions by conducting an online survey among 1,542 respondents in the German-, French- and Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland. We find that the multifunctional role of agriculture is strongly anchored in the population's perception of agricultural policy. The stated preferences of the participants show that increasing animal welfare is clearly the most important agricultural policy goal for Swiss citizens. Controlling for a range of sociodemographic characteristics and personal attitudes, we find evidence of differences between language regions and thus of cultural differences in the assessment of individual agricultural policy goals. For example, compared to respondents in the other two language regions, German-speaking respondents found increasing domestic food production significantly more important, whereas reducing food prices for consumers, increasing farmers' income, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions were perceived as significantly less important goals. Environmental attitudes were closely related to the perceived importance of agricultural policy goals; thus, we can expect heated discussions in the future, especially if environmental objectives continue to be missed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The use of agent-based modelling approaches in ex-post and ex-ante evaluations of agricultural policies has been progressively increasing over the last few years. There are now a sufficient number of models that it is worth taking stock of the way these models have been developed. Here, we review 20 agricultural agent-based models (ABM) addressing heterogeneous decision-making processes in the context of European agriculture. The goals of this review were to i) develop a framework describing aspects of farmers ' decision-making that are relevant from a farm-systems perspective, ii) reveal the current state-of-the-art in representing farmers ' decision-making in the European agricultural sector, and iii) provide a critical reflection of underdeveloped research areas and on future opportunities in modelling decision-making. To compare different approaches in modelling farmers ' behaviour, we focused on the European agricultural sector, which presents a specific character with its family farms, its single market and the common agricultural policy (CAP). We identified several key properties of farmers ' decision-making: the multi-output nature of production; the importance of non-agricultural activities; heterogeneous household and family characteristics; and the need for concurrent short- and long-term decision-making. These properties were then used to define levels and types of decision-making mechanisms to structure a literature review. We find most models are sophisticated in the representation of farm exit and entry decisions, as well as the representation of long-term decisions and the consideration of farming styles or types using farm typologies. Considerably fewer attempts to model farmers ' emotions, values, learning, risk and uncertainty or social interactions occur in the different case studies. We conclude that there is considerable scope to improve diversity in representation of decision-making and the integration of social interactions in agricultural agent-based modelling approaches by combining existing modelling approaches and promoting model inter-comparisons. Thus, this review provides a valuable entry point for agent-based modellers, agricultural systems modellers and data driven social scientists for the re-use and sharing of model components, code and data. An intensified dialogue could fertilize more coordinated and purposeful combinations and comparisons of ABM and other modelling approaches as well as better reconciliation of empirical data and theoretical foundations, which ultimately are key to developing improved models of agricultural systems. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Agent-based modelling is a suitable tool for improving the understanding of farmers' behaviour. • Review 20 agricultural ABM addressing heterogeneous decision-making processes in the context of European agriculture. • Considerable scope to improve diversity in representation of decision-making by combining existing modelling approaches. • More coordinated and purposeful combinations of ABM and hybrid modelling approaches are needed. • Results provide an entry point for collaboration of agent-based modellers, agricultural systems modellers and social scientist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]