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The new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform has met with large-scale protests from farmers throughout Europe, intending to change one of the most controversial components: direct payments. We analyze German farmers' attitudes and understanding of direct payments. The study employs a survey of 435 farmers collected from January to February 2021. Using cluster analysis and quantitative content analysis, we identified three distinct groups: (1) The “Independents” (43.7%) are entrepreneurs and have a competitive mindset. They would prefer to abolish direct payments associated with more freedom from policy conditions. (2) The “Conservatives” (27.0%) advocate an income policy based on direct payments, and they reject higher environmental standards. (3) The “Environmentalists” (30.3%) emphasize a pronounced environmental awareness, fa-voring an environmentally performance-based approach. The results show that policies are often perceived differently than they are intentionally designed. Improving the effectiveness of the policy measure requires sufficient information about the CAP's objectives for farmers, focusing on more transparent communication strategies. From a policy perspective, a more differentiated design of policy instruments and longer transformation periods are needed to engage farmers in policy change.

The scientific community is deeply concerned about the ongoing discussions on the EU’s Green Deal. Of particular concern are the current criticisms targeting the Sustainable Use Regulation (SUR) and Nature Restoration Law (NRL). We urge policy makers to continue the legislative procedure for the SUR and the NRL, and invite opponents of the Green Deal for a consultation with scientists. The call was led by 17 scientists and signed by 3,339 scientists across EU Member States and 17 additional countries.

Reversing the decline of biodiversity in European agricultural landscapes is urgent. We suggest eight measures addressing politics, economics, and civil society to instigate transformative changes in agricultural landscapes. We emphasize the need for a well-informed society and political measures promoting sustainable farming by combining food production and biodiversity conservation.

To fulfill the climate protection targets, Germany needs to follow a greenhouse gas emission reduction pathway with sector-specific targets being legally anchored in the national climate protection law in 2019 and revised in 2021. The exit from coal-based electricity generation, enacted in Germany in 2020, was a necessary measure to achieve the emission reduction targets prescribed for the energy sector.Drained peatlands (organic soils) are now the largest single source of greenhouse emissions within the land-use-sector. In order to be able to use peatland soils, they were drained in the past. Much of the area is currently used as intensive farmland and cause now annual emissions of 42 million tons CO2-equivalent (total emissions from drained peatland 53 million tons CO2-equivalents). Therefore, a necessary measure is to rewet the drained peatland area almost completely.This paper contrasts the similarities and differences between the enacted phasing out of lignite and rewetting agricultural used peatland. The aim is to examine whether the phasing out of lignite can serve as a model for a rewetting policy framework. Furthermore, a politically justified funding from the public sector for peatland rewetting is derived.For the comparison the PESTLE-method is applied, systematically dividing the influencing factors of a policy decision into six categories (political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental).Examples of similarities in the respective categories are:Political: measures being necessary for political coherence, need for socially acceptable transformation, long-term strategy for planning reliability; Economic: geographic concentration, security of supplies, economic costs, direct and indirect benefits; Social: structural change, socio-cultural dimension, fear of unemployment; Technological: in soil stored carbon, intervention in the water balance, need for investments and water management; Legal: obligation by climate protection law, encroachment on ownership; Environmental: source of emissions, negative impact on other environmental media, complexity of caused environmental damage. Similarities that are important for the political design of the rewetting pathway can be seen in all six categories. Therefore, the cumulative CO2 saving potential of the phasing out of lignite is used to determine a corresponding budget for the nationwide peatland rewetting. To finance the phasing out of lignite electricity generation, the government offered a financial volume of 47.15 billion Euro, funding structural aid, compensation payments and transition support for miners. This financial volume we used as indication for a social willingness to phase out this technology.We calculated the potential payments to rewet the entire cropland and grassland area on organic soils in Germany by 2040, 2045 and 2050 using the CO2-abatement potential (based on the National Inventory Reporting of Germany to the UNFCCC from 2019), resulting as 16.6 billion Euro in total for an exit pathway by 2040 (equivalent to 15.51 billion Euro for 2045 and 14.36 billion Euro for 2050). The resulting budget is seen and defined as a politically justified funding from the public sector. This suggests that the to-date financial volume of 330 million Euro (until 2025) being allocated from the federal government's energy and climate fund, might be insufficient to cope with this fundamental challenge.

In this issue of One Earth, Scown et al. assess the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy’s payment distributions. Their findings indicate strong biases, requiring the EU to address payment inequality among farmers and to target subsidies specifically toward reversing environmental degradation, decarbonizing agriculture, and halting biodiversity losses.

Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs) have recently been introduced as key element in the greening of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. In 2015, farmers across the EU have implemented EFAs for the first time. Data for German federal states indicate a strong variance in EFA decisions with an overall dominance of catch crops, nitrogen fixing crops and fallow land – two of which bear limited benefits for biodiversity conservation. This article explores how experts explain EFA choices. We conducted 35 qualitative, semi-structured interviews with representatives from the Ministry for Agriculture, farm advisory services, and farmers’ associations in each federal state. Applying content analysis we clustered the factors mentioned as determinants for farmers’ EFA choices into the categories administrative considerations, economic considerations, local factors, ecosystem considerations and policy incentives. According to the interviewed experts, farmers have primarily registered measures that already existed on their farms. Administrative considerations dominate the identified determinants for farmers’ EFA decisions, and together with economic considerations appear to function as a negative incentive for EFA options that are beneficial for biodiversity, such as landscape elements and buffer strips. We conclude that conditions for EFA implementation were found to not effectively incentivise a higher share of biodiversity supporting characteristics in German agricultural landscapes. Based on a detailed discussion we extract recommendations on how to improve EFA implementation.

This study models the technical efficiency in the Chilean agribusiness industry between 2001 and 2007 by taking into consideration the structural differences between the different subsectors meat, fruit & vegetables, dairy, milling, and bakery. We analyze firm data from the Annual National Industrial Survey (ENIA) totaling 2,940 observations using a stochastic frontier model combined with a metafrontier model. We observe dynamic developments in the subsectors meat, fruit & vegetables, and dairy, with a pronounced export-orientation. We show that especially meat and fruit & vegetables firms have experienced positive technological change, whereas dairy firms are exhibiting a slight decrease in efficiency and technical change. The milling and bakery subsectors, which mainly produce for the domestic market, show a rather constant status in efficiency and technical change. The results confirm that an in-depth analysis of subsectors is necessary to evaluate the competitiveness of the agribusiness industry in Chile. [EconLit citations: D24; Q13].

Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs) are one of the three new greening measures of the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). We used an interdisciplinary and European-scale approach to evaluate ecological effectiveness and farmers‟ perception of the different EFA options. We assessed potential benefits of EFA options for biodiversity using a survey among 88 ecologists from 17 European countries. We further analyzed data on EFA uptake at the EU level and in eight EU Member States, and reviewed socio-economic factors influencing farmers‟ decisions. We then identified possible ways to improve EFAs. Ecologists scored field margins, buffer strips, fallow land, and landscape features as most beneficial whereas farmers mostly implemented „catch crops and green cover‟, nitrogen-fixing crops, and fallow land. Based on the expert inputs and a review of the factors influencing farmers‟ decisions, we suggest that EFA implementation could be improved by a) prioritizing EFA options that promote biodiversity (e.g. reducing the weight or even excluding ineffective options); b) reducing administrative constraints; c) setting stricter management requirements (e.g. limiting agrochemical use); and d) offering further incentives for expanding options like landscape features and buffer strips. We finally propose further improvements at the next CAP reform, to improve ecological effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.

Peatlands are lands with a peat layer at the surface, containing a large proportion of organic carbon. Such lands cover ≈1 000 000 km2 in Europe, which is almost 10% of the total surface area. In many countries, peatlands have been artificially drained over centuries, leading to not only enormous emissions of CO2 but also soil subsidence, mobilization of nutrients, higher flood risks, and loss of biodiversity. These problems can largely be solved by stopping drainage and rewetting the land. Wet peatlands do not release CO2, can potentially sequester carbon, help to improve water quality, provide habitat for rare and threatened biodiversity, and can still be used for production of biomass (“paludiculture”). Wisely adjusted land use on peatlands can substantially contribute to low-emission goals and further benefits for farmers, the economy, society, and the environment.

As central policies for biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes in the European Union (EU), the Habitats Directive and Agri-environmental programmes (AEP) have largely failed to halt biodiversity loss. In response, the German federal state of Saxony combined the instrument of management plans with AEPs to support the implementation of the Habitat Directive. In this study, we investigate the determinants of a farmers’ decisions to adjust their farming practices. Our data set consists of a quantitative survey with 131 farmers conducted between 2004 and 2011, complemented by implementation data from 333 grassland-plots. Determinants of farmers’ decisions to conserve grassland were estimated using a multinomial logit model. Our results show that a combination of management plans and AEPs can increase farmers’ disposition to adopt nature conservation measures. As central determinants, structural and location factors as well as the complementary provisiion of specifically designed AEPs increase farmers’ willingness to adopt conservation practices for grassland management. It can be concluded that additional costs are a major barrier to farmers’ adoption, particularly to those farms directing their farm management towards the optimisation of productivity and profitability . The findings highlight the complementary potential of integrated policy packages to incentivise specific measures of nature conservation within the framework of the Habitats Directive.

Over the past decades, the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy has been supporting farmers. At the same time, one could observe a sharp decline in farmland-biodiversity.

The term &ldquo, conventionalization&rdquo, of organic agriculture was created to depict the controversially discussed phenomenon that organic agriculture departs from the core organic principles on which it is based. We present an empirical, index-based approach to investigate developments of organic farming practices towards conventionalization. An index of conventionalization can be used as a monitoring tool to support policymakers to further develop agricultural regulations. We calculate composite indicators for three farm types: farms specialized on crop production, farms specialized on animal husbandry, and mixed farms. Principal component analysis serves to derive objective weights based on the correlations between indicators which then allow a linear aggregation to the composite indicator. Results show that developments towards conventionalization of the whole organic farming sector cannot be detected for German farms between 2000 and 2009. Therefore, we do not see the necessity for changes in regulation of the organic sector with regard to conventionalization.

Insect populations decline, particularly in intensively managed agricultural landscapes. Insect communities are influenced by current agricultural practices, which are themselves determined by the economic, political and social frameworks. We highlight these direct and indirect drivers affecting insect communities, raise key research questions and discuss options for action to encourage a transformative change towards an economic, political and social system protecting biodiversity.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU) is one of the world's largest agricultural policies and the EU's longest-prevailing one. Originally focused mostly on supporting production and farm income, the CAP has progressively integrated instruments to support the environment. Nonetheless, there is considerable agreement among EU citizens that the CAP still does not do enough to address ongoing environmental degradation and climate change (92% of nonfarmers, 64% of farmers) (1). In May and June 2018, the European Commission (EC) published the financial plan and legislative proposal for the CAP post-2020 (2), prompting numerous proposed amendments that the newly elected European Parliament (EP) will now have to consider. With an eye toward the next and final reform stages, including budget discussions and “trilogue” negotiations between the EC, the Council, and the EP to begin in autumn 2019, we examine whether the proposed post-2020 CAP can address key sustainability issues and meet societal demands for higher environmental performance.

The diversification of farms can be a result of multifunctional farming, however, in some cases at the cost of lower farm efficiency. In our paper we investigate the influence of para-agricultural diversification on productivity and the technical efficiency of organic farms in Austria, Switzerland, and Southern Germany. We show the benefits and drawbacks of diversification for organic farms, which go beyond the core agricultural production (para-agriculture). We do this by estimating a Stochastic Frontier (SF) combined with a metafrontier model. The data-set consists of bookkeeping data with 1704 observations in the years 2003 to 2005. Para-agricultural diversification activities have a significant effect on both productivity and technical efficiency of organic farms: The farm output in Austria and Switzerland is positively influenced by diversification, whereas we observe a rather small effect in Southern Germany. On the other hand, diversification can reduce farms’ technical efficiency, as it is the case in Switzerland and Germany. Furthermore, our study confirms previous results that agricultural subsidies significantly influence the technical efficiency of organic farms. We also show expected changes of input use driven by increased farm diversification.

The diversification of farms can be a result of multifunctional farming, however, in some cases at the cost of lower farm efficiency. In our paper we investigate the influence of para-agricultural diversification on productivity and the technical efficiency of organic farms in Austria, Switzerland, and Southern Germany. We show the benefits and drawbacks of diversification for organic farms, which go beyond the core agricultural production (para-agriculture). We do this by estimating a Stochastic Frontier (SF) combined with a metafrontier model. The data-set consists of bookkeeping data with 1704 observations in the years 2003 to 2005. Para-agricultural diversification activities have a significant effect on both productivity and technical efficiency of organic farms: The farm output in Austria and Switzerland is positively influenced by diversification, whereas we observe a rather small effect in Southern Germany. On the other hand, diversification can reduce farms’ technical efficiency, as it is the case in Switzerland and Germany. Furthermore, our study confirms previous results that agricultural subsidies significantly influence the technical efficiency of organic farms. We also show expected changes of input use driven by increased farm diversification.

The following article summarizes the findings of 30 studies on efficiency and productivity of organic farming systems. In a lot of studies organic farms shows a lower productivity than conventional farms, however, we cannot find evidence for a systematic lower efficiency. Environmental variables (if included) show a strong impact on efficiency and productivity of organic farms. We finally discuss conclusions from the productivity and efficiency literature. Keywords: technical efficiency, productivity, organic farming, environmental efficiency

Organic agriculture, which produces commodities that can be qualitatively differentiated from conventional food products, has grown into an important market in many countries. The dynamics of commodity prices in both sectors are partly interdependent, but are also shaped by independent determinants and have rarely been studied. We analyze organic food markets and their interdependencies with conventional markets in the context of wheat markets in Germany, which have been subject to a number of fundamental changes during the last two decades. Based on institutional market characteristics, we suggest a flexible Markov-switching asymmetric time series model. We find a pronounced temporal sequence of market phases that differ in their asymmetric dynamics and the extent to which the organic price is influenced by the conventional price. Organic wheat prices tend to be increasingly connected to prices of conventional wheat.

Designation of Natura 2000 areas is a major cornerstone in the EU's biodiversity policy. However, it has triggered resistance from land users due to increased regulations on land use and related value change. This study first develops a theoretical model for rent change due to land regulation, and then empirically investigates whether farmland rents in Germany are affected by Natura 2000 designation. We use a matching procedure based on a zero-inflated beta generalized propensity score on German district level agricultural census data. Our results suggest that rental prices of grassland, arable land, and on average are affected negatively by Natura 2000.

Derzeit diskutiert die Europäische Union über die Reform der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik (GAP). Anlass sind Reformvorschläge der Europäischen Kommission, die unter anderem auf eine gerechtere Verteilung der Fördergel der und eine umweltverträglichere Bewirtschaftung der Agrarflächen zielen. Doch es ist fraglich, ob die Reform mit den vorgeschlagenen Instrumenten ihr Ökologisierungs- und Umverteilungs versprechen halten kann. Mit Maßnahmen auf freiwilliger Basis, die zudem regional ausgerichtet sind, könnten Umweltziele effizienter erreicht werden.

We analyze the efficiency of organic pasture farming in Germany using data from 1994/95 to 2005/06. Five inputs and one output are analyzed by means of a stochastic frontier production function, allowing for heteroscedasticity and technical effects. Five sets of possible determinants of technical efficiency are considered in the model. These include: (1) farm structure and resources; (2) human capital and management capacities; (3) institutional choice; and (4) subsidies. To these factors that are commonly included in technical effects models, we add (5) a set of variables that capture localization and urbanization economies such as the share of organic farms in a region and the regional share of votes for the Green Party in recent elections. These regional effects are found to have a significant impact on the technical efficiency of organic farms. The evolution of efficiency on farms that are converting from conventional to organic farming is also analyzed.