Economic Brief No. (EB-5) 6 pp

March 2006

Rewarding Farm Practices versus Environmental Performance

A multitude of design decisions influence the performance of voluntary conservation programs. This Economic Brief is one of a set of five exploring the implications of decisions policymakers and program managers must make about who is eligible to receive payments, how much can be received, for what action, and the means by which applicants are selected. The particular issue examined here is whether to pay for conservation practices or to link payments to environmental performance.

Keywords: Conservation programs, conservation program design, agri-environmental policy, cost-effectiveness, conservation management practices, environmental performance, stewardship payments

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