Environmental Effects of Agricultural Land-Use Change: The Role of Economics and Policy

by Ruben N. Lubowski, Shawn Bucholtz, Roger Claassen, Michael Roberts, Joseph Cooper, Anna Gueorguieva, and Robert Johansson

This report examines evidence on the relationship between agricultural land-use changes, soil productivity, and indicators of environmental sensitivity. If cropland that shifts in and out of production is less productive and more environmentally sensitive than other cropland, policy-induced changes in land use could have production effects that are smaller-and environmental impacts that are greater-than anticipated. To illustrate this possibility, this report examines environmental outcomes stemming from land-use conversion caused by two agricultural programs that others have identified as potentially having important influences on land use and environmental quality: Federal crop insurance subsidies and the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), the Nation's largest cropland retirement program.

Keywords: Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), crop insurance, erosion, extensive margin, farm policy, imperiled species, land use, land-use change, land quality, nutrient loss, soil productivity

In this publication...

• Entire Report
• Report summary
• Abstract, Acknowledgements, Contents. and Summary
• Agricultural Policy and Environmental Effects of Marginal Cropland Changes
• The Extensive Margin of Cultivated Cropland
• Land Quality and Land-Use Change
• Environmental Characteristics of Economically Marginal Cropland
• Environmental Effects of Policy-Induced Land-Use Changes
• Conclusions
• References
• Appendix