Abstract
The deterioration of water quality in Ireland over the past thirty years and the nutrient losses from agriculture are of particular concern to policy makers. Agri-environmental schemes (AES) are designed to improve the environment and water quality. One of the more common AES measures is the exclusion of cattle from watercourses. Cattle exclusion provides a number of benefits such as reduction in nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment run-off, riverbank stability and improved vegetation cover and biodiversity. Using GIS methods a new national farm boundary spatial database SLIDE (Spatial Land Identification Database for Eire) is created utilising national administrative data and a spatial data storage model. This is the first examination of cattle exclusion and its cost effectiveness at the individual farm level across a national population of farms. Benefits are measured in the form of reduced in-stream faecal deposits. The spatial distribution of cost-effectiveness at the sub-catchment level highlights the differences between areas in terms of costs, benefits and extent. A cluster analysis is used to aggregate results. This information is utilised to undertake an ex-ante examination of the implications of a national policy to restrict cattle access to waterbodies for specific categories of farmers, under the EU Nitrates Directive. The analysis of the clusters show that due to the reduction of faecal deposition in watercourses, fencing on medium and high intensity farms is similar to 20 % more cost effective relative to farms with lower livestock densities. This study makes an important contribution to the literature in broadening our understanding of the impacts of policy decision making at the individual farm level and also the costs and scale of AES measures at a national level.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 58-67 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Environmental Science & Policy |
Volume | 106 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Apr 2020 |
JEL classifications
- q00 - "Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics: General"
Keywords
- Agriculture
- Environment
- Policy analysis
- Spatial analysis
- Sustainability
- nitric acid derivative
- nitrogen
- phosphorus
- agricultural land
- agricultural worker
- Article
- biodiversity
- bovine
- catchment area (hydrology)
- cluster analysis
- cost benefit analysis
- cost effectiveness analysis
- environmental policy
- geographic information system
- Ireland
- livestock
- nonhuman
- nutrient
- priority journal
- river
- runoff
- sediment
- vegetation
- water quality
- STRATEGIES
- COST
- DAIRY FARMS
- WATER-QUALITY
- PHOSPHORUS
- NEW-ZEALAND
- AGRICULTURE
- GRASSLAND
- IMPACT
- MITIGATION
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}
In: Environmental Science & Policy, Vol. 106, 04.2020, p. 58-67.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Livestock exclusion from watercourses
T2 - Policy effectiveness and implications
AU - Kilgarriff, P.
AU - Ryan, M.
AU - O'Donoghue, C.
AU - Green, S.
AU - Ó hUallacháin, D.
N1 - Correspondence Address: Kilgarriff, P.; Luxembourg Institute of Socio Economic Research, Formerly Teagasc, Rural Economy and Development ProgrammeIreland; email: paul.kilgarriff@liser.lu Chemicals/CAS: nitrogen, 7727-37-9; phosphorus, 7723-14-0 Funding details: Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Funding text 1: This research was funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ireland as part of the Research Programme 2014–2020 as part of the COSAINT project: Cattle exclusion from watercourses: Environmental and socio-economic implications. We would also like to acknowledge data received from Ordnance Survey Ireland and the Irish Department of Agriculture. In addition we would like to thank Teagasc advisors and the EPA Steering Committee who provided comments and suggestions for this article. Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the material contained in this article, complete accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Neither the Environmental Protection Agency nor the authors accept any responsibility whatsoever for loss or damage occasioned or claimed to have been occasioned, in part or in full, as a consequence of any person acting or refraining from acting, as a result of a matter contained in this journal article. References: Bagshaw, C.S., Factors Influencing Direct Deposition of Cattle Faecal Material in Riparian Zones (2002), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Wellington; Bragina, L., Sherlock, O., van Rossum, A.J., Jennings, E., Cattle Exclusion Using Fencing Reduces Escherichia Coli (E. Coli) Level in Stream Sediment Reservoirs in Northeast Ireland (2017) Agric. Ecosyst. 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PY - 2020/4
Y1 - 2020/4
N2 - The deterioration of water quality in Ireland over the past thirty years and the nutrient losses from agriculture are of particular concern to policy makers. Agri-environmental schemes (AES) are designed to improve the environment and water quality. One of the more common AES measures is the exclusion of cattle from watercourses. Cattle exclusion provides a number of benefits such as reduction in nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment run-off, riverbank stability and improved vegetation cover and biodiversity. Using GIS methods a new national farm boundary spatial database SLIDE (Spatial Land Identification Database for Eire) is created utilising national administrative data and a spatial data storage model. This is the first examination of cattle exclusion and its cost effectiveness at the individual farm level across a national population of farms. Benefits are measured in the form of reduced in-stream faecal deposits. The spatial distribution of cost-effectiveness at the sub-catchment level highlights the differences between areas in terms of costs, benefits and extent. A cluster analysis is used to aggregate results. This information is utilised to undertake an ex-ante examination of the implications of a national policy to restrict cattle access to waterbodies for specific categories of farmers, under the EU Nitrates Directive. The analysis of the clusters show that due to the reduction of faecal deposition in watercourses, fencing on medium and high intensity farms is similar to 20 % more cost effective relative to farms with lower livestock densities. This study makes an important contribution to the literature in broadening our understanding of the impacts of policy decision making at the individual farm level and also the costs and scale of AES measures at a national level.
AB - The deterioration of water quality in Ireland over the past thirty years and the nutrient losses from agriculture are of particular concern to policy makers. Agri-environmental schemes (AES) are designed to improve the environment and water quality. One of the more common AES measures is the exclusion of cattle from watercourses. Cattle exclusion provides a number of benefits such as reduction in nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment run-off, riverbank stability and improved vegetation cover and biodiversity. Using GIS methods a new national farm boundary spatial database SLIDE (Spatial Land Identification Database for Eire) is created utilising national administrative data and a spatial data storage model. This is the first examination of cattle exclusion and its cost effectiveness at the individual farm level across a national population of farms. Benefits are measured in the form of reduced in-stream faecal deposits. The spatial distribution of cost-effectiveness at the sub-catchment level highlights the differences between areas in terms of costs, benefits and extent. A cluster analysis is used to aggregate results. This information is utilised to undertake an ex-ante examination of the implications of a national policy to restrict cattle access to waterbodies for specific categories of farmers, under the EU Nitrates Directive. The analysis of the clusters show that due to the reduction of faecal deposition in watercourses, fencing on medium and high intensity farms is similar to 20 % more cost effective relative to farms with lower livestock densities. This study makes an important contribution to the literature in broadening our understanding of the impacts of policy decision making at the individual farm level and also the costs and scale of AES measures at a national level.
KW - Agriculture
KW - Environment
KW - Policy analysis
KW - Spatial analysis
KW - Sustainability
KW - nitric acid derivative
KW - nitrogen
KW - phosphorus
KW - agricultural land
KW - agricultural worker
KW - Article
KW - biodiversity
KW - bovine
KW - catchment area (hydrology)
KW - cluster analysis
KW - cost benefit analysis
KW - cost effectiveness analysis
KW - environmental policy
KW - geographic information system
KW - Ireland
KW - livestock
KW - nonhuman
KW - nutrient
KW - priority journal
KW - river
KW - runoff
KW - sediment
KW - vegetation
KW - water quality
KW - STRATEGIES
KW - COST
KW - DAIRY FARMS
KW - WATER-QUALITY
KW - PHOSPHORUS
KW - NEW-ZEALAND
KW - AGRICULTURE
KW - GRASSLAND
KW - IMPACT
KW - MITIGATION
U2 - 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.01.013
DO - 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.01.013
M3 - Article
SN - 1462-9011
VL - 106
SP - 58
EP - 67
JO - Environmental Science & Policy
JF - Environmental Science & Policy
ER -