Farmer preferences for conservation incentives that promote voluntary phosphorus abatement in agricultural watersheds

Financial incentives are commonly used to promote voluntary adoption of agricultural best management practices (BMPs), but little is known about farmer preferences among alternative incentives. Using experimental procurement auctions, we evaluate how different conservation incentives affect farmer willingness to adopt BMPs that reduce phosphorus (P) runoff, a major driver of harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie. We rank incentives (e.g., payment, BMP insurance, tax credit, and certification price premium) by the cost per pound of P runoff reduction. Payments and tax credits that target high impact areas of the watershed are more cost-effective than untargeted price premiums for product certification. Farmers demand higher payments for contracts offering BMP insurance (i.e., protection against yield loss from BMP use) due to uncertainty about how the program will be implemented and the reliability of indemnities, as well as anticipated transaction costs associated with the program. Understa...

财政激励措施常被用于推动农业最佳管理实践（BMPs）的自愿采纳，但学界对农户在各类备选激励方案间的偏好认知仍十分有限。本研究采用实验性采购拍卖法，评估不同保育激励措施对农户采纳削减磷（P）径流的BMPs意愿的影响——磷径流正是伊利湖有害藻华暴发的核心驱动因素。我们以每削减1磅磷径流的成本为基准，对各类激励措施（如现金补贴、BMP保险、税收抵免及产品认证价格溢价）开展优先级排序。针对流域高影响区域的现金补贴与税收抵免，相较于未靶向的产品认证价格溢价，具备更高的成本效益。由于对项目实施方式、赔偿可靠性存在不确定性，加之预计产生的相关交易成本，农户对提供BMP保险（即规避采用BMP所致产量损失的保障）的合同，会要求更高的补贴金额。理解[原文后续内容未完整呈现]