IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agiwat/v96y2009i12p1715-1722.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Farmer perspectives and practices regarding water pollution control programmes in Scotland

Author

Listed:
  • Barnes, A.P.
  • Willock, J.
  • Hall, C.
  • Toma, L.

Abstract

Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ) were introduced in response to the Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC) which states that all EU countries must reduce the nitrate in drinking water to a maximum of 50mg/l. Farmers within a designated NVZ must adhere to strict rules over the timing and application of nitrogen from organic and inorganic sources. In Scotland, four NVZ regions were designated in 2003, covering around 14% of the land area and affecting over 12,000 farmers. This paper outlines the results of a recent study to understand farmer activities in response to and attitudes towards NVZ regulations in Scotland. A telephone survey was administered, obtaining a response of 184 farmers, supplemented by four workshops held in each NVZ region. This explored, both quantitatively and qualitatively, farmer behaviour and attitudes. The bulk of farmers have made little capital investment since the 2003 designation. Few farmers have invested in increased slurry storage facilities, nor begun to transport more slurry off-farm, claiming to have had enough storage capacity before designation to cover the imposed closed period. Farmer attitudes indicate a mostly negative view towards the perceived environmental benefits, water management and compliance. This can be explained by a number of concerns raised by farmers towards the scientific basis for designations. Furthermore, farmers viewed the restrictions placed on farming practices within NVZs as too inflexible. Given the mostly sceptical perceptions demonstrated by the farmers we call for a more integrated approach to water management at the catchment level. There is a role for policy-makers to provide clearer information over the science and purpose of the designations and also to invest in the transfer of technologies, in particular N-use software which is specifically tailored to NVZ regulations. Also, critical to this would be the development of transparent indicators of water quality. This may start to embed nitrogen pollution impacts within the farmer's cultural framework of decision-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Barnes, A.P. & Willock, J. & Hall, C. & Toma, L., 2009. "Farmer perspectives and practices regarding water pollution control programmes in Scotland," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(12), pages 1715-1722, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:96:y:2009:i:12:p:1715-1722
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378-3774(09)00192-9
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rehman, T. & McKemey, K. & Yates, C.M. & Cooke, R.J. & Garforth, C.J. & Tranter, R.B. & Park, J.R. & Dorward, P.T., 2007. "Identifying and understanding factors influencing the uptake of new technologies on dairy farms in SW England using the theory of reasoned action," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 281-293, May.
    2. Segerson, Kathleen & Miceli, Thomas J., 1998. "Voluntary Environmental Agreements: Good or Bad News for Environmental Protection?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 109-130, September.
    3. Popp, Jennie S. Hughes & Rodriguez, German, 2007. "The Role of Stakeholders' Perceptions in Addressing Water Quality Disputes in an Embattled Watershed," 2007 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2007, Mobile, Alabama 34808, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    4. John W. Cary & Roger L. Wilkinson, 1997. "Perceived Profitability And Farmers‘ Conservation Behaviour," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1‐3), pages 13-21, January.
    5. Mathijs, Erik, 2002. "Social Capital and Farmers' Willingness to Adopt Countryside Stewardship Schemes," 13th Congress, Wageningen, The Netherlands, July 7-12, 2002 6981, International Farm Management Association.
    6. David Colman, 1994. "Ethics And Externalities: Agricultural Stewardship And Other Behaviour: Presidential Address," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 299-311, September.
    7. Joyce Willock & Ian J. Deary & Gareth Edwards‐Jones & Gavin J. Gibson & Murray J. McGregor & Alistair Sutherland & J. Barry Dent & Oliver Morgan & Robert Grieve, 1999. "The Role of Attitudes and Objectives in Farmer Decision Making: Business and Environmentally‐Oriented Behaviour in Scotland," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 286-303, May.
    8. M. Shucksmith, 1993. "Farm Household Behaviour And The Transition To Post‐Productivism," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 466-478, September.
    9. Geoff A Wilson & Kaley Hart, 2000. "Financial Imperative or Conservation Concern? EU Farmers' Motivations for Participation in Voluntary Agri-Environmental Schemes," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 32(12), pages 2161-2185, December.
    10. Michael E. Porter & Claas van der Linde, 1995. "Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 97-118, Fall.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Barnes, Andrew Peter & Willock, J. & Hall, Clare & Luiza, Toma, 2008. "Farmer Responses to Nitrate Vulnerable Zone Designation in Scotland," 82nd Annual Conference, March 31 - April 2, 2008, Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, UK 36767, Agricultural Economics Society.
    2. Barreiro-Hurlé, Jesús & Espinosa-Goded, Maria & Dupraz, Pierre, 2008. "Does Intensity Of Change Matter? Factors Affecting Adoption In Two Agri-Environmental Schemes," 107th Seminar, January 30-February 1, 2008, Sevilla, Spain 6458, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Toma, Luiza & Mathijs, Erik, 2005. "Determinants of Romanian Farmers' Participation in Agri-Environmental Programmes," 2005 International Congress, August 23-27, 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark 24574, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Graversgaard, Morten & Jacobsen, Brian H. & Hoffmann, Carl Christian & Dalgaard, Tommy & Odgaard, Mette Vestergaard & Kjaergaard, Charlotte & Powell, Neil & Strand, John A. & Feuerbach, Peter & Tonder, 2021. "Policies for wetlands implementation in Denmark and Sweden – historical lessons and emerging issues," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    5. Davies, B.B. & Hodge, I.D., 2007. "Exploring environmental perspectives in lowland agriculture: A Q methodology study in East Anglia, UK," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2-3), pages 323-333, March.
    6. Wilson, Paul & Harper, Nicholas & Darling, Richard, 2011. "Explaining Variation in Farm and Farm Business Performance in Respect to Farmer Segmentation Analysis," 85th Annual Conference, April 18-20, 2011, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 108783, Agricultural Economics Society.
    7. Tomer, John F. & Sadler, Thomas R., 2007. "Why we need a commitment approach to environmental policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(3-4), pages 627-636, May.
    8. Dedeurwaerdere, Tom & Polard, Audrey & Melindi-Ghidi, Paolo, 2015. "The role of network bridging organisations in compensation payments for agri-environmental services under the EU Common Agricultural Policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 24-38.
    9. Pang, Yu, 2018. "Profitable pollution abatement? A worker productivity perspective," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 33-49.
    10. Ambrosius, Floor H.W. & Kramer, Mark R. & Spiegel, Alisa & Bokkers, Eddie A.M. & Bock, Bettina B. & Hofstede, Gert Jan, 2022. "Diffusion of organic farming among Dutch pig farmers: An agent-based model," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    11. Greiner, Romy, 2015. "Motivations and attitudes influence farmers' willingness to participate in biodiversity conservation contracts," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 154-165.
    12. Jason Parker, 2013. "Integrating culture and community into environmental policy: community tradition and farm size in conservation decision making," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(2), pages 159-178, June.
    13. Zhu, Lanlan & Zhang, Chunman & Cai, Yinying, 2018. "Varieties of agri-environmental schemes in China: A quantitative assessment," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 505-517.
    14. Emma Jane Dillon & Thia Hennessy & Peter Howley & John Cullinan & Kevin Heanue & Anthony Cawley, 2018. "Routine inertia and reactionary response in animal health best practice," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(1), pages 207-221, March.
    15. Cullen, Paula & Ryan, Mary & O’Donoghue, Cathal & Hynes, Stephen & hUallacháin, Daire Ó & Sheridan, Helen, 2020. "Impact of farmer self-identity and attitudes on participation in agri-environment schemes," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    16. Andrew Barnes & Luiza Toma, 2012. "A typology of dairy farmer perceptions towards climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 112(2), pages 507-522, May.
    17. Aviral Pandey, 2017. "Determinants of system of root intensification (sri) method, in Bihar state, India," Journal of Community Positive Practices, Catalactica NGO, issue 2, pages 3-16.
    18. Ait Sidhoum, Amer & Mennig, Philipp & Frick, Fabian, 2024. "Assessing the impact of agri-environmental payments on green productivity in Germany," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    19. Hounsome, Barry & Edwards, Rhiannon T. & Edwards-Jones, Gareth, 2006. "A note on the effect of farmer mental health on adoption: The case of agri-environment schemes," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 91(3), pages 229-241, December.
    20. Stojčić, Nebojša, 2021. "Social and private outcomes of green innovation incentives in European advancing economies," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:96:y:2009:i:12:p:1715-1722. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.