Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Economic Impact of the Conservation Reserve Program on Households and Counties

美国农业虽然产量很高，但也伴随着一些严重的环境后果，如土壤侵蚀、水质受损和野生动物栖息地的丧失。保护储备计划(CRP)是一项联邦计划，旨在通过鼓励农民将高度侵蚀的农田转变为永久或半永久的植被覆盖来减少农业的环境后果。作为十年承诺的交换，农民将获得补贴和费用分摊援助，以帮助建立植物性覆盖。保护保护区计划在环境方面受到了很大关注，但也有以前没有调查过的潜在影响。农民经常使用联邦支持计划来缓解经济不确定性，并为农场单位的生存做出贡献。由于CRP招生的空间变异性，在不同的空间尺度上存在经济后果。这项研究将考察该计划如何影响大平原中部非大都市县的家庭。邮寄调查将了解农民对CRP有效性的看法，补贴对家庭的重要性，对家庭和社区的影响，入学障碍，以及就业和购物模式的变化。一小部分农民以及联邦土地管理专业人士也将接受采访，以进一步深入了解自然保护储备计划的经济影响。研究人员将研究大平原中部的利益和后果在空间上是如何变化的。像自然保护区计划这样的自愿计划的成功取决于个人土地所有者的参与。该项目将为参与者对该方案的看法以及该方案对农村土地所有者家庭和社区的影响提供宝贵的见解。通过了解该计划如何使其参与者受益并向其提出挑战，政策制定者将拥有更多必要的信息，以评估此类联邦环境和农业支持计划的多重影响。这将有助于进一步制定有效、高效和公平的联邦政策，以实现支持美国农村环境、经济和社会可持续发展的多个目标。

American agriculture, although highly productive, is associated with some serious environmental consequences, such as soil erosion, impaired water quality, and loss of wildlife habitat. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a federal program designed to reduce environmental consequences of agriculture by encouraging farmers to convert highly erodible farmland into permanent or semi-permanent vegetative cover. In exchange for a ten-year commitment, farmers receive a subsidy payment and cost-share assistance to help establish the vegetative cover. The Conservation Reserve Program has received much attention on environmental grounds, but also has potential effects that have not been investigated previously. Farmers often use federal support programs to mitigate economic uncertainty and contribute to the survival of the farm unit. Because of spatial variability of CRP enrollment, there are economic consequences at various spatial scales. This study will examine how the program affects households in non-metropolitan counties in the central Great Plains. A mailed survey will elicit farmers' perceptions of the effectiveness of the CRP, importance of the subsidies on households, impact on households and communities, obstacles to enrollment, and changes in employment and shopping patterns. A smaller sample of farmers, as well as federal land management professionals, also will be interviewed to develop further insights into the economic effects of the Conservation Reserve Program. The researchers will examine how benefits and consequences vary spatially within the central Great Plains.The success of a voluntary program like the Conservation Reserve Program depends upon the participation of individual landowners. This project will provide valuable insight into the participants' perceptions of the program as well as the impact of the program on rural landowners' households and communities. By understanding how the program benefits and challenges its participants, policymakers will have more of the needed information to assess the multiple effects of such federal environmental and farm support programs. This will aid in further development of effective, efficient, and equitable federal policies toward multiple goals supporting the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of rural America.