Economics of Sustainable Agri-Food Systems

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New article on Farmers' Beliefs About Climate Action: Evidence From an Information Experiment published in the Journal of Agricultural Economics

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from food production is a key challenge in mitigating climate change, and farmers play a central role in this effort. One promising solution is the use of clover in grasslands, which can naturally reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, which is a major source of emissions.
In this study, we conducted a survey with over 300 dairy farmers in Ireland to understand how information influences their views on adopting clover. We provided farmers with targeted information and explored how this influenced their beliefs and decision-making.
Our findings show that many farmers underestimate the environmental benefits of clover. While most participants did not change their views after receiving new information, some shifted from focusing on challenges, such as concerns about animal health or management difficulties, to recognizing potential benefits.
Importantly, we find that information can correct misperceptions. However, changing beliefs alone was not enough to significantly influence farmers’ intentions to adopt clover. This highlights that decisions about farming practices are complex and influenced by more than just information.
Overall, our research suggests that improving how climate solutions are communicated to farmers is important, but must be combined with broader support to encourage real-world adoption.
The full article is available here.

Special Issue “Information Economics to Support Sustainable and Resilient Agri-food Systems” published in European Review of Agricultural Economics

This special issue focuses on how information influences the transition to sustainable and resilient agri-food systems, and was edited by Doris Läpple, Daniel Hermann (University of Bonn) and Liesbeth Colen.
The contributions analyse farmers’ and consumers’ responses to different information strategies, including behavioural framings, advisory services, digital tools, data-sharing rules and communication around meat taxes. While the findings show that information alone may not always have a strong impact, its effectiveness can often be improved when combined with incentives. Together, the articles advance understanding of how information economics can inform policies and interventions to close sustainability and resilience gaps in agri-food systems.
You can find out more about the special issue here.

New article on Farmers’ Voices in European Protests: Diverse Complaints, Emotional Tones, and Policy Responses

The 2024 farmers’ protests across Europe signaled widespread dissatisfaction in the agricultural sector. While low farm incomes and restrictive environmental regulations are commonly cited grievances, little is known about underlying motivations and individual farmers’ reasons for protesting.
Our study explored individual farmers’ protest motivations in Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands to gain a deeper understanding of the diverse concerns shaping agricultural discontent across Europe. We analyzed rich text data from 2,232 farmers, collected through surveys using an open-ended question designed to elicit unprompted, top-of-mind protest reasons. By using a combination of hand and AI-assisted coding, we quantify protest reasons across countries, assess the emotional tone of farmers’ answers, and explore how this aligns with policy responses.
The results reveal that the reasons for protest differ across countries. German farmers most often complained about bureaucracy, French farmers emphasized financial difficulties, Belgian farmers voiced a wide range of concerns, while Dutch farmers focused mainly on political issues. The tone of farmers’ answers also varied: specific frustrations were often expressed in an annoyed angry tone, while broader topics seem to trigger aggressive anger.
You can read the full article here.

New article on media coverage of farmers’ protests

The recent farmers’ protests in Germany generated large media attention, prompting questions about how the protests and their motives were portrayed. We analysed 147 newspaper articles from six major German media outlets to explore reporting frequency, key topics, and tone. Protest events and policy criticism were the most prominent themes, with differences in tone observed across media with different political orientations. These patterns highlight how media framing can vary and why understanding such differences is important for public communication and policy dialogue.
You can find the full article here.

New Article on Communication Framing in Agricultural Climate Action

This paper investigates effective communication strategies to enhance farmers' engagement with climate change mitigation. Through an online survey experiment of over 500 Irish livestock farmers, it examines the impact of message framing—focused on reputation concern or expenses—on information engagement, knowledge, and intentions to adopt greenhouse gas mitigation measures. The findings reveal the complexity of motivating climate action, suggesting that advisory programs should employ positively framed messages to generate interest, despite challenges inherent in discussing climate change mitigation.

New Article on Climate Change Mitigation in the Dairy Sector

Combining climate change goals with economic targets is crucial for the dairy sector, which is a significant contributor to agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. In this paper, we assess economic and climate change implications of dairy production with panel data of Irish dairy farms from 2013 to 2021. We calculate transient, persistent, and overall eco-efficiency with respect to GHG emissions by way of stochastic frontier analysis. Despite high overall eco-efficiency, our results uncover significant variability across farms, with some showing improvement and others decline in eco-efficiency over time. You can find the full article here