A comprehensive platform for agriculture policymaking

Policymakers rely on predictive models. A comprehensive tailor-made modelling platform for agriculture will soon provide a clearer picture of the effects of agriculture policies and uncertainty on farmers and their decisions.

The Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) has been an important instrument for evaluating the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and its effects on farming income. However, uncertainty, instability and price volatility are dynamic variables that are not currently integrated in existing economic models relying on the FADN informatics environment.

The EU-funded project FADNTOOL is enhancing current models to deliver state-of-the-art custom-built economic models tailored to the FADN database. The FADENTOOL will include all aspects of farmers' production decisions and the effects of uncertainty and risk on farmers' behaviours. It will cover all levels from single farm through to the EU, and across all EU regions and markets. Finally, despite its comprehensive nature, it will be easy to use and amend.

During the first project period, scientists made impressive headway toward the final version of the tool with numerous models completed or in progress. They developed a model of individual farm decision making for a producer of multiple products in an environment of price volatility including rules for risk-averse farmers with invariant preferences. Farm optimisation models were developed to analyse farmers' economic behaviour in relation to CAP payment schemes. Models are also analysing the effect of CAP payment changes on land prices, again using individual farm data from FADN. Data indicate that rental and ownership values of land are directly linked to a farm's specialisation in terms of products as well as to its profitability.

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a management tool evaluating the efficiency of decision making or, perhaps more concretely, of a given producer relative to the best producer (in contrast to other methods that typically compare to an average producer). Scientists evaluated existing DEA models and their ability to assess the efficiency of farms and are creating tailor-made DEA tools.

These and other models will form a comprehensive and easy-to-use platform for policymakers and others to make knowledge-based decisions regarding CAP. FADENTOOL will thus contribute to a sustainable and productive agriculture sector and overall EU economy.

Aναλυτικότερα:
http://cordis.europa.eu/