Suchergebnisse

Investment in farm capital underpins Scottish Government goals for a sustainable and productive industry. We examine the intentions and past behaviours for on-farm and off-farm investments. Using the farmer intentions survey - a survey of 2,494 Scottish farmers conducted in 2018 - we find that large numbers of farmers have declared an increase in the capital value of the farm and have mostly reinvested in their buildings and machinery over the last five years - with most of the investment in the medium to very large farm sizes. Very large farms are investing the most in capital around agricultural production and medium sized farms have invested the most in agroforestry. On average 18% of farms have increased their off-farm investments. As regards intentions to invest, a large proportion of the farms who did not invest in the last five years have no intention of investing in the next five years. Looking at the factors which drive investment in agricultural capital, we find this is characterised by higher incomes and larger farm size, but also succession factors as well attitudes to risk taking. In addition, those farmers who declared a more positive attitude towards Brexit also intended to increase farm capital investment. We also find a greater intention to invest in agroforestry across all farm sizes compared to the last five years which may be indicative of changes expected in the replacement of the CAP. Framing an agricultural policy for Scotland should focus on encouraging sustainable investment in both agricultural and environmental capital to encourage efficiency gains and meet climate and biodiversity targets in the future. Barriers exist to investment and these are structural - in terms of size and income - but also behavioural - e.g. attitudes towards investment, as well as generational - in terms of succession and entry into the sector

The Scottish Government is committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture as part of Scotland's target to reach net-zero emissions by 2045. To meet this very challenging target, the sector and Government are likely to have to take steps to ensure uptake of all available emission-reduction technologies and practices, by all farmers. Understanding behavioural change and attitudes will therefore be critical in order to develop policies and work with industry to deliver this goal. This study explores the evidence for factors behind adoption of climate-friendly agricultural practices. It examines interventions to encourage practice change, and the key factors that influence successful adoption. Key findings: Adoption factors: -Most studies analyse the impact of more than one factor on adoption. This is in line with the wide understanding that behaviours are the outcome of interrelated and complementary influences. -We found adoption was determined partly by earlier or concurrent choices. -The evidence demonstrates that farmers are influenced by their peers (usually sharing geography and farm type), indicating the need for interventions supporting collaborative networks. -Adoption factors are useful for explaining different behaviour and/or defining shared characteristics of farmers. This helps identify which practices might be more successfully adopted in a particular region by specific farm types, and thus assist with tailoring policy interventions. Interventions: -The more closely tailored an intervention is to the characteristics and needs of the target population, the more effective it seems to be. -Compliance is positively related to the level of incentive payments. This suggests a focus solely on enhancing environmental outcomes may be less effective than coupling them with those interventions better tuned to economic considerations. -Training and advice, supported within a collaborative framework, are effective on their own and even more so when used as additional incentives to assist other forms of interventions, in both the short and long term. They may be more effective when framed as industry-focused, rather than climate-focused.