Integrating small farms in agent based models

In German agriculture structural change is mainly a result of the outmigration of smaller farms from the sector. The decisions of these farmers to leave or stay in the sector, are not based solely on financial data and market expectations. Other aspects are important such as the preservation of the cultural landscape, the continuation of the family tradition, or self-realisation. Only if these goals are adequately integrated into land use models, one can hope that the type and magnitude of reactions predicted by the model will be similar to that observed in reality. The main goal of this paper is to present a model approach that allows for the integration of non-monetary aspects into an agri-economic land use model. The approach is tested for a sample of 20 farms located in a municipality in the Bavarian Alps. The results show that the choice of the farmers’ attitude has a larger impact on results than the peculiarities of the policy scenario. This holds especially for the emerging farm structure but also for the general land use intensity.