This paper investigates the structure and characteristics of the full distribution of sheep farms achieving various levels of financial and technical performance. Analysing data from the Irish panel dataset, the Teagasc National Farm Survey (NFS) shows Irish sheep farms exhibit relatively low...

In the context of incentivising farm afforestation to provide ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration to mitigate greenhouse gas production, this paper sheds new light on the complexity of the farm afforestation decision and the characteristics of the farms and the farmers who are likely...

In the present paper we attempt to analyse the relationship between ‘lifestyle’ and happiness in the UK using an instrumental variable approach. Our lifestyle variables have a significantly positive impact on happiness and the impact increases with the use of instruments. This suggests that...

One common element in many voluntary and regulatory carbon markets to date has been the inclusion of emissions offsets that can be sold by entities outside of emission caps. A particularly low cost means of sequestering atmospheric carbon is reducing tillage of agricultural soils. A choice...

Ireland’s agriculture is characterised by an ageing farmer population and small average farm sizes. Past policy schemes developed to address these issues have been targeted at accelerating succession and retirement processes in agriculture. Their success however was limited. The process of...

Understanding international consumer preferences and attitudes towards food is important for countries like New Zealand that depend heavily on food exports. New Zealand’s export focus has changed over the last few decades from almost all exports going to Europe, to more into Asian markets, in...

The aim of this study was to compare the effect of changing a range of biological traits on farm profit and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG; expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent, CO2-eq.) for dairy cows in Northern Ireland, and also in the whole of the UK. An average cow was modelled for each...

Agriculture makes a significant contribution to Norway’s emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). Although agriculture accounts for only 0.3 per cent of GDP, it accounts for roughly 8 per cent of total GHG emissions. Norwegian agriculture is dominated by livestock production; ruminants (cattle and...

Energy poverty is a significant policy issue in the UK. An argument often raised is that rural households are more likely to be energy poor due to the nature of rural housing stock and also the more limited choice of energy sources in rural areas. However empirical evidence to support this...