@article{Viira:289717,
      recid = {289717},
      author = {Viira, Ants-Hannes and Ariva, Jelena},
      title = {Maintenance of permanent grasslands – agri-environmental  protection, passive land use or constraint for the  structural development?},
      address = {2019-05-29},
      number = {2230-2019-1953},
      month = {May},
      year = {2019},
      abstract = {This paper studies the role of market driven structural  changes, and changes in agricultural policy in reconversion  of permanent grassland to cropland in Estonia. Data on  parcels of agricultural land and beneficiaries of direct  payments in Estonia, from 2013 to 2016, and logistic  regression is used in the analysis. It is argued that as a  result of crisis in milk market in 2015 and 2016 some of  the dairy farms changed their specialisation to cereals,  oilseeds and protein crops and reconverted some of their  permanent grasslands to cropland. At the same time, dairy  farms who quit milk production and became specialised in  cattle, sheep and goats preserved their permanent  grasslands. In 2015 and 2016 the cheapest maintenance  practice of permanent grassland, grass chopping, was  restricted on a beneficiary’s permanent grasslands that  exceeded 10 ha. This stimulated changes in land market.  Some of the permanent grasslands that were preserved by  passive land owners were transferred to cereals, oilseeds  and protein crops farms, and cattle farms. As an adverse  effect, this increased likelihood that permanent grasslands  were reconverted to cropland. It is concluded that since  passive land owners and cereal, oilseeds and protein crops  farmers also contribute to maintenance of permanent  grasslands, the cheapest maintenance practices should not  be restricted. At the same time, it is crucial to improve  resilience of grassland farms that contribute the most to  permanent grasslands preservation.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/289717},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.289717},
}