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Abstract
The authors draw on the United Kingdom's experience with various agri-environmental schemes since the mid-1980s to identify lessons and issues for expansion of agri-environmental stewardship payment programs in the U.S. and Europe. A key recommendation of the authors is that major stewardship payment initiatives are needed on both sides of the Atlantic at this time to encourage more diverse crop systems, incorporating legume-based rotations. Issues and challenges addressed in the paper include: (1) compatibility of production support and stewardship support; (2) balancing stewardship payments and environmental compliance; (3) opportunities for programs to contribute jointly to social and stewardship objectives; (4) compatibility of World Trade Organization rules with stewardship schemes; (5) capitalization of scheme benefits into land values; (6) how to gain from bottom-up planning and subsidiarity; and (7) whether farmers already practicing 'good stewardship' should qualify for stewardship payments.
Issued as South Dakota State University Economics Staff Paper 2001-1 and University of Essex Centre for Environment and Society Occasional Paper 2001-1