Valuing the Margins: Identifying Marginal Land Within Fields and Valuing the Benefits of Conversion to Perennial Grassland

Commodities

Practices

Even high-yielding fields often have
marginal, or unprofitable, areas that cost the farmer more than
they generate in revenue due to issues like erosion,
waterlogging, or shading. These marginal areas also contribute to
air and water pollution, so it would be beneficial to society and
the farmer’s bottom line to identify these areas as potential
targets for conversion to less expensive, more ecologically
sustainable vegetation such as perennial grassland. However, even
when groups such as Pheasants Forever work with farmers to
identify marginal areas, cost-saving conservation practices are
not always implemented. Furthermore, economic estimates of
profitability do not capture the whole picture: many potential
benefits are not considered, such as clean air and water for
rural communities. 

We will work with compensated
farmer-partners from across Wisconsin to identify marginal areas
in their fields. To do this, we will use farmers’ yield monitor
data and farm expenses to map profitability within fields, using
methods we developed while mapping profitability for agricultural
research stations. We will also use environmental models and
farm-specific environmental data (e.g., soil type, slope) to
estimate the ecosystem services that cost-saving conversion to
perennial grassland would provide. Using valuation methods from
the field of environmental economics, we will estimate the
dollar-value of those services. Then, we will use those estimates
to identify “socially marginal” areas, or areas that would serve
the public, including farmers, better as grassland than as row
crops. Throughout this process, we will work with farmers to
understand the potential logistical burdens of setting aside
in-field acres for conversion to perennials, such as
maneuverability of farm equipment. 

By working with farmers to identify
these areas, our farmer-scientist collaboration will reveal
synergistic opportunities for conservation that improve both farm
profitability and field-level environmental sustainability.
Farmer-partners will receive maps of areas in their fields that
would serve them and society better as grassland. Extension
staff, farmers, and others will gain access to a publicly
available protocol describing how to produce their own maps and
the practical constraints of in-field conservation. Researchers
will gain a better understanding of the prevalence of
economically and socially marginal land. These learning outcomes
will also improve our understanding of how policy should balance
production and stewardship for the benefit of
society. 

By identifying economically and
socially marginal areas within row-crop fields, this research
will impact farmers, conservation groups, policymakers, and
researchers. Farmers will have increased knowledge of
unprofitable areas within their fields and heightened awareness
of the benefits of conservation, as well as a broader
understanding of the prevalence of marginal land across
Wisconsin. In the longer term, this research may help farmers
decide to convert marginal land to perennial grassland to improve
farm profitability and increase environmental benefits for
society.  

Farmers and conservation groups may
also use the methods shared by this project to search for
marginal areas in other fields and on other farms. By improving
understanding of the logistical constraints of in-field
conversion to grasslands, we will also support rural conservation
groups such as Pheasants Forever in their work with
farmers. 

Also, by estimating the dollar-value
of conservation versus production in these fields, this research
can estimate the optimal balance of production and conservation,
determined by their value to the farmer and society. This in turn
may inform policy that rewards farmers who balance production
with conservation.  

Researchers will gain a better
understanding of how much marginal land exists, and how well this
estimate aligns with estimates based on proxy measurements like
soil surveys, satellite data, and productivity indexes.
Additionally, to our knowledge, application of the “socially
marginal” concept to agriculture has never been attempted before,
so our efforts will represent a novel research contribution and
hopefully provide a foundation for others to build
upon.