Farm environmental performance depending on the degree of ecological approaches

This deliverable (D3.3 of the LIFT project) presents the results of a series of analyses carried out to evaluate the environmental performance of (ecological) farm management practices at the farm level. We use secondary data collected through a variety of approaches in an effort to evaluate environmental performance across various dimensions, from a qualitative description, through a quantitative assessment to an empirical analysis. The deliverable presents summaries from three distinct analyses that were carried out within Task 3.4 of the LIFT project. The analyses proceed in a pyramid-approach fashion, in which the most broad analysis is presented first, and all subsequent analyses presented increase in nuance and complexity. Prior to carrying out these analyses in this task, a rapid evidence assessment (REA) was performed. Evidence collected through the REA was compiled in a database and formed the basis for the subsequent qualitative and quantitative assessments of environmental performance of farm management practices. The pyramid first presents results from the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the impact of (ecological) farm management practices on the supply of ecosystem services (ES) in European agriculture. Quantitative, semi-quantitative and qualitative data was collected through the REA. Semi-quantitative data was then used to compose sub-indicators (SIs), presenting a dimensionless quantification of the impact of 26 management practices across 17 ES. Second, a monetary valuation of six ES was performed using a benefit transfer. The benefit transfer was carried out for two management practices in the Belgian Flemish case study Hageland-Haspengouw, namely for grass strips and hedgerows. Finally, we present summarised results from the various empirical analyses on farm environmental performance that have been carried out across the LIFT project. Results from four main approaches are summarised: (i) farm bio-economic model enabling the computation of environmental indicators for a specific farm; (ii) computation of environmental indicators and comparing them across types of ecological farms; (iii) farm efficiency, including in the model both economic and environmental inputs or outputs on the farm; and (iv) environmental damage computed at the farm or the plot level. Due to the scope of the empirical analyses, these were not performed based on the evidence compiled through the REA mentioned above. More extensive descriptions of the empirical analyses of farm environmental performance can be found in LIFT Deliverable 3.1 (Niedermayr et al., 2021a) describing the empirical analyses on farm economic performance (Task 3.2 of the LIFT project). The formulation of this deliverable and the work presented within allows us to obtain a comprehensive overview of the impact of various farm management practices on the supply of a number of ES. We see that methodologies differ in the scope and depth of results they are able to capture. As the analytical methodologies become more complex, the number of management practices and ES that can be considered within the analysis decreases. Simultaneously we see that as the number of management practices/ES evaluated decreases, the nuance in the results increases. As such, by providing an overview of results from a variety of methodologies in this deliverable, we are able to present both broad picture and nuanced results on the environmental performance of ecological farm management practices