Modeling the effects of agricultural production. An integrated economic and environmental analysis using farm account statistics and GIS

The spatial distribution of the agricultural farm structure in Vejle County , Denmark, is described by a set of seven farm types distributed on two soi l types, using a heuristic spatial allocation procedure in a geographic inf ormation system. The effects of agricultural production on the economy and on nitrate leaching are analyzed within an integrated analytical framework based on the spatially distributed farm account data. Regional trends in ni trate leaching caused by the distribution of both soil and farm types are e asily identified, and it is argued that a spatially distributed approach is required when analyzing site-specific pollution problems from agriculture. An analysis of the ratio between economic net output and nitrate leaching from different farm types shows a striking feature; as nitrate leaching per ha from different farm types increases, net output per ha increases relati vely more, making the average ratio between nitrate leaching and net output smallest for farm types with highest nitrate leaching. This strongly indic ates that environmental regulation aiming alone at the farm types with the largest nitrate leaching might not be cost-efficient. (C) 1999 Elsevier Sci ence B.V. All rights reserved.