An assessment of the total external costs of UK agriculture

This trans-disciplinary study assesses total external environmental and hea lth costs of modern agriculture in the UK. A wide range of datasets have be en analysed to assess cost distribution across sectors. We calculate the an nual total external costs of UK agriculture in 1996 to be pound 2343 m (ran ge for 1990-1996: pound 1149-3907 m), equivalent to pound 208/ha of arable and permanent pasture. Significant costs arise from contamination of drinki ng water with pesticides (pound 120 m/year), nitrate (pound 16 m), Cryptosp oridium (pound 23 m) and phosphate and soil (pound 55 m), from damage to wi ldlife, habitats, hedgerows and drystone walls (pound 125 m), from emission s of gases (pound 1113 m), from soil erosion and organic carbon losses (pou nd 106 m), from food poisoning (pound 169 m), and from bovine spongiform en cephalopathy (BSE) (pound 607 m). This study has only estimated those exter nalities that give rise to financial costs, and so is likely to underestima te the total negative impacts of modern agriculture. These data help to ide ntify policy priorities, particularly over the most efficient way to intern alise these external costs into prices. This would imply a redirection of p ublic subsidies towards encouraging those positive externalities under-prov ided in the market place, combined with a mix of advisory and institutional mechanisms, regulatory and legal measures, and economic instruments to cor rect negative externalities. Further work examining the marginal costs and benefits of UK agriculture would help to inform future policy development. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.