Towards a method for the economic evaluation of environmental indicators for UK integrated arable farming systems

Integrated arable farming systems (IAFS), which involve a reduction in the use of off-farm inputs, are attracting considerable research interest in the UK. The objectives of these systems' experiments are to compare their financial performance with that from conventional or current farming practices. To date, this comparison has taken little account of any environmental benefits (or dis-benefits) of the two systems. The objective of this paper is to review the assessment methodologies available for the analysis of environmental impacts. To illustrate the results of this exercise, the methodology and environmental indicators chosen are then applied to data from one of the LINK-Integrated Fanning Systems (IFS) experimental sites. Data from the Pathhead site in southern Scotland are used to evaluate the use of invertebrates and nitrate loss as environmental indicators within IAFS. The results suggest that between 1992 and 1995 the biomass of earthworms fell by 278 kg ha(-1) on the integrated rotation and rose by 308 kg ha(-1) on the conventional system. This led to environmental costs ranging between pound 22.24 and pound 133.44 per hectare for the integrated system and gains of between pound 24.64 and pound 147.84 for the conventional system. In terms of nitrate, the integrated system had an estimated loss of pound 72.21 per hectare in comparison to pound 149.40 per hectare on the conventional system. Conclusions are drawn about the advantages and disadvantages of this type of analytical framework. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.