The 14 chapters in this book provide an introduction to the techniques used and the issues addressed by farm-level models. They underline the potential that exists to generate new insights and guidance for policy makers as these models come to be more widely used. The book is split into two...

This chapter focuses on a demonstration of linear programming-based models in capturing short-term farmer adaptations to meet market, climatic and other demands. Two examples are provided to show the application of optimizing farm-level models to identifying adaptation measures on the farm. These...

This chapter discusses the increasingly important contribution of farm-level modelling to policy impact assessment. For illustration purposes, it focuses on the EU agricultural sector, where both policies and impact models have experienced a rapid transformation in recent decades. The chapter is...

This chapter describes the use of mathematical programming for developing farm-level models that are useful for agricultural policy assessment. It focuses on the technique most frequently used in agricultural policy evaluation in the EU, positive mathematical programming (PMP). Unlike other...

This chapter reviews whole farm-modelling approaches that attempt to capture: (i) the stochastic nature of the outcomes of farm decision making; (ii) farmers' attitudes to risk; and (iii) ways that risk-averse farmers can manage variability. As an example, a utility efficient programming (UEP),...

This chapter gives insights into current veterinary, agricultural and economic research into biosecurity management at the farm level, where particular attention is paid to characterizing heterogeneity in choice. Section 5.2 outlines the pertinent economic and veterinary literature on biosecurity...

This chapter provides the context for why it is important for a farm to be efficient in terms of its use of inputs and how these translate into outputs. In particular, the global macroeconomic and policy conditions that provide an impetus to examine efficiency at the farm level are outlined in...

The chapter provides a brief explanation of how and why GHG emissions arise in agricultural supply chains, describes the methods available for estimating emissions - both on the farm and beyond the farm gate - and summarizes existing studies of GHG emissions in food supply chains. It then explains...

This chapter describes a multi-farm regional modelling approach and its characteristics, and discusses why one might want to use such an approach. Regional-level modelling is useful for investigating broader issues about the regional implications for new technology or agricultural policy when there ...

This chapter considers the application of different microsimulation modelling methodologies - hypothetical, static, behavioural, dynamic, macro to micro, spatial and environmental - to farm-level and agricultural sector issues. Even though the objectives and types of these modelling approaches are...