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Farm typologies for understanding farm systems and improving agricultural policy

GND
143139088
Affiliation
Agricultural Economics and Policy ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Huber, Robert;
GND
1289449163
Affiliation
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, Leipzig, Germany
Bartkowski, Bartosz;
ORCID
0000-0001-9331-1008
Affiliation
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Kreuzeckbahnstraße 19, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Brown, Calum;
GND
106661685X
Affiliation
Research Division Sustainability Assessment and Agricultural Management, Agroscope, Tänikon 1, Ettenhausen, Switzerland
El Benni, Nadja;
Affiliation
Department of Agriculture, South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences, Lübecker Ring 2, Soest, Germany
Feil, Jan-Henning;
GND
1300300574
Affiliation
Agricultural and Food Policy Group, Thaer-Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
Grohmann, Pascal;
GND
1144406412
Affiliation
Thünen-Institute of Rural Studies, Bundesallee 64, Braunschweig, Germany
Joormann, Ineke;
ORCID
0000-0003-2129-1989
Affiliation
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Institute of Sustainable Economic Development, Feistmantelstrasse 4, Vienna, Austria
Leonhardt, Heidi;
ORCID
0000-0003-0799-9489
Affiliation
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Institute of Sustainable Economic Development, Feistmantelstrasse 4, Vienna, Austria
Mitter, Hermine;
Affiliation
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, Leipzig, Germany
Müller, Birgit

CONTEXT

Farm typologies help to identify patterns across a wide range of farm systems and describe heterogeneity in agriculture concisely. They can also support the design of agricultural policies by providing information and knowledge about policy target groups. For example, voluntary agri-environmental schemes could be tailored to specific agricultural landscapes and farm types. Farm typologies, however, are often developed from scratch, with limited connection to previous studies and policy making.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study is to clarify the purposes of farm typologies in research and agricultural policy making and to develop a framework that allows to increase the usefulness and usability of farm typologies for agricultural policy making.

METHODS

Based on a review of 13 systematically identified overview studies on farm typologies, we develop a framework that establishes connections between the purposes of farm typologies along the different stages of the policy process.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

We find multiple purposes for farm typologies, the two most common of which are for understanding the characteristics, heterogeneity, and development of farm systems and for policy making. The newly developed framework suggests that connecting knowledge across these purposes could improve the validity, transferability, and relevance of farm typologies for agricultural policy making. Our framework also provides an entry point for encouraging cooperation between developers and users of typologies, and for the improvement of typologies through new data (including behavioural data) and methods such as machine learning. We conclude that future research can build on the existing work on farm typologies but must be aware of the specific challenges that are associated with the use of farm typologies in the policy process.

SIGNIFICANCE

Knowledge of the prospects and challenges of using farm typologies allows to increase the usefulness and usabilityof these typologies and can contribute to the design of targeted and tailored agricultural policy instruments. By increasing the acceptance, perceived fairness, and legitimacy, this can improve their effectiveness and efficiency, which is urgently needed for a successful transformation to a more sustainable agricultural sector.

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