The present paper attempts to investigate whether the Sub-Measure 6.1 “Start-Up Aid for Young Farmers” payments of the 2014–2020 Rural Development Programme have a role to play in explaining Greek farms’ export orientation and export performance through a statistical analysis of farm-level data. The results demonstrate considerable differences in farm structures between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries and provide support for the contention that beneficiaries are more likely to operate more productive and economically efficient farms. However, the results also provide a sobering assessment of the role of the young-farmer-related subsidies in stimulating export orientation and export performance.

The conservation of environmental resources is aimed at ensuring the continuity of ecosystem services for future generations and maintaining ecosystem integrity. Given the extensive reliance of agriculture on the environment, it is crucial to identify factors that impact the quality of ecosystem services (ESs), which can be regulated at large and heterogeneous national or European scales. This research, conducted within the Polish use case of the AGRICORE project, aims to demonstrate the feasibility of establishing indicators depicted in three ES categories, which can be shaped under the actions of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The study was conducted based on national sources, mostly the database of the Central Statistical Office. The analyses of regression showed a significant impact of selected agricultural productivity factors on the key performance indicators (KPIs) assessing the level of selected ESs. The yield of cereal grains, which quantitatively expresses the potential of current crop production, depended to the greatest extent (r = 0.81) on a comprehensive indicator of the agricultural production space suitability, as well as on the rise of the level of nitrogen fertilization (r = 0.68), and also on the reduced share of permanent grassland in the agricultural area (r = −0.53). It was proved that in territorial units, in which the level of nitrogen fertilization per 1 ha was greater, the share of soils with favorable pH > 5.5 was also greater. The gross nitrogen balance had a positive and significant correlation with the level of investment subsidies (r = 0.86), the share of agricultural land in the total area (r = 0.67), and the level of nitrogen fertilization (r = 0.66). Notably, there were positive correlations between the level of environmental subsidies and the increase in forestation (r = 0.68) and also between air quality and the share of cereals in the sowing structure (r = 0.86). Additionally, the impact of agricultural productivity factors on cultural eco-services was found, e.g., the share of ecological land had a positive impact on the number of natural monuments, the area of nature reserves, the number of agritourists, and agritourism nights, while the share of cereals in the sowing structure negatively correlated with the most of analyzed cultural indicators. These results are useful for the development of a module for the ABM model that employs the desired environmental parameters to provide different assessments of the impact of selected agricultural productivity factors and ecosystem services on the economic farm status.

This paper presents the results of a survey conducted electronically in the years 2020-2022 within the framework of the AGRICORE Horizon project. It concerned the Agri-Environment-Climate Measure M10 within the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 and aimed to quantify the impact of its effects...

During the last decade, Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has prioritised measures focused on sustainability and quality over production. The purpose of the AGRICORE project is to develop a tool based on agent-based modelling to assist policymakers in the design of improved policies. The present study belongs to a use case of this project that measures the environmental and climate impact of Measure 11—Organic agriculture—from the 2014–2020 Rural Development Programme of the Andalusian olive sector. As part of this study, a survey campaign was conducted, which collected data from 189 organic olive farmers in Andalusia. The data were analysed in order to characterise organic olive farmers and their farms. This paper presents the resulting characterisation, covering some information gaps detected as part of the AGRICORE project, such as their acceptance of M11 and willingness to innovate and take risks. The results highlight that most of the respondents are unaware of important aspects, such as exploitation costs and their belonging to environmentally protected areas. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that most farmers are approximately 60 years old, and more than 35% are women. Furthermore, most of those studied do not intend to return to conventional production methods. These results help to provide a current perspective of the organic olive sector in Andalusia, which can be used by policymakers to design improved policies that entail an increase in organic olive production.