Land, as a factor of production, has a vital role within the agricultural sector compared with other sectors. However, in recent years, land mobility has become a significant issue around the world with increased concentration and competition for land ownership, limiting the overall competitiveness of the agri-food sector and constraining the potential opportunities for new entrant farmers to access land. While land leasing is increasingly being embraced as a common form of land tenure serving as an alternative to the purchase of land for agriculture, the length of lease has been shown to have a significant impact on land productivity and sustainability. In this study, we provide a comprehensive and systematic review exploring the benefits of longer-term land leasing with a particular focus on developed countries and some selected developing countries in the context of commercial farming with more formal arrangements. Specifically, we highlight the barriers to long-term land leasing and identify potential incentives that might be adopted to encourage long-term land leasing for both landowners and farmers who seek to rent land.

The decision for dairy farmers to invest in automated oestrus detection (AOD) technologies involves the weighing up of the costs and benefits of implementation. In this paper, through a review of the existing literature, we examine the impacts of investment in AOD technologies in relation to the profitability and technical performance of dairy farms. Peer-reviewed articles published between 1970 and 2019 on the investment viability of AOD technologies were collated and analysed. We capture the different measures used in assessing the economic performance of investment in AOD technologies over time which include net present value (NPV), milk production, Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR), internal rate of return (IRR) and payback period (PBP). The study concludes that investment in AOD technologies is not only worthwhile but also contributes to farm profitability.

Climate change and environmental degradation present significant and ongoing challenges to the agricultural sector. Formal education has been shown to equip farmers with the knowledge and skills needed to improve their environmental performance and address these problems. However, there is a notable gap in the literature regarding a comprehensive review of how farmers’ education impacts environmental outcomes. This paper aims to bridge that gap by synthesizing the results of studies exploring the role of education in explaining environmental performance. To this end, we conducted a systematic review of the existing literature. We organised the resulting 127 studies into thematic groups to provide corresponding overviews. Subsequently, we conducted a vote-count analysis of the reported direction and statistical significance of effects and associations between education and environmental performance. We observe that reporting at the variable level rather than the overall study level may have led to the importance of education for specific groups of farmers being overlooked. We suggest that the way education variables are constructed can influence the results of studies, leaving the results of vote-count analysis open to interpretation. The findings of the review provide the requisite evidence base to inform the development of effective policy measures that enhance the sustainability of farming.

Participatory agricultural extension programmes aimed at encouraging knowledge transfer and the adoption of new technology and innovation at the farm level are a novel approach to advisory service provision. In order to drive sustainable agricultural production systems that address farm-level economic and environmental objectives, the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) in November 2015, developed a new participatory extension programme for farmers in Northern Ireland, the Business Development Groups (BDGs). The purpose of this paper is to examine and analyse the drivers of farmers’ decisions in relation to joining and participating in this new approach to farm extension, learning and advisory service provision. Making use of data from both primary and secondary sources, this study employs a mixed-methods approach which involves an empirical analysis of quantitative and qualitative data to examine the factors influencing membership of the BDG programme. The results of our analyses show that larger, more intensive farmers who are keen to access information from other farmers to improve their business performance are most likely to participate in the BDG programme. The study contributes to the empirical literature by establishing the need to take into consideration the different characteristics of farmers in the design and delivery of participatory extension programmes.

This paper evaluates the impact of membership of the Business Development Groups (BDG), a participatory extension programme in Northern Ireland on the economic performance of participating farmers for dairy and sheep enterprise groups. The study employs the conditional difference-in-differences approach which combines a non-parametric matching estimator with a difference-in-differences analytical technique to obtain a credible best-estimates of the causal effect of BDG membership on farmers’ economic performance assuming that BDG participation is as good as random after controlling for observable farm characteristics and that the parallel trends assumption holds between BDG participants and non-participants. The results of the analyses showed that membership in the BDG programme has a statistically significant impact on the economic performance of participating farmers. Specifically, the results showed that farmers who are members of the dairy and sheep BDGs increased their gross margin by £109.10 and £17.10 per head respectively compared to farmers that are non-members of the BDGs. The results of the study provide robust evidence to inform policy development around the area of participatory extension programmes. It also supports the design of efficient agricultural education and extension systems that incorporates the ideas of the farmers themselves through peer-to-peer learning thereby maximising the economic and social benefits accruable from such programmes.

Agriculture and farming are valued contributors to local economy in Northern Ireland (NI). There is limited knowledge about farmers’ behaviours and attitudes towards disease biosecurity measures. As part of a larger project, a scenario-based workshop with key stakeholders was organised by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI)-NI in December 2015. A total of 22 participants belonging to 12 different institutions took part in the workshop. Participants were presented with an overview of previously conducted biosecurity research in NI and England. In small groups, participants were subsequently asked to discuss and give their opinions about a series of questions across four key areas in a semi-structured approach with an external facilitator. The key areas were 1- disease risk perception at the farm level; 2-perceived barriers to implementing on farm biosecurity measures; 3- avenues to successful behaviour change and 4-key industry responsibilities and roles. The discussion showed that training in biosecurity for farmers is important and necessary. Training was recommended to be provided by veterinary surgeons, preferably via a face-to-face format. The discussion addressing disease disclosure proved particularly challenging between those who were prospective buyers of cattle, and those who sold cattle. This workshop provided a unique and invaluable insight into key issues regarding farm level biosecurity activities. From a policy perspective, delivering improved on-farm biosecurity must be addressed via a multidisciplinary approach. This can only be achieved with active involvement, commitment and support of a number of key industry and government stakeholders.