An economic and environmental analysis of farm-level windbreak agroforestry management systems in eastern Nebraska

Agricultural and conservation policies dictate that landowners adopt practices that achieve long-term environmental goals. There is a renewed focus on shelterbelts as a conservation tool as water quality regulations become more prevalent. Several state and federal programs provide financial and technical assistance for shelterbelt establishment.A farm-level agroforestry modeling system was developed to provide policymakers and farmers with information on the impacts that state and federal programs have on farm income and the environment. The modeling system is being used to determine the farm-level economic and environmental effects of agriculture and wildlife shelterbelt systems in eastern Nebraska,Two representative farms---a 700-acre dryland farm and a 1260-acre irrigated farm---were created in Saunders County, Nebraska. The Farm-Level Income and Policy Simulation Model (FLIPSIM), was used to analyze economic returns over a 50-year period under two different shelterbelt systems: agricultural and wildlife. A total of four crop yield scenarios were included. Policy parameters were examined as land removed from production under each system: (1) was enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program for a 15-year period and (2) received state cost-share assistance for shelterbelt establishment.The economic results indicate that yield effects on row crops related to microclimate modification are more significant than the policy parameters. For both the dryland and irrigated representative farms, net cash farm income was higher under the agricultural shelterbelt scenarios than the baseline with no trees. Net cash farm income under the wildlife scenarios was lower than the baseline with no trees. Environmental analyses indicated there was little difference between the dryland and irrigated representative farms shelterbelt and no shelterbelt scenarios over the forecast period.This farm-level agroforestry modeling system provides a structure under which agroforestry practices can be evaluated from an economic, environmental and wildlife perspective. Quantitative projections provided by the system will be beneficial to landowners and policy-makers as consideration is given to the development and implementation of future agroforestry programs.