Initial participation in UK set‐aside and ESA schemes

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Abstract
Under UK set‐aside introduced in 1988, farmers who agree voluntarily to divert at least 20% of their annual cereal area into fallow or other approved use for a 5‐year period may receive annual payments of up to £200 per hectare; whilst in the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs) designated in 1986 and 1987 in parts of the UK, annual area payments are made to farmers who agree voluntarily to manage eligible land in environmentally acceptable ways. It is argued that participation in a voluntary land diversion scheme may depend upon the favourability of farmer attitudes and upon the financial attractiveness of the particular scheme. The determinants of farmer attitudes and the relative importance of attitudes and economics in affecting the entry decision may however vary from farmer to farmer. Consideration of this leads to the definition of four types of farmer. Participation is then predicted under various assumptions: that all farmers are profit‐motivated; that all are profit‐influenced; that all are scheme‐influenced; and that all are peer‐influenced. This sets limits between which, it is argued, participation will in practice fall; and it enables a general discussion of the factors affecting participation. The initial participation rates in UK set‐aside and ESA schemes in England and Wales are reviewed and analysed using the method developed.

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