Stakeholder Preferences & Policy Design Research

In this study approximately 1,000 forest landowners, members of the Georgia Tree Farm program, were surveyed to determine the minimum payment they would accept to adopt practices, such as modifications to thinning intensity and planting density, aimed to increase downstream water yields in existing loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) stands across Georgia. A discrete choice model with uncertainty was used, that accounts for uncertainty related to the increase in water flow.

Results from this study suggest the following:

• Georgia private landowners, if compensated enough, may be open to the idea of adopting certain silvicultural practices designed to enhance water yield
• Required compensation dropped by $4.21 per acre per year when payment is provided in the form of an annual tax credit compared to remuneration via a monthly electric bill credit
• Landowners were willing to accept ~$13 to $15 less per acre per year, on average, if it meant increasing the probability of success in meeting stated water yields by one percentage point.
• Landowners who received financial compensation in the past five years to undertake a conservation practice were willing to accept $0.01 less per acre per year for increased planting density.

Key findings: Private forest landowners might be open to the idea of adopting forest management strategies designed to enhance water yield if appropriately compensated.

Meet the team
Puneet Dwivedi, University of Georgia
Ranjit Bawa, University of Georgia

Forest landowners across the Suwannee River Basin area in Florida and the Lower Flint River Basin area in Georgia were surveyed to assess their willingness to accept payments to adopt water quality and quantity conservation practices. The survey used a discrete choice experiment model to elicit preferences of forest landowners to participate and willingness to accept compensation for enrollment in a voluntary ecosystem service incentive program for the adoption of water conservation-based management practices. The survey was administered to 3,000 forest landowners each in Florida and Georgia (6,000 total) with a response rate of approximately 6%.

Results of the study suggest that:

• Higher incentives are required for programs that decrease net returns, increase production cost, and increase rotation age
• Highest incentives are required for programs that decrease net returns followed by very high rotation age
• No statistical preference among program attributes that help ease the enrollment process
• WTA ranges from a maximum of $10 for a higher decline in net returns to (-$17) for a high increase in net returns

Key findings Landowners in Georgia and Florida are open to the idea of providing water services from their forestlands and are willing to change their practices (reduced planting density, changed rotation age, thinning) to provide more water from their forestlands with incentives to support the adoption of these practices. The larger the loss by adopting the new water-friendly practices, the higher the willingness to accept the payments.

Publications

Koirala, U. (2020). Economic feasibility of incentivizing farm/forest conservation-based practices in the Upper Floridan Aquifer Region [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida. https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UFE0057139/00001/pd

Meet the team
Damian Adams, University of Florida
Unmesh Koirala, University of Florida

The research surveyed corn, cotton, and peanut producers across the Suwannee River Basin area in Florida and the Lower Flint River Basin area in Georgia. The survey used a discrete choice experiment model to evaluate row crop producers’ preferences regarding the adoption of agricultural irrigation and nutrient best management practices (BMPs) that aim to support the design of incentive-based agricultural water policy to improve water quality and secure water quantity.

The survey was administered to 4,300 corn, cotton, and peanut producers in North Florida and South Georgia with a response rate of approximately 4%.

According to this study:

• Incentives are needed to motivate producers to adopt controlled-release fertilizer, soil moisture sensors, and cover crops.
• Heterogeneity in producer’s preferences for adopting controlled-release fertilizer and cover crops exists.
• Producers whose farm is their primary income source have a positive preference for incentive payments, but producers whose farm is not their primary income source have no preference for incentive payments.
• Producers’ age, education levels, risk preferences, conservation attitudes, and farm size, have no impact on WTA.
• Half of the respondents are willing to change their crop land use to forestry if an incentive payment is provided.

Key Findings: There is a low adoption rate of soil moisture sensor (45%) and controlled-release fertilizer (10%). Producers could be incentivized to adopt certain irrigation and nutrient BMPs if adequate incentive payments are provided through BMPs cost-share programs. A BMP cost-share program with uniform payment for all producers might be less cost-effective to improve the BMP adoption rate because of heterogeneity exits in producer’s preferences of adopting BMPs.

Meet the team
Christa Court, University of Florida
John Lai, University of Florida
Fei He, University of Florida

This study aimed to assess the feasibility of a publicly-funded program that incentivizes producers to alter or adopt practices and technology for Florida and Georgia. The program was based on the ecosystem services the UFA provides.

The Willingness to Pay survey was distributed to a panel of 1,500 Florida and 1,500 Georgia residents. The panel was balanced based on representative socio-demographic profiles from the most recent available US Census data. The data were further stratified to reflect political boundaries according to Florida’s five Water Management Districts and Georgia’s eleven Water Planning Regions. In addition to Willingness to Pay, the survey also included variables of interest on socio-demographics, perceived risk, perceptions of Upper Floridan Aquifer water quality and quantity, and outdoor recreation motivations.

Results give policy-makers information relevant to program feasibility, range of price, and potential financial output to incentivize producers. However, communicating these results to the public is challenging.

Key findings:

• Program is not feasible for the general public of Florida and Georgia
• However, with latent class analysis we see that:
  • 3 out of 5 groups that would opt into the program (Most interested in the program were male, Republican, with higher incomes, valuing positive producer impacts and recreation)
  • Those with a high perception of risk for Upper Floridan Aquifer degradation were more willing to opt into a program and pay more.

Publications

• Klizentyte, K. (2022). Willingness to pay for the Upper Floridan Aquifer [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Florida. https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UFE0059028/00001/pdf
• Klizentyte, K., Lai, J., Adams, D.C., and Susaeta A. (2024) What's the Upper Floridan Aquifer worth? Estimating resident's willingness to pay for ecosystem services provided by a regional water resource, Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics. [Submitted 2/28/24].

Meet the team
Damian Adams, University of Florida
Kotryna Klizentyte, University of Florida