Economic evaluation of soil and water management practices on farmlands adjacent to riding mountain national park, Manitoba

Abstract

This study evaluates on-farm economic impacts of soil and water management practices on farmlands adjacent to Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba. Linear programming and Universal Soil Loss Equation are used to evaluate tillagerotation combinations on different soil types in terms of costs, returns, resource use and soil loss on farmlands. Opportunity costs of soil loss restrictions are determined. Resource use and management conflicts in the study area were identified and discussed the in context of poorly defined property rights. Adoption of conservation-tillage, altering crop rotations and using erodible land for forage are more beneficial than the conventionally-tilled cereal and oil crops which were predominant in the study area. Soil loss restrictions result in selection of soil conserving production systems or taking land out of production.Poorly defined property rights are identified as a cause of resource management conflicts in the study area.