Economics of Sustainable Agri-Food Systems

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New article: The contribution of innovation to farm level productivity

Innovation drives productivity growth. This study uses a novel method to assess farm-level innovations on productivity in Irish dairy farms, revealing that more innovative farmers are more productive. However, smaller-scale innovative farms may see decreased productivity. We discuss policies to address unequal innovation gains among farmers.   Link to paper

New Article on Animal Welfare: Over 20% of Irish Dairy Farmers Choose Ignorance Over Reality in Calves' Transport

We investigated 546 Irish dairy farmers’ choice to view a picture of transported dairy calves and find that over 20% of farmers prefer to remain in a state of ignorance. Farmers and farms’ characteristics appear to influence the probability to view the image and a treatment exploration suggest that the farmers’ decision is not a survey artefact.  Link to paper