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Delivering an agricultural policy which meets ecosystem and climatic pressures and addresses weaknesses in our current food system presents complex challenges for food producers. Adoption of ecological practices will reduce the dependence on imports into the farm and is one way to meet some of these policy ambitions. Understanding why farmers do or don’t adopt these practices is key to enabling this transition. This study outlines a series of investigations into the key barriers, values and perceptions towards ecological practice adoption across European farming. We find that personal, technical and institutional forces influence the adoption of more sustainable practices but these forces have varying levels of influence. The tensions between environmental, compared to purely production orientated motivations, may be a key barrier to ecological practice adoption. We also find a strong infl uence of commodity supply chains which may either encourage or limit adoption of these approaches. Promoting efforts for co- ordinated approaches between the public and private sectors may mitigate some of the dissonance in messaging towards these practices and alleviate these tensions. We also identify a great deal of heterogeneity within the European farming community and argue for a more targeted approach that would encourage adoption of ecological approaches and promote the scaling up of these practices.

Food safety, whether actual or perceived, is one of the major reasons for food waste along the agri‐food supply chain. Food safety hazards at farm level such as mycotoxin contamination of feed, overuse of antimicrobials in livestock disease control, and zoonotic disease incursion may lead to food unfit for human consumption and thus waste. Given the importance of safety as one of the most important attributes of food, the appropriate management of risks along the supply chain can contribute to reductions in food loss and waste. However, a better coordination between food waste and safety policies is also needed, which requires: balancing the scientific evidence and the precautionary principle; reviewing current food safety regulations to identify areas potentially leading to avoidable waste; combining the monitoring of safety hazards and waste along the agri‐food chain; provision of tailored information on linkages between food safety and waste; and investment in technologies to accurately assess the edibility of food. Attention needs to be paid to policies and practices on food labelling and packaging to ensure that they do not lead to unintended or unnecessary impacts on food safety and waste, which are not justified by scientific evidence. Die Lebensmittelsicherheit, ob tatsachlich oder nur empfunden, ist einer der Hauptgrunde fur Lebensmittelabfalle entlang der landwirtschaftlichen Wertschopfungskette. Auf Betriebsebene konnen Gefahren wie die Kontamination von Futtermitteln mit Mykotoxinen, der ubermasige Einsatz von Antibiotika zur Bekampfung von Tierkrankheiten und das Einschleppen von Zoonosen dazu fuhren, dass Lebensmittel fur den menschlichen Verzehr nicht mehr geeignet sind und somit zu Abfallen werden. Angesichts der Bedeutung von Sicherheit als einer der wichtigsten Eigenschaften von Lebensmitteln konnte ein angemessenes Risikomanagement entlang der Wertschopfungskette dazu beitragen, Lebensmittelverluste und ‐abfalle zu verringern. Es ist jedoch auch eine bessere Koordinierung zwischen den Masnahmen im Bereich der Lebensmittelabfalle und jenen im Bereich der Lebensmittelsicherheit notwendig. Folgendes ist hierfur erforderlich: ein Abwagen zwischen wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen und dem Vorsorgeprinzip; eine Uberprufung der geltenden Vorschriften zur Lebensmittelsicherheit, um jene Bereiche zu identifizieren, die zu potenziell vermeidbaren Abfallen fuhren; eine Zusammenfuhrung der Uberwachung von Risiken fur die Lebensmittelsicherheit mit der Uberwachung von Abfallen entlang der landwirtschaftlichen Wertschopfungskette; eine Bereitstellung von masgeschneiderten Informationen uber die Zusammenhange zwischen Lebensmittelsicherheit und ‐abfallen sowie Investitionen in Technologien zur genauen Bewertung der Geniesbarkeit von Lebensmitteln. Die Richtlinien und die Praxis in der Lebensmittelkennzeichnung und ‐verpackung mussen beachtet werden, um sicherzustellen, dass sie nicht unbeabsichtigte oder unnotige Auswirkungen auf die Lebensmittelsicherheit und Lebensmittelabfalle haben, welche nicht durch wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse untermauert sind. La securite des aliments, qu'elle soit reelle ou percue, est l'une des principales causes du gaspillage alimentaire le long de la chaine d'approvisionnement agroalimentaire. Les dangers pour la securite sanitaire des aliments au niveau de l'exploitation, tels que la contamination des aliments pour animauxpar les mycotoxines, la surutilisation des antimicrobiens dans la lutte contre les maladies du betail et l'apparition de zoonoses peuvent rendre les aliments impropres a la consommation humaine, et donc entrainer leur gaspillage. Etant donne l'importance de la securite sanitaire, qui represente l'un des attributs les plus importants des aliments, une gestion appropriee des risques tout au long de la chaine d'approvisionnement peut contribuer a reduire les pertes et le gaspillage alimentaires. Cependant, une meilleure coordination entre les politiques visant le gaspillage alimentaire et les politiques de securite sanitaire est egalement necessaire, ce qui necessite: un equilibre entre les preuves scientifiques et le principe de precaution; revoir les reglementations actuelles en matiere de securite sanitaire des aliments pour identifier les domaines permettant d’eviter le gaspillage; combiner la surveillance des risques pour la securite et des gaspillages tout au long de la chaine agroalimentaire; la fourniture d'informations personnalisees sur les liens entre la securite sanitaire des aliments et le gaspillage; et l'investissement dans les technologies permettant d’evaluer avec precision la comestibilite des aliments. Il convient de preter attention aux politiques et pratiques en matiere d’etiquetage et d'emballage des aliments pour garantir qu'elles n'entrainent pas de consequences involontaires ou inutiles sur la securite sanitaire des aliments et le gaspillage, qui ne sont pas justifies par des preuves scientifiques.

Orphan crops are those crops that did not receive the same attention of the research community as in the case of staples such as wheat, maize, or rice despite their regional and nutritional importance. A relatively recent trend has been promoting their research to improve their productivity and resilience to environmental shocks. However, their impact on consumers’ nutrition has been analysed only considering the crops individually and not in the context of the diet. This is important because an increase in the consumption of one product may trigger changes in the other products that conform to the diet. The purpose of this paper is to assess the potential impact, in terms of food choices and nutrition, of increasing the consumption of orphan crops (represented by millet) in the Kenyan diet. This is carried out using a microeconomic-based methodology, which augments the original consumer problem with a constraint regarding the amount of the orphan crop on the diet. To compute the required elasticities for the method, three demand systems—i.e., for rural, less affluent urban, more affluent urban households—were estimated using the 2015–16 Kenyan Integrated Household Survey and the two-step approach to address the zero consumption for some food categories; the second step was modelled using the Linquad demand model. The results indicate that although the orphan crops have the capacity to improve some of the nutrients (e.g., vitamins and minerals), in net terms, as measured by the aggregated nutritional indicator the improvement is somewhat limited, the improvements occur in the rural and the less affluent population.

Known in the literature as underutilized, neglected or orphan crops, these crops have been cited as having the potential to improve food and nutritional security. The literature also highlights however that consumers in developing countries are increasingly abandoning their traditional diets that these crops are part of, and are replacing them by western diets. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the consumption and nutritional implications of expanding the participation of underutilized crops in current diets. This was done using a modified version of the microeconomic consumer problem. This was augmented with a linear constraint using generalized rationing theory that can be found in the economics literature. The method was applied to the case study of the consumption of millet (finger millet, botanical name: Eleusine coracana) by rural, urban-poor and urban-affluent Ugandan socioeconomic groups. The results indicated that millet could contribute to improving the intake of macronutrients and of some micronutrients, though the overall picture is complex. However, under current preferences and given its demand inelasticity, to achieve a substantial increase in the quantity of millet in the diet will require a significant reduction of its price. Otherwise, the net impact on nutrition as measured by the mean adequacy ratio will be only slightly positive for rural and urban-poor households. Our findings indicate that supply-side initiatives aimed at increasing the productivity of underutilized crops (reducing crop price) are likely to produce disappointing results in restoring their importance unless accompanied by specific interventions to expand demand. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40100-021-00206-3.

Understanding what influences the adoption of multiple sustainable farming practices, a concept we call adoption intensity, is critical to the sustainable development of our food system. Drawing on a survey of European farmers, and using structural equation modelling, we found dispositional influences important for adoption intensity at the farm-level but not as important for adoption intensity across all aspects of farm management. Productivity objectives were negatively associated with adoption intensity, but value chain support was positively associated, indicating the important role of the supply chain at the farm level. Participation in agri-environment schemes was not associated with farm-level adoption intensity but did have a positive association with adoption intensity in three farm management categories. These results have important implications for sustainable agricultural policy development and highlight the need to consider different incentives based on the scale of the change to be achieved.

Well-managed legume-based food systems are uniquely positioned to curtail theexistential challenge posed by climatechangethrough the significant contributionthat legumes can make toward limiting Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. Thispotential is enabled by the specific functional attributes offered only by legumes,which deliver multiple co-benefits through improved ecosystem functions, includingreduced farmland biodiversity loss, and better human-health and -nutrition provisioning.These three critical societal challenges are referred to collectively here as the“climate-biodiversity-nutrition nexus.” Despite the unparalleled potential of the provisionsoffered by legumes, this diverse crop group remains characterized as underutilizedthroughout Europe, and in many regions world-wide. This commentary highlightsthat integrated, diverse, legume-based, regenerative agricultural practices shouldbe allied with more-concerted action on ex-farm gate factors at appropriatebioregional scales.Also,thatthiscanbeachievedwhilstoptimizing production, safeguarding food-security, and minimizing additional land-use requirements. To helpavoid forfeiting the benefits of legume cultivation for system function, a specificand practical methodological and decision-aid framework is offered. This is basedupon the identification and management of sustainable-development indicators forlegume-based value chains, to help manage the key facilitative capacities anddependencies. Solving the wicked problems of the climate-biodiversity-nutrition nexus demands complex solutions and multiple benefits and this legume-focus must beallied with more-concerted policy action, including improved facilitation of the catalyticprovisions provided by collaborative capacity builders—to ensure that the knowledgenetworks are established, that there is unhindered information flow, and that newtransformative value-chain capacities and business models are established.

Since 2003, the Sustainable Control Of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) group have provided the UK sheep farming industry with guidance on ways to mitigate the development and dissemination of anthelmintic resistance (AR). However our empirical understanding of sheep farmers' influences towards such 'best practice' parasite control approaches is limited, and therefore requires further assessment and evaluation to identify the potential factors influencing their implementation. In 2015, a telephone questionnaire was conducted in order to elicit Scottish sheep farmers' attitudes and behaviours regarding the SCOPS recommended practices, as well as gauging farmers' general attitudes to gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN; term roundworm used in questionnaire) control. A quantitative structural equation modelling (SEM) approach was employed to determine the influences of socio-psychological factors and the uptake of individual anthelmintic resistance mitigating practices including: the implementation of a quarantine strategy for parasite control and the use of parasite diagnostic testing for monitoring faecal egg counts (FEC) and detecting AR. The proposed models established a good fit with the observed data and explained 61%, 54% and 27% of the variance in the adoption of AR testing, FEC monitoring, and quarantine behaviours respectively. The results presented highlight a number of consistent and distinct factors significantly influencing the implementation of selected SCOPS recommended practices. The negative influences of topography and farmer experience was frequently demonstrated in relation to multiple GIN control practices, as well as the positive influences of social norms, worm control knowledge, AR risk perception and positive attitudes to the services provided by the veterinary profession. Factors that were shown to have the greatest relative effects on individual parasite control practices included: the perceived expectation of others (i.e. Social norms) for implementing a quarantine strategy, farmer's suspicions to the presence of AR on the holding for instigating AR testing and the confirmation of AR for adopting FEC monitoring. Determining the influences of behaviour-specific factors on farmers' decision making processes will help to identify and address positive and negative influences concerning implementation of AR mitigating practices, as well as contribute to the development of more evidence based intervention strategies in the future.

Dairy is a key investment sector for the Government of Malawi. On 1 October 2016, the Malawi Revenue Authority announced that milk, which until then had been exempted from value added tax (VAT), was going to be taxed at the standard rate of 16.5 percent. The measure has been met with strong opposition and thus, was short lived (eliminated in May 2017). The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of the effect that such a tax would have on its incidence, on the different stages of the supply chain, and ultimately on its economic and social sustainability. The paper investigates these implications by developing a multimarket model applied to the Malawian dairy supply chain. The results indicate that 24.3 percent of the VAT revenues would be borne by consumers and the remaining 75.7 percent would be borne by the domestic dairy industry (i.e., processors and smallholder farmers). This was due mainly to the value of the price elasticity of consumers&rsquo, demand for pasteurised milk. The results highlight the vulnerability of inclusive value chains to economic policies that may affect consumers&rsquo, demand.

Intensive agriculture and meat-based westernized diets have brought a heavy environmental burden to the planet. Legumes, or pulses, are members of the large Fabaceae (Leguminosae) family, which comprise about 5% of all plant species. They are ancient crops whose popularity both for farmers and consumers has gonethrough several stages of acceptance, and in recent years, legumes have regained their luster. This is due to a global understanding that: (1) farming systems need to promote biodiversity, (2) biological nitrogen fixation is an important tool to reduce the application of external chemical inputs, namely in the form of nitrogen fertil- izers, and that (3) plant-based foods have fewer adverse environmental effects per unit weight, per serving, per unit of energy, or per protein weight than do animal source foods, across various environmental indicators. Legumes play a key role in answering these three global challenges and are pivotal actors in the diversification and sustainable intensification of agriculture, particularly in light of new and urgent challenges such as climate change. In this chapter, we showcase the importance of legumes as contemporary agents of change, whose impacts start in the field, but then branch out into competitive global economies, modernized societies, and ultimately, improved food security and human health.

This Deliverable describes the Project Legacy Plan (version I) of the TRUE-Project. It formally details how the various products developed from TRUE-Projectactivities will be manged and coordinated to ensure project impact legacy beyond the funded project term. To improve this aim the bulk of this document present a highly detailed series of vignettes that capturea wide range of perspectives from the exercise of, 'considering legumes in context'. Going forward, the TRUE-Project’s implementation plans will be developed based on these insights. Also, delivered collectively, they are expected to encourage transition from current conventional food- and feed-networks, to those which are legume-based and more sustainable.

This Deliverable report presents the impact of key factors influencing decision making of farmers and consumers to uptake legume cultivation and, respectively, the choice to include legumes into diets. Results provide guidance on determinants of positive behavioural change towards legume inclusion. Farmer and consumer analyses are based on survey data for the UK farmers and consumers, and findings are discussed comparatively in the context of European production and consumption and main factors potentially influencing behaviours and trends. The report informs how we may operate more effectively to affect behavioural change positively towards legume inclusion.

Intensive agriculture and meat-based westernized diets have brought a heavy environmental burden to the planet. Legumes, or pulses, are members of the large Fabaceae (Leguminosae) family, which comprise about 5% of all plant species. They are ancient crops whose popularity both for farmers and consumers has gone through several stages of acceptance, and in recent years, legumes have regained their luster. This is due to a global understanding that: (1) farming systems need to promote biodiversity, (2) biological nitrogen fixation is an important tool to reduce the application of external chemical inputs, namely in the form of nitrogen fertilizers, and that (3) plant-based foods have fewer adverse environmental effects per unit weight, per serving, per unit of energy, or per protein weight than do animal source foods, across various environmental indicators. Legumes play a key role in answering these three global challenges and are pivotal actors in the diversification and sustainable intensification of agriculture, particularly in light of new and urgent challenges such as climate change. In this chapter, we showcase the importance of legumes as contemporary agents of change, whose impacts start in the field, but then branch out into competitive global economies, modernized societies, and ultimately, improved food security and human health.

This research analyses the impact that the level of understanding of date marking (among other influences) has on the food waste behaviour of consumers in the European Union focusing on a comparison between European Union countries. The data were extracted from the Dataset Flash Eurobarometer 425: Food waste and date marking (European Commission in Flash eurobarometer 425: food waste and date marking, European Commission, Brussels, 2015) and structural equation models to estimate the strength of these influences on behaviour. The results show that socio-demographics (age; education; occupation); behavioural control (perceptions regarding the need for better and clearer information about ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ date labelling on food products; frequency of checking date labels when shopping and preparing meals); and understanding of ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ labels have significant effects on behaviours related to lower food waste (use of senses instead of labels to decide whether to eat or throw away food e.g., non-perishable foods from own kitchen cupboard with no ‘best before’ date indicated on the label which were not bought recently; or food products which must be used within a certain number of days after opening and are past that; and the need for ‘best before’ dates on non-perishable foods, such as rice, pasta, coffee or tea). The stated understanding of date labelling is a key influence in all models and explains a consistent fifth (ceteris paribus) of the variance in behaviour.

From analysing trade and infrastructures, a map has beenproduced detailing legume food supply chains. Rooted in project case studies and the Legume Innovation Network (LIN) workshops, the analysis will cover both conventional and organic production. Production, location, processing, actors, infrastructure, products, prices and markets have been analysed, including the institutional framework of the quality chains. The results have been compiled into thisreport, whichdetails the current and futureEU market-pull for legumes used as food, and it includesa map of infrastructure for processing and trade.

In the context of national and cross-national efforts to reduce the quantity of food wasted by consumers, there is growing interest in the role of date labelling. Recent proposals by policy makers and the food industry to address dairy product waste have included streamlining date-label application and encouraging the use of best-before dates where possible. In order for these measures to have a positive impact on food waste, consumers must not only know the difference between date types, but also be prepared to act on this information and consume products after the best-before date. Through a survey of 548 Scottish consumers we investigated the relationship between product type, date type, reduced labels and willingness to consume (WTC) dairy products in relation to the both the best-before date and the use-by date. We also examined the factors associated with different levels of WTC products in relation to the best-before date including knowledge, risk perceptions and trust. Our results suggest that on their own, the effect on food waste of applying best-before dates to dairy is likely to be small. In order for such changes to be effective, consumer communication that goes beyond improving expiry-date knowledge and addresses the multifaceted nature of related risk perceptions and conceptions of date-label trust will be required.

Food waste is recognised as being one of the major global challenges in achieving a sustainable future. Currently very little is known about how much food is wasted in primary production. This study uses a qualitative approach to examine farmers’ views on food waste and losses occurring on soft fruit and vegetable farms. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 fruit and vegetable farmers in Scotland to gain information about 1) farmers’ attitudes to food waste, 2) how much food waste is generated on farms, 3) what are the causes of food waste, 4) what happens to the waste, and 5) what strategies can be used to reduce food waste on farms and add value to how waste is used. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse data from the interviews. This study revealed that farmers do not consider food waste to be an issue of primary concern and perceive food waste to be an intrinsic part of farming. Farmers do not routinely record waste and have difficulty in providing estimates for food waste and losses. Many of the causes of food waste identified in this study are due to factors further along the food supply chain, including cosmetic specifications by retailers, and a lack of processing facilities. Farmers expressed an interest in adding value to how food waste is used on their farms, but identified several barriers in relation to using food waste for energy production through anaerobic digestion.

In this paper, we assess the recent and anticipated changes on Scotland’s livestock-producing crofts, using a representative survey of Scottish farmers undertaken in 2013. We find that crofters are...

Increasing woodland area in the United Kingdom is strongly supported in policies, but there is evidence of low rates of new planting, infrequent uptake of farm forestry, and negative attitudes to woodland among farmers. Additionally, there is a wider context of increasing farm diversification, and a need for greater understanding of farmers' attitudes and behaviour related to afforestation. This paper uses a representative survey of Scottish farmers (survey year: 2013, respondents used in analysis: 1735) to compare farmers who intended to expand forestry in future and farmers with alternative combinations of intended and past behaviour in relation to forestry. Overall, we find that certain characteristics: already operating forestry, reporting types of non-farming activities, involvement in environmental schemes, having a high education level, having a relatively high number of employees, and being relatively recent entrants to holdings, were more frequently found among farmers intending to increase forestry in future than farmers described as ‘non-increasers’ who did not intend to increase forestry and also had not expanded it in the past. Farmers with these characteristics could be a useful focus in attempts to expand woodland at larger scales, and encouraging small-scale tree planting could be an effective policy approach.

The paper analyses the uptake of animal health and welfare technologies by livestock farmers focusing on the identification of different behavioral patterns occurring in subpopulations of farmers and the assessment of the effect socio-economic and attitudinal factors have on these patterns. The technologies of interest include new genomic technologies, animal electronic identification (EID) for farm management, cattle surveillance, welfare qualitative behavioral assessment, anaerobic digestion, pedometers or activity monitors to detect oestrus and increase fertility/conception, and webcams/smart phones/tablets for animal husbandry. We use latent class analysis modeling and cross-section survey data to construct typologies of farmers based on technological uptake and heterogeneous characteristics. Our results suggest that, while three fifths of the farmers are "non-adopters," a third is classified as "current adopters" of animal EID for farm management, and a twelfth as "future adopters" of either or more types of animal health and welfare technologies. Age, agricultural income, perceived difficulty to invest in new technologies, agri-environmental scheme membership, and frequency of access to information on animal EID for farm management and cattle surveillance through British Cattle Movement Service, are significant predictors of typology membership. The findings are policy relevant as they give quantitative evidence on the factors influencing technological uptake and, as such, help identify the most likely adopters and optimize the cost of targeting them. As information access was found to be among the factors influencing multiple technology adoption, policy instruments should include the provision of training as regards the implementation of technologies and their combined impact on farm. Farmers' adoption of interrelated innovations suggests the need to coordinate individual policies aimed at encouraging uptake of different technologies. As shown here, this would concern not only synchronizing animal health and welfare policies, but also their interaction with others such as agri-environmental ones. Moreover, the results show that animal health policies requiring regulatory compliance may lead to voluntary uptake of additional or complementary technologies which relate to not just meeting but exceeding standards of animal welfare and health practices.

Sources and quantities of milk loss in primary production are presented in this paper through an analysis of results from a 2018 survey. Responses from 43 dairy farms in Scotland showed that milk losses occurred due to withdrawal periods for veterinary treatment, parlor infrastructure, and lapses in management routine. A partial life cycle assessment detailed flows of milk from cow to farm gate and captured farm inputs such as imported feeds and fertilizers. Incidence of animal health events such as mastitis, that routinely lead to milk withdrawal were quantified alongside strategies carried out by farmers to reduce milk loss. Treatment for mastitis accounted for 76% of all milk withdrawal days and the remaining 24% stemmed from therapies for health events such as uterine disorders and lameness. Withdrawal periods for mastitis treatments averaged 4.5 days, with a mean incidence of 20% of cows in a herd. Across all farms, an average of 98.2% of total milk produced was sold, 0.66% was purposely retained, 0.55% was rejected due to antibiotic residues, 0.5% was lost from parlor to bulk tank infrastructure and a further 0.09% was rejected by the processor. Carbon footprints found greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions averaged 0.849 kg CO2e/kg across farms for the milking herd. A scenario of 20% fewer withdrawal days reduced GHG's on average by 0.6%. Additional mitigation was attained by reductions in milk loss from parlor infrastructure and the bulk tank, and this showed a 1% reduction in GHG emissions could be achieved through higher volumes of milk sales. Categorizing responses by management system type highlighted differences in proportional losses between all year round housed and conventional grazing regimes. The most predominant health disorder leading to milk withdrawal was mastitis, however losses due to other health events and parlor infrastructure were not insignificant on Scottish dairy farms.

Increased demand for protein rich nutrition and a limited land capacity combine to create a food supply issue which imposes greater dependence on phosphorus, required for yield maximization in crops for humans, and for animal feeds. To determine the technical and environmental efficiency of diverse milk production systems, this work evaluates the use of phosphorus (P), within confined, conventional grazing, and innovative dairy management regimes across two genetic merits of Holstein Friesian cows, by calculating annual farm gate P budgets and applying a series of common and novel data envelopment analysis (DEA) models. Efficiency results provide an insight into P effective dairy management systems as the DEA models consider P as an environmental pollutant as well as a non-renewable resource. We observe that dairy system efficiency differs, and can depend upon, model emphasis, whether it is the potential for losses to the environment, or the finite nature of P. DEA scores generated by pollutant focused models were wider ranging and, on average, higher for genetically improved animals within housed systems, consuming imported by-product feeds and exporting all manure. However, DEA models which considered P as a non-renewable resource presented a tighter range of efficiency scores across all management regimes and did not always favour cows of improved genetics. Divergent results arising from type of model applied generate questions concerning the importance of model emphasis and offer insight into the sustainability of P use within varied dairy systems.

This study contributes to the household food waste literature by helping us to understand the personal and social factors that influence our use of expiry-date labels on dairy products. It uses an extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model with the additional variables of habit and food waste attitudes as well as two upstream expiry-date behaviours, checking date labels in shops and checking date labels in the fridge. Data was collected from consumers in a two-stage survey. Results indicate that both intentions and habit had a relatively strong influence on behaviour, as did the upstream expiry-date behaviours of checking date labels in shops and checking date labels in the fridge. Attitudes, food waste attitudes, and social norms were all found to be associated with intentions whereas perceived behavioural control (PBC) was not found to be associated with either intentions of behaviour. These findings have implications for our understanding of behaviours associated with food waste and therefore for food waste reduction policy and communication efforts.

This repository contains a series of brochures promoting the work of the Land Economy, Environment and Society research group.

SUMMARYThe incursion of Bluetongue disease into the UK and elsewhere in Northern Europe in 2008 raised concerns about maintaining an appropriate level of preparedness for the encroachment of exotic diseases as circumstances and risks change. Consequently the Scottish government commissioned the present study to inform policy on the specific threat of Bluetongue virus 8 (BTV8) incursion into Scotland. An interdisciplinary expert panel, including BTV and midge experts, agreed a range of feasible BTV incursion scenarios, patterns of disease spread and specific control strategies. The study was primarily desk-based, applying quantitative methodologies with existing models, where possible, and utilizing data already held by different members of the project team. The most likely distribution of the disease was explored given Scotland's agricultural systems, unique landscape and climate. Epidemiological and economic models are integrated in an ex-ante cost-benefit appraisal of successful prevention of hypothetical BTV8 incursion into Scotland under various feasible incursion scenarios identified by the interdisciplinary panel. The costs of current public and private surveillance efforts are compared to the benefits of the avoided losses of potential disease outbreaks. These avoided losses included the direct costs of alternative vaccination, protection zone (PZ) strategies and their influence on other costs arising from an outbreak as predicted by the epidemiological model. Benefit-cost ratios were ranked within each incursion scenario to evaluate alternative strategies. In all incursion scenarios, the ranking indicated that a strategy, including 100% vaccination within a PZ set at Scottish counties along the England–Scotland border yielded the least benefit in terms of the extent of avoided outbreak losses (per unit cost). The economically optimal vaccination strategy was the scenario that employed 50% vaccination and all Scotland as a PZ. The results provide an indicator of how resources can best be targeted for an efficient ex-ante control strategy.

Nematode control in sheep, by strategic use of anthelmintics, is threatened by the emergence of roundworms populations that are resistant to one or more of the currently available drugs. In response to growing concerns of Anthelmintic Resistance (AR) development in UK sheep flocks, the Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) initiative was set up in 2003 in order to promote practical guidelines for producers and advisors. To facilitate the uptake of ‘best practice’ approaches to nematode management, a comprehensive understanding of the various factors influencing sheep farmers’ adoption of the SCOPS principles is required.A telephone survey of 400 Scottish sheep farmers was conducted to elicit attitudes regarding roundworm control, AR and ‘best practice’ recommendations. A quantitative statistical analysis approach using structural equation modelling was chosen to test the relationships between both observed and latent variables relating to general roundworm control beliefs. A model framework was developed to test the influence of socio-psychological factors on the uptake of sustainable (SCOPS) and known unsustainable (AR selective) roundworm control practices. The analysis identified eleven factors with significant influences on the adoption of SCOPS recommended practices and AR selective practices. Two models established a good fit with the observed data with each model explaining 54% and 47% of the variance in SCOPS and AR selective behaviours, respectively. The key influences toward the adoption of best practice parasite management, as well as demonstrating negative influences on employing AR selective practices were farmer’s base line understanding about roundworm control and confirmation about lack of anthelmintic efficacy in a flock. The findings suggest that improving farmers’ acceptance and uptake of diagnostic testing and improving underlying knowledge and awareness about nematode control may influence adoption of best practice behaviour.

The paper examines the impact of determinants on purchasing of eco-labelled products and waste separation for recycling in Cyprus and Sweden. The analysis uses logistic regression and Eurobarometer survey data. Results show that policy measures could be targeted to dealing with situational factors (e.g., availability of recycling services) (more so in Cyprus than in Sweden); improving access to trusted information sources and better targeting information (especially on environmental impacts of specific behaviours) to different population groups, e.g., by income and gender (in both Cyprus and Sweden); and improving labelling for ecological products (more so in Cyprus than in Sweden).

The paper analyses the impact that European Union citizens’ access to information on climate change has on their awareness of carbon capture and storage (CCS), perceived risks and benefits of using CCS and stated choice of preferred CCS options. We use a Eurobarometer dataset about awareness/acceptance of CCS and run structural equation models (SEM) for twelve EU countries with an average sample size of 1,100 observations per country. Results between the different countries are comparable and, alongside other determinants, access to information sources will significantly impact CCS awareness, perceived risk and benefits of CCS and preferences towards options of CCS.

The EU’s export refund policy has long been a source of controversy for its perceived impacts on third country markets. However, the EU Commission maintain that these concerns are largely historic as CAP reforms mean that export refunds are now used infrequently. The purpose of this article is therefore to assess the impacts of refunds in the wake of the 2003 reform of the CAP using two complementary analyses: first, an analysis using a computable general equilibrium model and second, two case studies to assess the potential impact of export refunds in selected African developing countries.

Agriculture across the globe needs to produce "more with less." Productivity should be increased in a sustainable manner so that the environment is not further degraded, management practices are both socially acceptable and economically favorable, and future generations are not disadvantaged. The objective of this paper was to compare the environmental efficiency of 2 divergent strains of Holstein-Friesian cows across 2 contrasting dairy management systems (grazing and nongrazing) over multiple years and so expose any genetic × environment (G × E) interaction. The models were an extension of the traditional efficiency analysis to account for undesirable outputs (pollutants), and estimate efficiency measures that allow for the asymmetric treatment of desirable outputs (i.e., milk production) and undesirable outputs. Two types of models were estimated, one considering production inputs (land, nitrogen fertilizers, feed, and cows) and the other not, thus allowing the assessment of the effect of inputs by comparing efficiency values and rankings between models. Each model type had 2 versions, one including 2 types of pollutants (greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen surplus) and the other 3 (greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen surplus, and phosphorus surplus). Significant differences were found between efficiency scores among the systems. Results indicated no G × E interaction; however, even though the select genetic merit herd consuming a diet with a higher proportion of concentrated feeds was most efficient in the majority of models, cows of the same genetic merit on higher forage diets could be just as efficient. Efficiency scores for the low forage groups were less variable from year to year, which reflected the uniformity of purchased concentrate feeds. The results also indicate that inputs play an important role in the measurement of environmental efficiency of dairy systems and that animal health variables (incidence of udder health disorders and body condition score) have a significant effect on the environmental efficiency of each dairy system. We conclude that traditional narrow measures of performance may not always distinguish dairy farming systems best fitted to future requirements.

A set of choice related interventions exist for ‘nudging’ individuals towards socially desirable behaviours. Conversely, regulation, which we refer as ‘budging’, implies a reduction in the choice-set for these individuals. We compare the voluntary adoption of water quality management techniques between farmers within a designated Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) with those outside the zone across Scotland. Divergent groups emerge towards the purpose of the regulation, responsibility towards water pollution issues and compliance towards the regulation. There were significantly higher levels of adoption of some voluntary water quality measures by members of the non-designated group. We argue that engagement with these farmers should not focus purely on the biophysical division under which they are designated but should include the range of attitudinal alignments should include across designations in order to change social norms. This would be an approach for raising the social capital of farmers within a community and engender long-term behavioural change.

The paper presents the damage under time dependent actions, fatigue, creep, corrosion for a railway bridge and a highway bridge. The first one is situated on the IV Pan-European Corridor, which crosses the Romanian territory. Although recently rebuilt, in the end of 80s, the bridge’s superstructure, made of decks with twin plain web girders, was in an unsatisfactory condition - loss of load bearing capacity and missing structural parts (strong corrosion and cracks). After the stress analysis and the fatigue verifications based on the Wöhler concept which were made in relation with the prescriptions of the Romanian standard SR 1911-1998, Swiss code 161 & SBB Richtlinie 2002 and the German code DS 805-2002, a life prediction analysis based on fracture mechanics principles was performed in order to evaluate the remaining fatigue life for this structure for the new traffic UIC conditions; in conclusion, the superstructure should be replaced. The highway bridge is the only crossing possibility over the Bistriţa River, parish Frânceşti, being an important element for the road infrastructure in the area. The current bridge was meant to be a temporary structure, but due to economic difficulties it wasn’t replaced. It does assure the clearance and safety according to the standards. Based on the technical situation of the existing bridge the replacement of this structure is a necessity. Taking into consideration the need of a simple technology, the limited construction height and a very short erection time, it leads in both cases to the necessity of a modular system with low costs. In this area of application the VFT-WIB® solution with its roots in the classical WIB composite structure was developed.

This type of connections was used from the beginning of the steel constructions and is very efficient in some typical cases. Connections with eye bars and pins were used initially in suspension bridges, cantilever truss girders and other structures. In modern steel structures this type of connection is often used in cases when simple solutions are necessary like scaffoldings, mobile structures, emergency bridges, etc, or cases in which a certain rotation (pin connection) is desired like structures on cables, chimney, cable stayed bridges and bowstring bridges. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, when the technology of foundation was not yet developed, engineers preferred the cantilever arrangement (known also as the Gerber system) to the continuous bridge, because it has favourable moments along its length and is not subjected to settlement stresses. It is important to mention that the cantilever truss girder is easier to analyse. However a cantilever arrangement requires special hinge connections and is less rigid than a continuous one. Some famous bridges have been built in this system. One of these structures of the past is the Traians bridge over the Mures in Arad, erected in 1910. The main cantilever truss has the following spans: L = 50,05 + 85,30 + 50,05 = 185,40 m. After two World Wars and other damages the bridge is still in operation for usual traffic - cars and tramways (with restrictions for trucks). The bridge is a historical monument of the engineering science and has a remarkable aesthetic aspect and an emblematical importance for the city of Arad. One of the aspects of the rehabilitation project is the analysis of the Gerber hinge which consists of lug plates and bolts in order to assure the movement of the suspended central part of the structure. These elements have to support the reaction force from all the loads on the bridge and they have a complex stress distribution. Due to the different events, the increasing of the traffic and traffic loads, the existence of cracks in these plates is possible and probable. The paper includes also the evaluation of the technical state of the bridge, stress evaluation based on 3D analysis, assessment of the remaining fatigue life.

Livestock production has been criticized for its effect on greenhouse gas emissions and policy makers are now supporting actions to reduce these impact. Voluntary adoption of these actions will be precluded by the farmer perception of the risks from a changing climate. We employ a latent class clustering approach to understand the heterogeneity within a sample of dairy farmers, based on 8 statements related to climate change risk. The majority of farmers are found to be 'confused moderates' who have no strong opinion towards the possible future impacts of climate change. Two further classes emerged, namely 'deniers' and 'risk perceivers'. We find that higher education levels have an influence on increasing risk perception, as does the intention to pass the farm onto another family member. Membership of agri-environmental schemes does not preclude awareness or acceptance of climate change risk, principally due to the lack of emphasis on greenhouse gas emissions within these schemes. In addition, use of social networks seems to be a significant factor in raising the profile of risk perception within farmer decision-making. We conclude that advisors and those engaging with the farming community must accommodate climate messages in their communication strategies. Furthermore, emphasis on the greenhouse gas benefits from adoption of agri-environmental schemes would seem to be an efficient vehicle for raising the risk profile of climate change and influence future uptake of Government and industry supported actions.

Although climate change is a major challenge facing the world today, a considerable proportion of the general public in the UK and other Western countries have been found to be sceptical of the issue. Given that livestock farming is a major contributor to climate change, this study explored the extent to which climate change scepticism prevailed among Scottish dairy farmers, the factors that affected their scepticism, and the lessons that could be derived for dealing with this challenge. According to Rahmstorf's (2004) typology of trend, risk and attribution scepticism, appropriate statements were developed and measured on Likert-type scales. The factors that affected these three categories of scepticism were identified by using a Structural Equation Modelling approach. The prevalence of trend and attribution scepticism was quite low among the farmers, but the prevalence of risk scepticism was considerably high. The extent of these scepticisms was significantly affected by farmers' age, economic status, education, experience with disease and pest infestations, use of media, contacts with agricultural extension consultants, environmental values, and economic values. The effects of these factors on scepticism and the directions of these effects were however different for the three categories of scepticism proposed by Rahmstorf. The theoretical and policy implications of these findings are discussed.

The paper analyses the impact of a priori determinants of biosecurity behaviour of farmers in Great Britain. We use a dataset collected through a stratified telephone survey of 900 cattle and sheep farmers in Great Britain (400 in England and a further 250 in Wales and Scotland respectively) which took place between 25 March 2010 and 18 June 2010. The survey was stratified by farm type, farm size and region. To test the influence of a priori determinants on biosecurity behaviour we used a behavioural economics method, structural equation modelling (SEM) with observed and latent variables. SEM is a statistical technique for testing and estimating causal relationships amongst variables, some of which may be latent using a combination of statistical data and qualitative causal assumptions. Thirteen latent variables were identified and extracted, expressing the behaviour and the underlying determining factors. The variables were: experience, economic factors, organic certification of farm, membership in a cattle/sheep health scheme, perceived usefulness of biosecurity information sources, knowledge about biosecurity measures, perceived importance of specific biosecurity strategies, perceived effect (on farm business in the past five years) of welfare/health regulation, perceived effect of severe outbreaks of animal diseases, attitudes towards livestock biosecurity, attitudes towards animal welfare, influence on decision to apply biosecurity measures and biosecurity behaviour. The SEM model applied on the Great Britain sample has an adequate fit according to the measures of absolute, incremental and parsimonious fit. The results suggest that farmers’ perceived importance of specific biosecurity strategies, organic certification of farm, knowledge about biosecurity measures, attitudes towards animal welfare, perceived usefulness of biosecurity information sources, perceived effect on business during the past five years of severe outbreaks of animal diseases, membership in a cattle/sheep health scheme, attitudes towards livestock biosecurity, influence on decision to apply biosecurity measures, experience and economic factors are significantly influencing behaviour (overall explaining 64% of the variance in behaviour). Three other models were run for the individual regions (England, Scotland and Wales). A smaller number of variables were included in each model to account for the smaller sample sizes. Results show lower but still high levels of variance explained for the individual models (about 40% for each country). The individual models’ results are consistent with those of the total sample model. The results might suggest that ways to achieve behavioural change could include ensuring increased access of farmers to biosecurity information and advice sources.

The Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 2 Programme was created to develop and implement an EU research and innovation policy for more sustainable and resource efficient agriculture, forestry, inland water and marine systems that supply European society with sufficient food, feed, biomass, and other raw materials, as well as ecosystems services, and support thriving rural and coastal livelihoods. The European Commission has established Societal Challenge Advisory Groups to provide consistent and consolidated advice - by way of opinions, recommendations and reports - on relevant research objectives and scientific, technological and innovation priorities for its strategic and annual work programmes. Our Societal Challenge 2 Advisory Group includes a wide range of members with remarkably rich and diverse backgrounds and affiliations, including researchers, academics, former policymakers - stakeholders covering the whole spectrum of relevant research and innovation domains. Our Advisory Group has met twice formally since our establishment in February 2016, and has used other opportunities for extensive discussion and engagement on the issues surrounding this Societal Challenge. We see Societal Challenge 2 as not only extremely important as a challenge in itself, but also strongly linked with other Societal Challenges such as health, demographic change and wellbeing, climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials, and inclusive, innovative and reflective societies in a changing world. And as the agriculture, forestry, fisheries and food sectors comprise a very large number of smaller businesses – themselves serving large scale processing and retail business sectors – there are strong links between our contribution and the input of groups advising on innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises, international cooperation, nanotechnologies, advanced materials and advanced manufacturing and processing. Our Advisory Group‘s first task has been to prepare this report to answer five specific questions posed by the Commission and provide input into the strategic programming cycle of the Work Programme for 2018-2020. We have identified some overriding strategic priorities, and backed those with the results of a more detailed analysis of the gaps that need to be addressed. And we highlight the cross-cutting nature of this programme and the importance of an integrated approach to maximise the overall impact of the current Horizon 2020 programme. We hope that the insights in this report may also assist in the identification and prioritisation of research needs and strengthen the Commission‘s strategic and impact-oriented approach in future years.

Dairy farming is an industry which could potentially mitigate a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions. However, perception and acceptance towards climate change is a significant barrier to voluntary adoption of best practice techniques. A number of countries have set targets for reducing emissions, of which Scotland has one of the most ambitious agendas. This paper presents results from an extensive survey of 540 dairy farmers, conducted in 2009, with the aim of understanding attitudes, values and intentions towards climate change. Only half of these farmers agreed that temperatures would rise in the future and this could significantly hinder adoption of voluntary measures to meet emissions targets. To explore this further a typology was developed on the responses to attitude and value statements, using principal components and cluster analysis methods. Six distinct types were found to exist which had a range of outlooks towards the impact of climate change in the future. However, five of the six types stated no intention to adopt practices which would reduce emissions. The typology approach supports diversified engagement strategies and a more innovation-led or resource maximisation view towards farming was expressed by several of these types. This may indicate that policy makers should focus on ‘win-win’ technologies as a means to effectively engage with these. However, a number of types were disengaged from the process which was driven by uncertainties towards projections for global warming and this needs to be addressed by both scientists and policy makers to ensure greater participation within the farming community.

Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ) were introduced in response to the Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC) which states that all EU countries must reduce the nitrate in drinking water to a maximum of 50 mg/l. Farmers within a designated NVZ must adhere to strict rules over the timing and application of nitrogen from organic and inorganic sources. In Scotland, four NVZ regions were designated in 2003, covering around 14% of the land area and affecting over 12,000 farmers. This paper outlines the results of a recent study to understand farmer activities in response to and attitudes towards NVZ regulations in Scotland. A telephone survey was administered, obtaining a response of 184 farmers, supplemented by four workshops held in each NVZ region. This explored, both quantitatively and qualitatively, farmer behaviour and attitudes. The bulk of farmers have made little capital investment since the 2003 designation. Few farmers have invested in increased slurry storage facilities, nor begun to transport more slurry off-farm, claiming to have had enough storage capacity before designation to cover the imposed closed period. Farmer attitudes indicate a mostly negative view towards the perceived environmental benefits, water management and compliance. This can be explained by a number of concerns raised by farmers towards the scientific basis for designations. Furthermore, farmers viewed the restrictions placed on farming practices within NVZs as too inflexible. Given the mostly sceptical perceptions demonstrated by the farmers we call for a more integrated approach to water management at the catchment level. There is a role for policy-makers to provide clearer information over the science and purpose of the designations and also to invest in the transfer of technologies, in particular N-use software which is specifically tailored to NVZ regulations. Also, critical to this would be the development of transparent indicators of water quality. This may start to embed nitrogen pollution impacts within the farmer's cultural framework of decision-making.

Romania has a highway network of approx. 154 000 km on which there are over 3300 bridges. The usual range of these bridges is situated in the field of medium spans and was dominated in the past by concrete bridges. At the same time more than 50 % of the total number of bridges is designed for the loading class I (Lorries A 13 tones, S 60 tonnes). For them the National Administration of Roads proposes (in a long term program – Romanian Highway Administration Report 2003) their rehabilitation and upgrading to Loading class E (Lorries A 30 tones, V 80 tonnes). The European RFCS project ECOBRIDGE or Demonstration of ECOnomical BRIDGE solutions based on innovative composite dowels and integrated abutments [1] started in 2010 and has the principal objective to continue the research, demonstration projects and accompanying measures for the promotion of knowledge gained by the two pilot projects: INTAB – “Economic and Durable Design of Composite Bridges with Integral Abutments”, 2005 – 2008 and PRECOBEAM – “Prefabricated Enduring Composite Beams based on Innovative Shear Transmission”, 2006 – 2009. The main conclusion of the two pilot projects was that the composite dowel strips combined with the integral structure concept find a wide application in bridges. The article presents the first Romanian proposed project for the European RFCS program in which the composite dowel strips together with integral abutments in terms of construction details and economic aspects are implemented.

Alongside Romania’s main focus direction of the past years regarding the transportation system, the motorways, which are part of the Pan-European corridors, the entire road network has to be considered. This is the case of the local road which crosses over the Bistriţa River, in the village Frâncesti, via a provisory bridge, used as permanent solution. The bridge does not ensure the safety of its passengers, nor the required clearance. The conducted expertise concluded that the structure must be replaced. The new bridge to be built was chosen to be part of the European research project ECOBRIDGE [1]. It is an three-spanned integral bridge using the VFT-WIB® technology for its superstructure. This technology referring to the German “Verbund-Fertigteil-Trager – Walztrager im Beton” or “prefabricated composite beam – filler beam” was introduced to the market in the last years. A key feature of the solution is the use of composite dowels for the steel-concrete connection. Important European research programs such as INTAB [2] or PRECOBEAM [3] have shown the use of such dowels is efficient and that VFT-WIB® is suitable to be used in case of integral bridges, combing the advantages of both technologies.

Bridges are of essential importance to the infrastructure; it is a fact that, in the last decades, composite bridges became a well-liked solution in many European countries as a cost-effective and aesthetic alternative to concrete bridges. Their competitiveness depends on several circumstances such as site conditions, local costs of material and staff and the contractor’s experience. Beside the classical solution, the new ones with efficient design, which follows the present tendency in bridges consisting in simplifying the structure as much as possible, consolidate the market position of the steel construction and steel producing industry. In the background of Europe’s transportation system renewal process, Romania is also passing through a development period of its transportation infrastructure. This is an opportunity for a country to develop efficient, economical and also modern projects, targeting towards obtaining sustainable systems in the end. Continuous shear connection using a cut steel strip is a solution for composite beams. The present paper presents a quick overview of the technical solution chosen for two of the structures from the Orastie – Sibiu motorway section – overpasses which use in the cross section prefabricated composite girders, applying composite dowels strips and VFT® technology. To prove the accuracy of the model, the bridge was submitted to several in-situ tests, which proved to be a success.

An important factor within Europe’s development process is the transportation system. The completion of the Pan-European corridors, as set in the early 90-ies, is also based on Romania’s motorway and railway system. Therefore investments in Romania’s transportation infrastructure are made. “Design and build” projects allow the implementation of efficient, economical and also modern structures. In case of the Orastie – Sibiu, lot 1 motorway section, with a length of 24,110 km, all bridges, summing 27 structures, are build using innovative and modern concepts. Twenty six of the bridges are integral structures with lengths up to 96,00 m, some of them in obliquity and 1 bridge is semi-integral having a length of 240,00 m. The present paper presents a quick overview of these structures and the chosen technical solutions: prestressed concrete girders with efficient material use - BFT®, prefabricated composite girders with composite dowels – VFT®, box bridges with precast slabs.