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This paper addresses yield loss due to red deer (Cervus elaphus) grazing on permanent grasslands on three organic farms in SE Slovenia over two consecutive years. Deer graze on permanent grasslands throughout the year, but the resulting crop loss varies during the growing season. Accounting for three mowings, the quantitative yield loss due to deer grazing totalled 48–52%, or 3.9–4.3 t/ha. Deer had the highest consumption capacity in the spring (first mowing: yield loss of 1.7–1.9 t of air-dried hay/ha), and towards the end of the growing season, consumption decreased (third mowing: loss of 0.9 t/ha). A floristic inventory indicated low species diversity and production in permanent grasslands in SE Slovenia. The crude protein content in unprotected plots was generally greater than that in protected plots, but due to a large quantitative yield loss, the yield of crude protein and net energy for lactation on heavily grazed land were much lower than those on protected land in all mowings. The average additional cost per unit of heavily grazed area ranged from 182 to 344 EUR/ha, and the differences are the result of the different intensities of game grazing in individual locations and grassland production capacities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The market rent of agricultural land is appraised in administrative, juridical processes and litigation, for example, in the denationalization process. The Farmland and Forest Fund of the Republic of Slovenia is the biggest agricultural land leasor, thus its market rent price list represents a price level which forms the basis for the market rent price used by, for example, municipalities for renting municipal land. The price list for the market rent of the Farmland and Forest Fund of the Republic of Slovenia is used for valuers/appraisers and expert reports. The case presented shows the calculation of the market rent for agricultural land when the Farmland and Forest Fund of the Republic of Slovenia is one of the litigating parties in the process, and its price list for the market rent of agricultural land cannot be used as a reference. The biggest obstacle is obtaining objective and reliable data regarding supply and demand. A substantial improvement would be a better, more unified organization of digital with unified information systems support for establishing a database with buying and selling offers, as well as renting and letting of and. This would also enable data access for analyses of past periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural changes in farming present serious challenges on all levels from state level to the level of an individual farm. Rearrangement of a farm is one of these challenges. There are many factors influencing the decision for reorientation. In this contribution, a model for assessing potential of a farm for its transformation to a horticultural one is presented. The model takes in account criteria such as: natural resources, demographic, economic and social factors. Criteria selection, their structure and importance of their interrelations in the model are based on statistical data about farms, data gathered by survey research and expert group opinion. The model was developed with the DEX methodology, implemented by the program DEXi, and was critically evaluated on chosen set of farms. The added value of the approach is a transparent assessment picture of the potential of a farm as a vital support for making decision about its rearrangement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agri-environmental programme (AEP) is the European Union policy instrument used for the delivery of environmental services expected by the society, but societal expectations for these environmental services are insufficiently assessed. In order to realistically meet the expectations of AEP, this research utilises analytical hierarchy process based web survey to assess the importance that various societal stakeholders in the European countries of Slovenia and Croatia give to specific environmental services and to also identify the agricultural practices that have the greatest potential to realise the expectations that society values the most. All stakeholders (overall group) from Slovenia and Croatia ranked water quality and availability as the first most important environmental service, and reduction of pesticides as the most important agricultural practice to deliver societal expectations. The results indicate that there is similar demand for environmental services in these two countries that differ in their agricultural settings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aim of the research was to evaluate different methods of compensation payment, at the future dry detention reservoir for flood waters Brdnikova, based on the estimated economic impact of floods, which will allow the investor to make transparent decision on selecting a proper scheme. We prepared four compensation types: (a) a single payment, (b) annuity, (c) the payment after the loss event; and (d) the purchase of land. Calculated single payment is competitive to annuity for 40 years of land utilization. Annuity allows the investor to require from producers the fulfilment of agri-environmental conditions. The purchase of land requires a lot of financial resources. Payment upon the occurrence of a loss event provides the most realistic assessment is highly variable during the four decades. It brings additional obligations like restoration of agricultural land and neglects the drop in the value of land in the property market. This research offers a good starting point for preparing methodology for evaluation of compensation payments on a national level under the Water Act for damage on agricultural land as a consequence of building flood water dry detention reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]