Conservation credit: Motivating landowners to implement soil conservation practices through property tax credi

Agricultural conservation policy has come under close scrutiny in recent years. Some argue present policy has not provided adequate coordination of agricultural programs and has failed to establish programs which provide landowners with the incentives to protect the soil and water resources. According to national surveys, soil erosion continues to be a serious problem in spite of considerable amounts of time and money expended on the conservation effort. Current agricultural practice continues to present a serious environmental threat to soil and water resources.;This research looked at a property tax credit approach (conservation credit) as an alternative to existing conservation programs for providing landowners with an incentive to operate their land in an environmentally sound manner. The conservation credit study rewarded landowners with a property tax credit if they controlled soil erosion on all of their cropland.;This study found that the conservation credit approach motivated landowners to install and maintain erosion control practices on their cropland. After program implementation, the percent of cropland protected from erosion increased from 49.8 to 85.6 percent in the treatment area. Average annual soil loss was reduced from 11.1 to 3.1 tons/hectare/year. This compared to no significant change in the control area.;Landowners were surveyed during the study and reported positive beliefs about the conservation credit program. The most common responses were that the program was fair, the rules were clear, participation was easy, and a strong desire for the program to be controlled locally. Landowners also believed the property tax credit approach was a good way to get conservation practices applied. They strongly supported continuation of the program.;Analysis of survey results suggests three independent variable as being significant predictors of landowner participation in the conservation credit program. They include farm economic factors, conservation ethic of the landowners, and beliefs about the conservation credit program.;Results of this study indicated that administrative and technical assistance costs would be reasonable from the public's perspective.