The Economic Value of Soil Quality under Alternative Management in the Canadian Prairies

Abstract

This paper describes a dynamic simulation model that integrates environmental and economic components of agricultural crop production systems to predict changes in soil quality and the concomitant impact on economic returns. The model is used to simulate crop yield, soil quality and economic performance of a conventional crop rotation and several alternative crop rotations in two contrasting environments in western Canada over a 50‐year period. This information is used to quantify the impact of the crop rotations on soil organic carbon (SOC) and the economic value of on‐site SOC changes. The estimated value of these impacts range from $0.20/t to $2.10/t of SOC/ha/yr.