Economic and environmental benefits from growing winter wheat in the Prairie Provinces: a bioeconomic approach

• Author / Creator

  Solano-Rivera, Catalina

• Winter wheat fields provide upland nesting habitat for migrating birds. Duck nests built in winter wheat croplands experience lower probabilities of nest mortality due to farming practices compared to nests built in spring wheat croplands. Two dynamic optimization models are specified in order to measure economic (producer’s profit) and environmental benefits (mallard population) derived from increases in winter wheat acreage in the Prairies. The first model, maximizes the farmer’s revenue due to spring and winter wheat production, subject to mallard population dynamics. The second model uses a social planner point of view to maximize both the farmer’s revenue obtained from wheat production, and social benefit associated with mallard population. The connection between duck population and winter wheat is specified using a logistic growth function where the intrinsic growth rate is a function of winter wheat acreage, and carrying capacity sets the maximum numbers of ducks in a specific area.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Bioeconomic models
  • Winter wheat
  • Mallard population

• Graduation date

  Fall 2009

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R39D2J

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.