IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/aaea26/404744.html

Environmental Change and Land Markets: The Capitalization of Woody Encroachment into Agricultural Land Values

Author

Listed:
  • Lindamood, Jackson
  • Sampson, Gabriel

Abstract

Woody encroachment is a pressing land management challenge in grassland systems, impacting forage production, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. This study combines surveys of landowners and agricultural stakeholders with a hedonic price analysis of agricultural land sales and satellite-derived woody cover in Kansas to assess the economic implications of woody encroachment. Survey results indicate that high control costs, labor constraints, and difficulties prioritizing treatment areas are leading challenges to controlling woody encroachment. We find that participation in training and financial assistance programs is low, largely due to limited awareness, uncertainty about eligibility, and program complexity. Hedonic price model results show that increases in woody cover are associated with higher agricultural land values, with a one-percentage-point increase corresponding to an increase of $9–$27 per acre. These findings underscore the need for policies that lower control costs, clarify eligibility, and simplify participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Lindamood, Jackson & Sampson, Gabriel, 2026. "Environmental Change and Land Markets: The Capitalization of Woody Encroachment into Agricultural Land Values," 2026 Annual Meeting, July 26 - 28, 2026, Kansas City, Missouri 404744, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea26:404744
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.404744
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/404744/files/177672_191815_115232_AAEA_upload.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.404744?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Allison Borchers & Jennifer Ifft & Todd Kuethe, 2014. "Linking the Price of Agricultural Land to Use Values and Amenities," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1307-1320.
    2. Charles Towe & Zhenshan Chen, 2023. "The Impact of Recreational Homes on Agricultural Land Use," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 99(1), pages 17-37.
    3. Eric C. Edwards & Nathan P. Hendricks & Gabriel S. Sampson, 2025. "The capitalization of property rights to groundwater," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 107(2), pages 390-410, March.
    4. Bastian, Chris T. & McLeod, Donald M. & Germino, Matthew J. & Reiners, William A. & Blasko, Benedict J., 2002. "Environmental amenities and agricultural land values: a hedonic model using geographic information systems data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 337-349, March.
    5. Sampson, Gabriel S. & Aguilar, Jonathan & Baldwin, Carolyn & Davidson, Jeffrey & Mehl, Heidi, 2024. "Water Management and Information Gaps in the High Plains Aquifer," Journal of the ASFMRA, American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, vol. 2024, January.
    6. Justice Tei Mensah & Katarina Elofsson, 2017. "An Empirical Analysis of Hunting Lease Pricing and Value of Game in Sweden," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 93(2), pages 292-308.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lautrup, M. & Panduro, T.E. & Olsen, J.V. & Pedersen, M.F. & Jacobsen, J.B., 2023. "Is there more to trees than timber? Estimating the private amenity value of forests using a hedonic land model for combined agricultural properties," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    2. Friederike Lehn & Enno Bahrs, 2018. "Land-Use Competition or Compatibility between Nature Conservation and Agriculture? The Impact of Protected Areas on German Standard Farmland Values," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-20, April.
    3. Yerushalmi, Erez, 2018. "Using Water Allocation in Israel as a Proxy for Imputing the Value of Agricultural Amenities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 12-20.
    4. Chun-Chang Lee & Yi-Xin Chen & Yun-Ling Wu & Wen-Chih Yeh & Chih-Min Liang, 2020. "Multilevel Analysis of the Pressure of Agricultural Land Conversion, Degree of Urbanization and Agricultural Land Prices in Taiwan," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-21, November.
    5. Allan, Corey & Kerr, Suzi & Owen, Sally, 2020. "Over-valued or over-looked? A theoretical and empirical investigation of agricultural land values against profitability in Aotearoa New Zealand," Working Paper Series 21087, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Economics and Finance.
    6. Maksuda Mannaf & Sarah Ann Wheeler & Alec Zuo, 2025. "Comparing the Value of Natural Capital in South Australian Farmland Using Market Sales and Assessed Valuation," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 69(3), pages 540-555, July.
    7. Lehn, Friederike & Bahrs, Enno, 2018. "Analysis of factors influencing standard farmland values with regard to stronger interventions in the German farmland market," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 138-146.
    8. Ariel Ortiz‐Bobea, 2020. "The Role of Nonfarm Influences in Ricardian Estimates of Climate Change Impacts on US Agriculture," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(3), pages 934-959, May.
    9. Clayton, Helena & Hingee, Kassel L. & Chancellor, Will & Lindenmayer, David & van Dijk, Albert & Vardon, Michael & Boult, Chris, 2024. "Private benefits of natural capital on farms across an endangered ecoregion," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    10. Ritter, Matthias & Hüttel, Silke & Odening, Martin & Seifert, Stefan, 2020. "Revisiting the relationship between land price and parcel size in agriculture," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    11. Stillman, Steven, 2005. "Examining Changes in the Value of Rural Land in New Zealand between 1989 and 2003," Motu Working Papers 292895, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    12. Natalya Presman & Tanya Suhoy, 2024. "How have government housing programs affected developers' bids in Israel Land Authority land tenders?," Bank of Israel Working Papers 2024.08, Bank of Israel.
    13. Junfeng Zhang & Anlu Zhang & Min Song, 2020. "Ecological Benefit Spillover and Ecological Financial Transfer of Cultivated Land Protection in River Basins: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-20, August.
    14. Qenani-Petrela, Eivis & Noel, Jay E. & Mastin, Thomas, 2007. "A Benefit Transfer Approach to the Estimation of Agro-Ecosystems Services Benefits: A Case Study of Kern County, California," Research Project Reports 121605, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California Institute for the Study of Specialty Crops.
    15. Isabelle Reginster & Florence Goffette-Nagot, 2005. "Urban Environmental Quality in Two Belgian Cities, Evaluated on the Basis of Residential Choices and GIS Data," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(6), pages 1067-1090, June.
    16. Li, Xin, 2016. "The Farmland Valuation Revisited," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 4(2), pages 1-14, April.
    17. Mollard, A. & Rambonilaza, M. & Vollet, D., 2004. "Market structure and environmental amenities in hedonic pricing of rural cottages," Working Papers 200427, Grenoble Applied Economics Laboratory (GAEL).
    18. Scott N Lieske & Ryan van den Nouwelant & Jung Hoon Han & Christopher Pettit, 2021. "A novel hedonic price modelling approach for estimating the impact of transportation infrastructure on property prices," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(1), pages 182-202, January.
    19. Callahan, Scott & Ifft, Jennifer & Michaud, Clayton P., 2022. "The impact of countercyclical farm programs on agricultural land values," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322579, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    20. Bigelow, Daniel P. & Kuethe, Todd, 2023. "The impact of preferential farmland taxation on local public finances," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:aaea26:404744. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaeaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.