Farmers' perception of co-ordinating institutions in agri-environmental measures-The example of peatland management for the provision of public goods on a landscape scale

Effective agri-environmental management of peatlands requires co-ordinated implementation action beyond that on a farm level due to the ecological functioning of the water system at the watershed level. We assess how farmers perceive different co-ordinating institutions and which farm and farmers' characteristics determine differences in the perception. We consider different institutions facilitating farm co-operation: a governmental and a more horizontal one. We apply a quantitative data analysis from a questionnaire survey including a discrete choice experiment on the willingness of peatland farmers to participate in a hypothetical agrienvironmental measure targeted at climate-friendly peatland management. Results show that preferences differ across farm types and farmers' characteristics. We find that part-time farmers and those without formal agricultural training perceive support for co-operation as beneficial, while more professional farmers (full-time, with formal agricultural training and receiving professional advice) tend to reject support for co-operation. Additionally, which institution offers support for co-operation matters. While we do not find a general pattern for or against an institution, the preferences differ across farm types and farmers' characteristics, i.e. the professionalization.