The introduction of legume-based crop rotations: an impact assessment on cereal cropping farms in Finland

Figures & data

Table 1. Pre-crop values for each crop combination are based on Peltonen-Sainio et al. (2019). Pre-crop value means the yield effect inherited from the preceding crop, e.g. 3.0% higher yield of spring wheat realizes if winter wheat was the preceding crop in the same field parcel, compared to the case when the same crop is repeated in the field parcel.

Color shades indicate the level of pre-crop effects, with dark blue representing the highest value and dark red representing the lowest.

Table 2. Parameter values applied in numerical analysis. Sources: Crop prices are the average farm gate prices of crops in Finland over 2017–2020 and crop yields are the average yields observed in southwest Finland 2010–2020 (OFS, 2021). The average variable costs and subsidies of the crops specific to southsest Finland are derived from a recently updated version of a dynamic multi-regional sector model of Finnish agriculture (DREMFIA), (Lehtonen and Rämö 2022) which relies on validated approximations of the average use of inputs per crop in each region. Optimal pH, to be achieved by liming, and fungal disease losses, possible to be avoided by fungicide use, are based on Purola et al. (2018); Purola & Lehtonen (2020).

Crops	Yields Yi (kg/ha)	Subsidies Si (€/ha)	Prices Pi (€/ton)	Variable costs Vi (€/ha)	Optimal pH	Fungal disease losses (%)	Initial N use requirements (kg/ha)
Spring Wheat	2851	542.6	167.4	759.1	6.5	5.85	110
Winter Wheat	4385	542.6	167.4	759.1	6.5	5.85	140
Feed barley	3848	542.6	150.3	736	6.1	6.35	90
Malting barley	3851	542.6	174.2	736	6.5	6.35	90
Oats	3893	542.6	160.4	769	6.1	0	90
Oilseed	1654	661.6	371.0	778.3	6.1	0	100
Setaside	–	467	–	244	–	–	0
NMF	–	567	–	264	–	–	0
Faba beans	2140	661.6	214.3	731.5	6.5	5.85	30

Table 3. Net Present Values (1000 euro per 100 ha) over 30 years, and the expected average profit per year.

		Without faba beans	With faba beans	Percentage difference between without and with faba beans
Baseline	NPV	390.0 (13.0)	394.2 (13.1)	1%
N fertilizer price increase by 30%	NPV	340.3 (11.3)	355.4 (11.8)	4%
30% increase faba bean price	NPV	390.0 (13.0)	429.8 (14.3)	10%
30% increase in N fertilizer and faba bean price	NPV	340.3 (11.3)	383.8 (12.8)	12%
10% increase in crop prices	NPV	482.3 (16.1)	473.8 (15.8)	2%
Increase in subsidies for faba beans by €100/ha	NPV	390.0 (13.0)	415.2 (13.8)	6%

Figure 1. Share of mean allocated land for 30 years, across all scenarios. (1) baseline, (2) ins_f = insert faba beans; (3) 1.3N_no_Fa = increase in N fertilizer price by 30% with no faba beans; (4) 1.3N_yes_Fa = increase in N fertilizer price by 30% including faba beans; (5) 1.3_fab = 30% increase in the price of faba beans by 30%; (6) 1.3_Fab&N = increase of faba beans and N fertilizer prices by 30%; (7) 1.1_prices_no_Fa = 10% increase in crop prices without faba beans; (8) 1.1_prices_yes_Fa = 10% increase in crop prices with faba beans; (9) Fa_subsidies = increase of faba bean subsidies by €100/ha.

Table 4. Average annual N fertilizer (kg/ha) use and crop yields (ton/ha) over 30 years.

	Winter wheat		Feed barley		Malting Barley		Oats		Oilseed		Faba bean		Tot N
	N kg	Yield	N	Yield	N	Yield	N	Yield	N	Yield	N	Yield
Baseline	159	5.80	98	4.70	95	4.39	98	4.84	92	1.55	NA	NA	542
ins_f	142	6.03	89	4.89	90	4.74	80	4.94	93	1.60	30	1.57	524
1.3N_no_Fa	136	5.63	79	4.51	80	4.25	85	4.68	69	1.44	NA	NA	449
1.3N_yes_Fa	106	5.86	78	4.75	78	4.47	66	4.78	70	1.48	30	1.55	428
1.3_fab	146	6.07	89	4.89	93	4.68	82	4.94	93	1.61	30	1.59	533
1.3_Fab&N	116	5.87	73	4.78	79	4.51	70	4.77	71	1.51	30	1.55	439
1.1_prices_no_Fa	168	5.58	104	4.79	101	4.51	103	4.90	99	1.58	NA	NA	575
1.1_prices_yes_Fa	151	6.17	89	5.05	99	4.79	89	5.04	100	1.64	30	1.53	558
Fa_subsidies	141	6.15	80	4.96	90	4.78	78	4.95	96	1.66	30	1.24	515

(1) baseline, (2) ins_f = insert faba beans; (3) 1.3N_no_Fa = increase in N fertilizer price by 30% with no faba beans; (4) 1.3N_yes_Fa = increase in N fertilizer price by 30% including faba beans; (5) 1.3_fab = 30% increase in the price of faba beans by 30%; (6) 1.3_Fab&N = increase of faba beans and N fertilizer prices by 30%; (7) 1.1_prices_no_Fa = 10% increase in crop prices without faba beans; (8) 1.1_prices_yes_Fa = 10% increase in crop prices with faba beans; (9) Fa_subsidies = increase of faba bean subsidies by €100/ha.

Table 5. Results on average annual total crop production volumes in tons per farm, assuming a farm size of 100 ha.

	Winter wheat	Feed barley	Malting Barley	Oats	Oilseed	Faba bean
Baseline	19.4	37.7	144.9	91.9	41.4	NA
ins_f	24.1	26.1	101.1	75.7	37.9	31.9
1.3N_no_Fa	16.9	31.6	143.2	92.0	38.5	NA
1.3N_yes_Fa	25.4	20.6	92.4	78.0	36.0	31.0
1.3_fab	42.5	21.2	102.9	67.5	36.0	32.8
1.3_Fab&N	27.4	23.9	90.2	74.7	34.7	33.6
1.1_prices_no_Fa	30.0	30.4	154.8	88.2	41.6	NA
1.1_prices_yes_Fa	37.0	20.2	108.7	67.2	37.7	32.2
Fa_subsidies	26.6	23.2	87.7	69.4	34.3	43.7

(1) baseline, (2) ins_f = insert faba beans; (3) 1.3N_no_Fa = increase in N fertilizer price by 30% with no faba beans; (4) 1.3N_yes_Fa = increase in N fertilizer price by 30% including faba beans; (5) 1.3_fab = 30% increase in the price of faba beans by 30%; (6) 1.3_Fab&N = increase of faba beans and N fertilizer prices by 30%; (7) 1.1_prices_no_Fa = 10% increase in crop prices without faba beans; (8) 1.1_prices_yes_Fa = 10% increase in crop prices with faba beans; (9) Fa_subsidies = increase of faba bean subsidies by €100/ha.

Table A1. Parameter values for nitrogen response functions Source: Purola et al. (2018).

Crop	$\theta$	$\beta$	$\hat{Y}$	$\hat{N}$
Winter wheat	–	0.0105	4385	140
Feed barley	–	0.0168	3848	90
Malting barley	–	0.0168	3851	90
Oats	–	0.0197	3893	90
Oilseed	9.82	–	1654	100

Peltonen-Sainio, P., Jauhiainen, L., Honkavaara, E., Wittke, S., Karjalainen, M., & Puttonen, E. (2019). Pre-crop values from satellite images for various previous and subsequent crop combinations. Frontiers in Plant Science, 10, 462. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2019.00462

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