Farmland abandonment has been a serious problem in marginal areas in Japan. One of the main disadvantages of farmland abandonment is the effects of negative externalities on the adjacent farmlands, such as increased insect damage, weed growth, and maintenance costs of common facilities. In this paper, an empirical application of a linear programming model is introduced, which can deal with unknown values of negative externalities caused by adjacent abandoned farmlands. The unit cost of externalities caused by farm abandonment is calculated through observed land use and farming practices. The optimized result is able to reproduce the observed land use pattern at a significant hitting ratio. By substituting calculated value into the model of current cropping plots, we can suggest the optimal land use plan for the limited labour input in the changing future. The farmland plots in the suggested land use plan are not scattered spatially, reflecting the effect of externalities.

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To develop a low-income region, the Brazilian Government will start a bio-diesel program in 2008. The government will provide castor beans, palm oil, sunflowers, cotton, peanuts, and soybean as the raw materials for bio-diesel production. Because of their favorable production costs and production levels, soybean have certain advantages over other crops in the production of bio-diesel. Our study is the first to evaluate the impact the Brazilian bio-diesel program will have on the domestic soybean and soybean products markets, by applying a newly developed world soybean and soybean products model. Our simulation suggests moderate impacts on the world soybean and soybean products markets.

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Despite widespread concern that fewer and fewer individuals wish to enter farming as a career, intergenerational succession remains an important objective for many farm businesses. Indeed, it can be argued that intergenerational transfer represents a fundamental aspect of the social sustainability of family farming. Previous research has frequently focused on the transfer of physical assets, while less attention has been devoted to the transfer of the intangible assets of the farm business such as managerial skills and farm-specific knowledge. This paper focuses on the succession process after a successor has been identified and analyses patterns of behaviour regarding the delegation of management responsibility. Data from the international comparative studies is used to compare the main routes to succession in four countries and identifies how different routes to succession can influence the delegation of managerial responsibility. In doing so, the paper reflects on the ‘farmer's boy' problem and considers the implications for the successful transfer and survivability of the farm business.

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