The influence of agricultural support on sale prices of french farmland: a comparison of different subsidies, accounting for the role of environmental and land regulations

We investigate the determinants of agricultural land price in several regions in France over the period 1994-2011 using individual plots transaction data, with a particular emphasis on agricultural subsidies and nitrate zoning regulations. We found a positive but relatively small capitalisation effect of the total subsidies per hectare. We found evidence that agricultural subsidies capitalised at least to some extent. However, the magnitude of such a capitalisation depends on the region considered, on the type of subsidy considered, and on the location of the plot in a nitrate surplus zone or not. Only land set-aside premiums significantly capitalise into land price, while single farm payments have a significant positive capitalisation impact only for plots located in a nitrate surplus zone.