ABSTRACT
The main objectives of agri-environmental programs are to reduce the threat to the environment associated with agriculture and to conserve nature and cultivated landscapes. Agri-environmental subsidies paid to Swedish farmers in 2003 amounted to 2,211 million SEK, corresponding to 25 percent of all direct payments to Swedish farms (Statistics Sweden 2004). The three largest programs, which together constitute approximately 80 percent of all agrienvironmental payments to Swedish farmers, are compensatory payments for measures related to conservation of grazing lands, management of open landscapes and organic production methods.
