Wei Zhang (Virginia Tech)
Agricultural conservation programs have been implemented worldwide to mitigate environmental externalities from agricultural production, yet their broader public benefits remain rarely quantified. We focus on the USDA Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), a primary U.S. conservation program targeting working agricultural lands. Our prior work examines the effects of EQIP on water quality and local housing markets, while ongoing research investigates its consequences for air quality and infant health. Linking administrative data on EQIP conservation practices and payments with fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations and natality records at the county level, we find that higher EQIP payments within 50 miles are associated with lower PM2.5 exposure and improved infant health outcomes. A one-standard-deviation increase in EQIP payments, approximately $1 million in 2015 dollars, reduces PM2.5 concentrations by 0.05 µg/m3 and lowers the incidence of low birth weight and preterm birth by 0.58 and 0.53 per 1,000 births, respectively. Estimates based on upwind EQIP payments are similar, reducing concerns that the results are driven by local confounding trends. The infant-health benefits are larger in the Midwest and in counties designated as nonattainment areas under federal air-quality standards, suggesting that the health benefits of agricultural conservation depend on local agricultural and environmental conditions. Taken together, our research shows that agricultural conservation can generate measurable public benefits and that these benefits should be incorporated into the evaluation and design of agricultural conservation programs.