Using Big Data to Evaluate Agro-environmental Policies

Sustainable management of agricultural landscapes is a goal widely shared by farmers, policy makers, and the general public. The aim is to maintain and improve food availability and quality while also maintaining and enhancing the natural resource base. These goals are evident in calls for “climate smart agriculture,” “sustainable intensification,” managing “agro-ecosystems” to enhance “ecosystem services,” and land use policies calling for “land sparing or land sharing” (Power, 2010; Phalan et al., 2011; Garnett et al., 2013; The World Bank, 2011 and 2014). To achieve such goals, we need better information, tools, opportunities, and incentives to make decisions that maintain and enhance water and air quality, soil health, biodiversity, and human quality of life now and in the future.