How do farmers manage crop biodiversity? A dynamic acreage model with productive feedback

Previous studies on the productive value of biodiversity have emphasised that crop diversity increases crop yields. Here, we focus on the management of crop biodiversity for wheat, winter barley and rapeseed productions. We introduce productive capacity of biodiversity into a structural dynamic model with supply, variable input demand and acreage functions. We estimate the model for a sample of French farms between 2007 and 2012. We highlight that biodiversity indicators influence the yield of crops and variable input uses. We find evidence that farmers manage their acreage to benefit from the productive capacity of crop biodiversity.