The economics of surface grading of peat soils in northern Norway

Abstract

Farmers in northern Norway have experienced frequent winter damages of grassland, especially on flat areas and peat soils. The use of open ditches and surface grading has become the common method to drain such fields and for reclaiming new land with such characteristics. We designate this as surface grading in this paper. An investment analysis is carried out to explore the profitability of this method. This analysis indicates that the method is profitable from the farmers’ point of view. However, the conclusions are sensitive to changes in crop yields and the value of the yields. The cost of a winter damage and thus an unplanned reseeding is high for young leys, but is small for leys approaching the optimal replacement age.

The economics of surface grading of peat soils in northern Norway