LAUSR

Abstract Increasing attention on the relationship between agriculture and the environment has led governments to place new emphasis on Agri-environmental policies and organic agriculture to support farmers in developing innovative and sustainable management strategies. This paper aims at evaluating the environmental and economic effects of Organic Farming subsidies under the Rural Development Policy 2007–2013 programming period. To estimate policy impacts, a counterfactual approach has been carried out on a sample of farms located in one of the most important Italian regions as far as Organic Farming is concerned. A panel sample of FADN farms has been analyzed for years 2013–2015. The application of a non-parametric matching model and the Difference-in-Difference estimator are presented and the Average Treatment Effect on Treated is shown for some specific variables as the level of nitrogen and phosphorus used per hectare. The study gives evidence that environmental performance of Organic Farms is statistically higher than conventional ones, while the income indicators considered are not statistically different between the two groups.