Those who pay the full costs of production sometimes do not receive the benefits and conversely sometimes the amount paid does not cover the full costs of production. In agriculture, producers may not be compensated for soil conservation and therefore may not engage in the practice. As a result, for example, sloughs may be drained which remove habitat for wildlife. Thus many air, soil and water quality problems can be traced to market failure. Tension between agricultural producers and society in the use of the environment will increase unless the common property issue is resolved.
Common property implies that goods are essentially available for the taking.
No property rights are involved. A frequent prescription for overcoming the tendency to abuse public goods is privatization. This principle has application to agriculture with respect to land tenure. A substantial proportion of the land on the prairies is operated by tenants who hold either cash or share leases. Unless the person operating the land is credited with the value of any improvements made, there is little incentive to invest in long term measures such as soil conservation.