STATE AND PERSPECTIVES IN COMPETITIVENESS OF ONE FARM TYPE IN SERBIA

In the paper is analyzed competitiveness of Serbian family dairy farms in lowland region in 2007, with some aspects of possible perspectives. Globalization process, expected EU integrations and set of free trade agreements will expose Serbian farms in close future to higher level of competition. Identified structural changes, refers on dairy farms concentration and specialization in lowland region in recent years. Estimated model of cost function revealed that family farms with bigger herd size have lower average costs of milk production. Economic efficiency, measured in terms of cost efficiency, shows that larger dairy farms are more efficient. But, not all smaller farms are inefficient. Due to good management some smaller farms are competitive on national market. Milk price volatility in period 2007 to 2009 hurts all farms, but the most farms with higher average costs, which are usually inefficient dairy farms.Competitiveness, Dairy enterprise, Dairy farm, Milk production, Serbia, Agribusiness, Livestock Production/Industries,

Nutrient Management Approaches and Tools for Dairy Farms in Australia and the U.S.

Nutrient surpluses in industrialized nations like the U.S. and Australia are causing problems on dairy farms and posing a threat to the rest of the environment. This paper discusses tools that dairy farmers can use to manage the excess nutrients while continuing to meet demands and profit. The authors suggest improvements in these tools that will not only quantify the amount of nutrient balances on dairy farms, but also identify opportunities for enhanced nutrient use and reduced nutrient losses.Nutrient Management Tools, Australian Dairy Farms, U.S. Dairy Farms, Confinement-based Dairy Operations, Grazing-based Diary Operations, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use,

Constraints of Milk Production: A Study on Cooperative and Non-cooperative Dairy Farms in West Bengal

The constraints that cooperative and non-cooperative dairy farms face in expanding milk production have been reported based on a field study on some cooperative and non-cooperative dairy farms in the state of West Bengal. The study has shown that non-cooperative farms face major constraints and high severity compared with cooperative farms in expanding milk production. Also important is that most of the severe or more severe constraints are infrastructural in nature. The study has suggested that for expanding milk production, the expansion of cooperative dairy farms other than non-cooperative dairy farms may overcome most of these difficulties.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Financial Performance of Organic Cattle Farming

FFI/ha on organic cattle rearing farms was 56% higher than on conventional farms due entirely to lower costs of production (€240/ha v €640/ha). However the organic farms were selected as monitor farms and therefore represent the better producers whilst the conventional farms were selected at random. Output and direct payments per ha were higher on conventional farms but not sufficient to cover the additional costs. Organic farms were 24% larger than conventional farms. Organic drystock cattle producers had a more viable socio-economic profile, whilst technical performance was higher on the conventional farms. Organic dairy farms had 7% higher farm income over conventional dairy farmers in 2007. However, these data are based on a small sample and should therefore be interpreted with caution

Adopting New Zealand Dairy Farm Principles and Practices in Argentina

The dairy sector is important to Argentina because it creates genuine wealth and employment. Milk production at competitive costs is crucial for the endurance of the Argentine dairy sector; therefore the development of competitive dairy farm systems is important for Argentina. New Zealand (hereafter NZ) dairy farm systems are internationally known for their competitiveness without the presence of subsidies. Though Argentine dairy farmers have been attracted to NZ systems for more than 40 years and despite the fact that the NZ knowledge appears to be beneficial to Argentine farms, NZ practices have been rarely adopted. This seemingly fruitless effort in extending this technology shapes the research question of the present study: Can Argentine dairy farmers benefit from adopting New Zealand dairy farm principles and practices? Seven Argentine dairy farmers were selected as case studies because of their awareness of NZ dairy systems; the research data was collected through interviews, farm physical and economic records, and field visits to the farms. Two frameworks were utilized to analyse the qualitative and quantitative data: the Diffusion Theory (Rogers, 2003) and the IFCN network (International Farm Comparison Network www.ifcnnetwork.org), respectively. Ten NZ innovations were defined; they were principles and practices considered typical in NZ dairy farms and not common in Argentine dairy farms. The innovations were related to four areas of the dairy system: pasture management, herd management & genetics, farm structure & organization, and human resources. The seven farmers selected differed in the level of adoption or rejection of the innovations. Results revealed that higher levels of adoption of NZ innovations by a group of Argentine dairy farms were associated with higher levels of Return on Investment; this was mainly due to a higher utilization of the main asset and most limiting production factor of Argentine and New Zealand dairy farms, the land.Argentine dairy farm systems, New Zealand innovations for Argentina, Argentine dairy industry, Argentine dairy systems, diffusion of innovations, adoption of innovations, Livestock Production/Industries,

Comparing productivity growth in conventional and grassland dairy farms

This paper analyzes technical efficiency and productivity growth of dairy farms in southern Germany. We compare the performance of farms operating on permanent grassland and conventional farms using fodder crops from arable land. Using a latent class stochastic frontier model, intensive and extensive production systems are identified for both types of farms. We estimate stochastic output distance functions to represent the production technology. TFP change is calculated and decomposed using a generalized Malmquist productivity index. Our results show that grassland farms can in general keep up with conventional farms. The productivity on intensive (extensive) grassland dairy farms grew by 1.15% (0.93%) per year, compared to 1.19% (intensive) and 1.0% (extensive) on conventional farms.productivity, dairy farming, stochastic frontier analysis, Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis,

Evaluation of animal welfare on organic dairy farms in Finland

The evaluation of animal welfare on organic dairy farms was carried out in connection with the first Finnish research study on animal healthcare and welfare in 1996 to 1998. 26 organic dairy farms took part in the research, including 20 tie-stall barns (332 cows) and 6 loose-housing systems (209 cows). Survey visits to the farms were conducted during early spring and autumn. Housing, feeding and health data was collected

Involvement of small-scale dairy farms in an industrial supply chain: When production standards meet farm diversity

In certain contexts, dairy firms are supplied by small-scale family farms. Firms provide a set of technical and economic recommendations meant to help farmers meet their requirements in terms of the quantity and quality of milk collected. This study analyzes how such recommendations may be adopted by studying six farms in Brazil. All farms are beneficiaries of the country's agrarian reforms, but they differ in terms of how they developed their activities, their resources and their milk collection objectives. First, we built a technical and economic benchmark farm based on recommendations from a dairy firm and farmer advisory institutions. Our analysis of the farms' practices and technical and economic results show that none of the farms in the sample apply all of the benchmark recommendations; however, all farms specialized in dairy production observe the main underlying principles with regard to feeding systems and breeding. The decisive factors in whether the benchmark is adopted and successfully implemented are (i) access to the supply chain when a farmer establishes his activity, (ii) a grasp of reproduction and forage production techniques and (iii) an understanding of dairy cattle feed dietary rationing principles. The technical problems observed in some cases impact the farms' dairy performance and cash position; this can lead to a process of disinvestment. This dynamic of farms facing production standards suggests that the diversity of specialized livestock farmers should be taken into account more effectively through advisory approaches that combine basic zootechnical training with assistance in planning farm activities over the short and medium term. (Résumé d'auteur

Nitrogen Turnover on Organic and Conventional Mixed Farms

Separate focus on crop fertilization or feeding practices inadequately describes nitrogen (N) loss from mixed dairy farms because of (1) interaction between animal and crop production and between the production system and the manager, and (2) uncertainties of herd N production and crop N utilization. Therefore a systems approach was used to study N turnover and N efficiency on 16 conventional and 14 organic private Danish farms with mixed animal (dairy) and crop production. There were significant differences in N surplus at the farm level (242 kg. N/ha. vs. 124 kg. N/ha. on conventional and organic dairy farms respectively) with a correlation between stocking rate and N surplus. N efficiency was calculated as the output of N in animal products divided by the net N import in fodder, manure and fertilizer. N turnover in herd and individual crops calculated on selected farms showed differences in organic and conventional crop N utilization. This is explained via a discussion of the rationality behind the current way of planning the optimum fertilizer application in conventional agriculture. The concept of marginal N efficiency is insufficient for correcting problems of N loss from dairy farms. Substantial reductions in N loss from conventional mixed dairy farms is probably unlikely without lower production intensity. The concept of mean farm unit N efficiency might be a way to describe the relation between production and N loss to facilitate regulation. This concept is linked to differing goals of agricultural development — i.e. intensification and separation vs. extensification and integration. It is discussed how studies in private farms — using organic farms as selected critical cases — can demonstrate possibilities for balancing production and environmental concern

Do the Largest Firms Grow and Diversify the Fastest? The Case of U.S. Dairies

We analyze growth and diversification of U.S. dairy farms by examining changes in ten size cohorts and new entrants through three successive censuses. We reject Gibrat’s law and the mean reversion hypothesis of growth. Growth rates appear bimodal where the smallest and largest farm cohorts grow fastest. All cohorts diversify but the largest farms do not diversify as rapidly as medium-sized farms. New entrants are generally large, and they diversify more rapidly than comparably-sized incumbents. These data suggest that scale economies persist even for the largest cohort of U.S. dairy farms and scale economies dominate scope economies for large farms.: census, dairy, diversification, growth, scale, scope