VALUE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN DAIRY FARMING: THE CASE OF ROBOTIC MILKING

The economic value of the innovation robotic milking systems (AMS) is examined for Swedish dairy operations. A mixed integer mathematical programming model, considering crops, calving distribution, seasonality and capacity constraints of the AMS system, is developed. The marginal value of increasing the capacity of the AMS unit is found to amount to 40-60% of the milk revenues per cow.Technology innovations, Dairy systems, Livestock Production/Industries, Q12,

Cost-effective farm-level nitrogen abatement in the presence of environmental and economic risk

Abstract This paper evaluates the consequences of considering environmental and economic risk in the analysis of cost-effective nitrogen abatement options in crop production. A farmlevel mathematical programming model incorporating nitrogen leaching variability, field time variability, yield variability, and output price variability is developed. The empirical results reveal that requiring a high reliability with respect to a desired abatement target can be extremely costly, due to the high variability of nitrogen emissions. It appears to be sufficient to reduce average nitrogen load in order to reduce the environmental risk associated with nitrogen leaching variability, since a change to crops with lower average load also results in lower variability of nitrogen emissions. A farmer's degree of risk aversion has some effect on the economically optimal choice of crop mix. However, it is more important to consider the utilisation of machinery and labour resources and crop rotation effects, than considering risk aversion

Modelling Agricultural Production Systems using Mathematical Programming

This thesis focuses on the economics of changing farm-level production practices. It is recognised that many decisions made in a firm or a market are interrelated. Economic analyses aiming at predicting behaviour or recommending on alternatives for action need to account for these relations, otherwise the results and prescriptions will be misleading. In each of the four articles a mathematical programming model of an agricultural production system is developed, and empirical analyses are performed using Swedish data. The first article analyses aggregate effects of on-farm potato processing, utilising a partial equilibrium framework. An analysis of the Swedish potato market shows that, in more densely populated regions, on-farm processing is a part of a socially optimal industry structure. Increased import competition results in a larger share of domestic potatoes being processed at the farm-level. In article II, alternative tillage systems for grain production are evaluated. A mathematical programming model with simultaneous selection of crop rotation, machinery investments and scheduling of tillage and drilling operations is developed, utilising discrete stochastic programming to model field time variability. The empirical results show that a tillage system characterised by lower machinery capital and labour requirements may be as profitable as a conventional system. The model from article II is further developed in article III and IV. Article III recognises that policy measures aiming at reducing nitrogen leaching from crop production often have indirect effects. As an example, the empirical results show that subsidies to catch crops and spring ploughing provide an incentive to increase the area of spring crops, such that these subsidies may increase rather than reduce nitrogen emissions. In article III it is also concluded that cost-effective nitrogen abatement requires a mix of various adjustments of production practices, rather than a focus on a few measures. Article IV analyses whether it is necessary to account for environmental and economic risk when analysing measures to reduce nitrogen leaching in crop production. Considering environmental risk increases abatement costs. However, it appears that the benefits from explicitly accounting for nitrogen leaching variability (environmental risk) in the model are rather small, since the majority of the environmental risk is non-diversifiable. The benefits from including economic risk associated with income variability see

Cost-Effective Farm-Level Nitrogen Abatement in the Presence of Environmental and Economic Risk

This paper evaluates the consequences of considering environmental and economic risk in the analysis of cost-effective nitrogen abatement options in crop production. A farm-level mathematical programming model incorporating nitrogen leaching variability, field time variability, yield variability, and output price variability is developed. The empirical results reveal that requiring a high reliability with respect to a desired abatement target can be extremely costly, due to the high variability of nitrogen emissions. It appears to be sufficient to reduce average nitrogen load in order to reduce the environmental risk associated with nitrogen leaching variability, since a change to crops with lower average load also results in lower variability of nitrogen emissions. A farmer's degree of risk aversion has some effect on the economically optimal choice of crop mix. However, it is more important to consider the utilisation of machinery and labour resources and crop rotation effects, than considering risk aversion

The economics of on-farm processing: model development and an empirical analysis

Recent trends in the developments of the Common Agricultural Policy suggest an increasing attention towards rural development issues. On-farm processing may offer an alternative for diversification, income generation and rural development in the event of increasingly deregulated agricultural markets. In this study, the economics of on-farm processing for the case of the Swedish potato industry is examined. An interregional partial equilibrium model is developed. Various stages of the potato marketing chain are explicitly mbdelled. It is empirically demonstrated that, in some regions, on-farm processing is a part of a socially optimal industry structure. Furthermore, it is shown that on-fmm processors are more robust towards import competition than bulk product producers. Hence, the results support the notion that small scale processing may contribute towards satisfying some of the objectives of an effective rural development agenda. Published by Elsevier Science B.V

VALUE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN DAIRY FARMING: THE CASE OF ROBOTIC MILKING

The economic value of the innovation robotic milking systems (AMS) is examined for Swedish dairy operations. A mixed integer mathematical programming model, considering crops, calving distribution, seasonality and capacity constraints of the AMS system, is developed. The marginal value of increasing the capacity of the AMS unit is found to amount to 40-60% of the milk revenues per cow