What are the preferences of Dairy Farmers regarding their Work? A Discrete Choice Experiment in the Eastern Part of Switzerland

The paper analyzes the preferences of dairy farmers with respect to their work by the means of a Discrete Choice experiment, which was carried out in the Eastern part of Switzerland. 304 dairy farmers, who intend to produce milk beyond the abolishment of the milk quota in 2009, were asked to choose between the status quo and alternatives consisting of several combinations with four attributes. The latter comprise work content, terms of employment, holiday per year and income per year. Using a probit model, the willingness to pay/accept is calculated. The results indicate that there is a strong preference to stay in dairy production. In order to achieve both, maintaining the level of utility and moving away from dairy production, an additional income (willingness to accept) per year of at least CHF 25’000.- would be necessary. The pre-ferences of dairy farmers show that differences between the alternative work contents like suckler cows husbandry, farming without livestock and work outside of agriculture are minor.discrete choice, preferences, work content, dairy farming, Labor and Human Capital, Land Economics/Use,

Endogenous adjusted Output Quotas - The Abolishment of the Raw Milk Quota in the European Union

This paper discusses an approach to implement output quotas in the GTAP model which permits an endogenous adjustment of both the supplied quantity and the quota rent. Since the quota rent is interpreted as additional earnings of the factors used no change of the worldwide GTAP data base is required. Several modifications of the GTAP model and two exogenous coefficients are necessary. Considering uncertain values of one of the coefficients, systematic sensitivity analysis is applied. The abolishment of the raw milk quota in the European Union would lead to a remarkable decrease in raw milk prices in most member countries. The raw milk production increases in Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands while it declines in Greece and Portugal. In the other member countries the raw milk production changes slightly.general equilibrium model, GTAP, output quota, raw milk production, sensitivity analysis, Agribusiness,

Repair and maintenance costs of hill-farm tractors and transporters for upland mechanisation

The annual repair and maintenance costs of two types of motorised agricultural machines for upland agriculture, hill-farm tractors (twoaxle mowers) and transporters, are estimated on the basis of crosssectional data. An aggregation leads to the accumulated repair and maintenance costs for the entire service life of the machines, expressed as a repair and maintenance factor (RMF). Given the strong influence of annual utilisation, a high annual utilisation combined with a short length of service leads to lower accumulated costs. While the RMFs of hill-farm tractors and transporters are similar, they are higher than those of standard 4-wheel drive tractors analysed in a similar study. This effect is especially relevant for low annual utilisation, as is the case for both machine types under current operating conditions in Switzerland. Accordingly, the assumption that the RMFs of hillfarm tractors and transporters are equivalent to those of standard 4- wheel drive tractors is not to be recommended

Success factors for farming collectives

As the most intensive form of partnership in agriculture, farming collectives (FCs) place high demands on their participants. Based on a census of Swiss farming collectives, three success indicators are formed. The first and second describe interpersonal and economic success respectively, whilst the third encompasses overall success. Factors influencing success are determined by means of multiple regressions. Five predictor variables (compatibility with co-operation partner, trust, information quality, attitude of social environment, and relationship/kinship circle of the cooperation partner) accounted for 44 per cent of the variance in interpersonal success. Economic success was far more difficult to explain (R2 = 0.11). Even so, the influence of “soft” factors, even on the economic success of a farming collective, is striking. Above all, trust and the human and structural compatibility of the cooperation partners play an important role for all three types of success. The co-operation agreement, agricultural consultation, the number of participating people on the farm, and the investments made may be ranked as less important than previously assumed.farming collective, economic satisfaction, interpersonal conflicts, Agribusiness,

Sustainable Value: an application to the Swiss dairy farms of the mountainous area

The improvement of the sustainable performance of the agricultural sector is a priority of the Swiss agricultural policy. The sustainability of Swiss dairy farms located in the mountainous area might be critical as many of them show a weak performance in the use of their economic and/or social resources, and sometimes also of their environmental resources. An improvement of the sustainability of these farms prerequisites to better know on a large scale their sustainable performance and its determinants. For a representative sample of 480 dairy farms, we perform an assessment of their sustainable efficiency with the “sustainable value”, an approach to assess corporate sustainability based on the capital and opportunity cost theories. Using a linear regression, we analyze the determinants of the sustainable efficiency. The results show a tight positive relationship between sustainable performance and pure economic performance. The intensity of the use of intermediate consumptions is found to be the most important determinant of the sustainable efficiency. Farms with a high sustainable efficiency are those that use their intermediate consumptions in the most efficient way. The part of direct payments in the gross profit is shown to negatively affect the sustainable efficiency. The structural characteristics of the farms and the sociologic characteristics of the farmer managers are shown to hardly influence the sustainable efficiency.corporate sustainable performance, dairy farms, Switzerland, Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries,

Characteristics associated with maltreatment types in children referred to a hospital protection team

Objective: The aim of this paper is to describe characteristics associated with maltreatment types in children referred to the child protection team at the University Children's Hospital Zürich. Since 2003, the child protection team has registered data on each case in a standardized form. Methods: To examine differences in gender, age, nationality, and socioeconomic status by type of maltreatment, regression analyses were conducted for the 1,484 cases that were referred from 2003 to 2006. Results: The most common types of referred maltreatment were sexual (38%) and physical maltreatment (31%) with mean ages of 8.4 and 7years, respectively. Compared to physical maltreatment, where gender distribution was equal, there was a higher risk for girls to become victims of sexual maltreatment. Younger children were at higher risk for neglect (mean age 5years). Low socioeconomic status increased the risk for physical as compared to sexual maltreatment. However, whether the child was of Swiss or of foreign nationality was not associated with an increased risk for any type of maltreatment when controlling for socioeconomic status. Conclusion: As this study is one of a few to analyze characteristics in child maltreatment referred to a hospital child protection team, further research is needed. To improve international comparability, thorough documentation of the cases is encourage

SIND BETRIEBSGEMEINSCHAFTEN WIRTSCHAFTLICHER ALS EINZELBETRIEBE?

The influence of farming collectives on income per annual work unit (AWU) is investigated by means of regressions for three types of farms with animal husbandry. The effects are relatively small, and turn out differently for the three farm types. Whereas the effect is negative for the dairy farms (-1200 CHF), collective farming in the case of combined dairying/arable-crop farms and combined pig/poultry farms leads to a higher income (+900 and +500 CHF, respectively). The latter two farm types are characterised by at least two important production branches, unlike the dairy farms, which have just one. The result for the dairy farms, however, does not call the farming collective into question as a growth opportunity. The usual scale effects that can be achieved by setting up a farming collective are markedly greater than the calculated influences on the income of the farming collectives. Gestützt auf Buchhaltungsergebnisse wird für drei Betriebstypen der Einfluss von Betriebsge-meinschaften auf das Einkommen pro Jahresarbeitseinheit (JAE) mittels Regressionen unter-sucht. Bei allen ist der Einfluss signifikant negativ und beträgt bei den Verkehrsmilchbetrie-ben CHF 11.000.-, bei den Verkehrsmilch-Ackerbaubetrieben CHF 8000.- und bei den Veredlungsbetrieben CHF 8600.-. Daraus lässt sich die Schlussfolgerung ziehen, dass Betriebsge-meinschaften im Quervergleich weniger wirtschaftlich sind als Einzelbetriebe. Bei allen Be-triebstypen wird deutlich, dass ein hoher Kapitaleinsatz pro Arbeitskraft einen positiven Ein-fluss auf das Einkommen hat.Betriebsgemeinschaft, Einzelbetrieb, Einkommen, Regression, Schweiz, Farming collectives, Income, Individual farm, Switzerland, Agribusiness, Farm Management,

The determinants of the performance of dairy smallholders in Malawi

Milk production in Malawi is stagnating although neighbouring countries steadily increase outputs. In this paper, we explored the determinants of the performance of dairy smallholders. As indicators of on-farm performance we used annual milk yield, calving intervals, and annual dairy income. Regression models revealed that milk yield was negatively related with farmer’s age, female farmer, and household size, but positively influenced by farmers’ experience. Calving intervals were strongly associated with labour costs and breeding method. Income from dairying was only associated with farmers’ education but varied strongly with region. Regional effects existed for all performance indicators which may partly be rooted in land scarcity in the south and the efforts of development agencies to promote dairying in the northern and central regions. Results also revealed a tendency for pure breeds to produce higher outputs, but crossbreeds due to lower costs provided better income. Thus, we recommend that experienced farmers become involved in extension programs to provide comprehensive services that help farmers make more efficient use of their scarce assets, and thus realise more of the animals’ genetic potential with regard to the three observed performance indicators

On the link between economic and environmental performance of Swiss dairy farms of the alpine area

Purpose: Promoting the economic and environmental performance of Swiss farms is a major objective of Swiss agricultural policy. In the present paper, we investigate the relationship between the economic and global environmental performance of the Swiss dairy farms in the alpine area. Methods: The analysis relies on a sample of 56 dairy farms from the Farm Accountancy Data Network, for which highly precise and comprehensive Life Cycle Assessments have been carried out. The work income per family work unit is used as indicator of the economic performance of a farm. The so-called global environmental performance of a farm is, for its part, measured by means of an eco-efficiency indicator for each environmental impact considered (demand for non-renewable energy resources, eutrophication potential, aquatic ecotoxicity potential, human toxicity potential and land use) and of an aggregate eco-efficiency indicator assessed using a Data Envelopment Analysis-based approach. The relationship between economic and global environmental performance is assessed by means of non-parametric Spearman's rank correlation analysis. Results: The results of the analysis reveal the existence of a positive relationship between economic and global environmental performance. This positive relationship exists for all environmental issues considered and thus also for the aggregate eco-efficiency indicator. Its strength, however, substantially varies from one issue to another. Conclusions: This study provides the evidence that there is no trade-off between economic and global environmental farm performance. When they improve their economic performance, farms also tend to improve their global environmental performance and vice versa. This finding is of central relevance for policy-makers as it should contribute to improving the acceptance among farmers of the environmental objectives of Swiss agricultural policy in terms of an increase in environmental resource use productivity. In this sense this work provides valuable insights into the sustainable performance of the Swiss dairy sector in the alpine are