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,

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

Total factor productivity change of Swiss dairy farms in the mountain region in the period 1999 to 2008

In the present contribution we assess the total factor productivity (TFP) change in the period 1999-2008 of Swiss dairy farms located in the mountain region using the Malmquist productivity index. We furthermore analyze the robustness of the results of this assessment to the effect of the type of panel used and to different modelling options regarding the inclusion of the ecological and ethological direct payments in the output set. The yearly TFP growth is shown to vary between + 1.3% and + 3.0% depending on the panel type and modelling option chosen. The results of our work suggest that the TFP growth rate of Swiss dairy farms in the mountain region is not lower than the levels observed in the dairy sector of other European countries. More generally, our investigation shows how sensitive the results of TFP change assessments are to data-related methodological choices and thus highlights the necessity of considering this issue when performing such assessments.Changement de la productivité totale des facteurs des exploitations laitières suisses en région de montagne sur la période 1999 à 2008 Dans la présente contribution, nous quantifions le changement de la productivité totale des facteurs (PTF) des exploitations laitières suisses de la région de montagne sur la période 1999-2008 en utilisant l’indice de productivité de Malmquist. Nous analysons par ailleurs la robustesse des résultats de cette quantification à l’effet du type de panel utilisé et de différentes options de modélisation relatives à l’inclusion des paiements directs écologiques et éthologiques dans le set des outputs. La croissance annuelle de la PTF est montrée varier entre + 1,3% et + 3,0% selon le type de panel et l’option de modélisation choisis. Les résultats de notre travail suggèrent que le taux de croissance de la PTF des exploitations laitières suisses en région de montagne n’est pas inférieur aux niveaux observés dans le secteur laitier d’autres pays européens. D’une façon plus générale, notre étude montre combien les résultats de mesure du changement de la PTF sont sensibles aux choix méthodologiques associés aux données utilisées et souligne ainsi la nécessité de considérer ce problème lors de la conduite de telles analyses.Jan Pierrick, Lips Markus, Dumondel Michel. Total factor productivity change of Swiss dairy farms in the mountain region in the period 1999 to 2008. In: Revue d’études en Agriculture et Environnement, Vol. 93, N°3, 2012. pp. 273-298

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

ISSN:0948-3349ISSN:1614-750

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