Entrepreneurship in Dairy Cattle Sector: Key Features of Successful Administration and Management

Georgia Koutouzidou, Athanasios Ragkos (), Alexandros Theodoridis and Georgios Arsenos
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Georgia Koutouzidou: Hellenic Agricultural Organization-DIMITRA, Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources, 57001 Thermi Thessaloniki, Greece
Athanasios Ragkos: Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organization-DIMITRA, Ilisia, 11528 Athens, Greece
Alexandros Theodoridis: Laboratory of Livestock Production Economics, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Georgios Arsenos: Laboratory of Animal Husbandry, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: In this study, data envelopment analysis is applied to 47 dairy cattle farms to estimate their level of efficiency in the utilization of the available resources and to identify the most efficient ones. The analysis is based on technical and economic data collected through a farm management survey. The main structural and financial characteristics of the most efficient farms are presented, revealing the features that make them better than their peers. A comparative financial analysis is applied between the efficient and inefficient farms, highlighting the appropriate farm structure and determining the major cost drivers in modern dairy cattle farming. The results show that there is still room for improvement in intensive dairy farming. Dairy cattle farms must operate with increased variable cost and utilize their infrastructure at full capacity to decrease their fixed cost per cow. Farms should increase their economic resilience and be less risk averse in an environment where margins to lower production costs in highly intensive farms have been narrowed down. The findings of this study verify that dairy cattle farms of entrepreneurial mindset have the potential to rise to the future economic, environmental and social challenges that will affect the survival of the sector.

Keywords: efficiency; dairy cattle farms; management; financial analysis; production cost; feeding patterns (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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