Animal Efficiency in an Intensive Beef Production System

Euan M. Fleming, Pauline Fleming, Heidi Rodgers, Garry R. Griffith and David Johnston

No 24673, 2005 International Congress, August 23-27, 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark from European Association of Agricultural Economists

Abstract: A stochastic input distance function is estimated to analyse the efficiency with which physical characteristics of individual lot-fed beef cattle in Australia are combined with conventional inputs to produce a final product possessing defined quality attributes. High mean technical efficiency estimates are reported for all animals and by breed. All partial output elasticities with respect to inputs are of expected sign. Of four outputs included in the analysis, carcass weight and moisture retention in meat after cooking have highly significant coefficients of expected sign, but two meat quality variables have coefficients of unexpected sign indicating that they decline as inputs increase. Some evidence is detected of scope economies between moisture retention in meat and the inverse of meat compression.

Keywords: Livestock; Production/Industries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 15
Date: 2005
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:eaae05:24673

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.24673

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