A Comparative Economic Analysis of Different Reproductive Management Strategies in Two Dairy Sheep Farms in Greece

Dimitra V. Liagka (), Antonis P. Politis, Maria Spilioti, Eleftherios Nellas, Panagiotis Simitzis and Konstantinos Tsiboukas
Additional contact information
Dimitra V. Liagka: Department of Animal Science, University of Thessaly, 41110 Larissa, Greece
Antonis P. Politis: Veterinary Faculty, University of Thessaly, 43100 Karditsa, Greece
Maria Spilioti: Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Agricultural University of Athens, 11855 Athens, Greece
Eleftherios Nellas: Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Agricultural University of Athens, 11855 Athens, Greece
Panagiotis Simitzis: Department of Animal Science, Agricultural University of Athens, 11855 Athens, Greece
Konstantinos Tsiboukas: Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Agricultural University of Athens, 11855 Athens, Greece

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-18

Abstract: The aim of this study was the economic comparison of two equivalent sheep farms with different reproductive management systems. Financial data were selected from a farm that applied artificial insemination (AI) and from one that applied natural mating (NM). The main objective of the analysis was to estimate the cost of each farm’s products and then to calculate their economic indicators. The AI farm had higher production costs, as a result of higher labor and fixed capital costs. On the other hand, the invested capital for the equipment and buildings of the NM farm was lower. Furthermore, the invested livestock capital based on the genetic value of the animals was higher in the AI farm. The AI farm produced milk, replacement ewe lambs and replacement ram lambs as its primary products, whereas the NM farm produced only milk as its primary product. The production costs for milk were 0.08 EUR/kg lower in the AI farm compared with the NM farm. The AI farm had a higher gross revenue and net and gross profit, resulting from the higher genetic value of the AI farm’s livestock. As indicated, the breeding and sale of genetically improved animals can increase the financial results of a farm and offer alternative sources of income. In conclusion, AI results in more sustainable and economically efficient sheep farming. In this regard, training for farmers and governmental economic support could promote AI application. Finally, the fortification of farmer group initiatives that facilitate the trade of dairy sheep products can accelerate AI utilization in dairy sheep farms in Greece.

Keywords: sheep; artificial insemination; natural mating; economic analysis; gross revenue; net profit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/7/719/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/7/719/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:7:p:719-:d:1622107

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().