Pasture-Based Dairy Systems: Who Are the Producers and Are Their Operations More Profitable Than Conventional Dairies?

U.S. dairy operations are sorted via a multinomial logit model into three production systems - pasture-based, semi-pasture-based, and conventional. Region, farm size, financial situation, and production intensity measures impact system choice. Analysis follows to determine the impact of production s...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jeffrey M. Gillespie, Richard F. Nehring, Charles B. Hallahan, Carmen L. Sandretto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Western Agricultural Economics Association 2009-12-01
Series:Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/57630
Description
Summary:U.S. dairy operations are sorted via a multinomial logit model into three production systems - pasture-based, semi-pasture-based, and conventional. Region, farm size, financial situation, and production intensity measures impact system choice. Analysis follows to determine the impact of production system on enterprise profitability. Region, farm size, and demographic variables impact profitability, as does system choice - semi-pasture-based operations were less profitable than conventional operations on an enterprise, per hundredweight of milk produced basis. Significant differences were not found in the profitability of pasture-based operations versus those using other systems.
ISSN:1068-5502
2327-8285