The importance of capital and labour in animal production

Technical development in animal production, as in agricultural production in general has a twofold function. The first is to substitute capital for human labour, and the second is to gain a higher yield per animal unit. Especially in animal production carried on with hired labour, the production fac...

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Main Author: N. Westermarck
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Scientific Agricultural Society of Finland 1971-09-01
Series:Agricultural and Food Science
Online Access:https://journal.fi/afs/article/view/71794
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author N. Westermarck
author_facet N. Westermarck
author_sort N. Westermarck
collection DOAJ
description Technical development in animal production, as in agricultural production in general has a twofold function. The first is to substitute capital for human labour, and the second is to gain a higher yield per animal unit. Especially in animal production carried on with hired labour, the production factor capital is substituting the production factor labour at an accelerated rate. In animal husbandry the capital investment in relation to the labour input on modern family farms is, on an average, less than the capital investment in crop husbandry. At the same time it appears also that on the smaller farms the compared values lie closer to each other, while increasing size of farms leads to a much greater increase of capital investment in crop husbandry than in animal husbandry. The need of capital occurs for two different purposes: for investments and circulating capital. The need of circulating capital in relation to the amount of sales (gross return) is 21/2 times greater in milk and beef production than in pork or egg production. In relation to the need of investment capital the demand for circulating capital is particularly great in beef and pork production. The high demand for circulating capital in pork production in relation to the labour input is connected with, among others, the continuous need of large replacements. At a given labour input the capital investment in relation to sales is considerably higher in milk production than in pork production, while egg production occupies an intermediate position.
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spelling doaj.art-99fe410fcf874160b5b7b683b7b8293c2022-12-22T02:56:44ZengScientific Agricultural Society of FinlandAgricultural and Food Science1459-60671795-18951971-09-0143310.23986/afsci.71794The importance of capital and labour in animal productionN. Westermarck0University of Helsinki, Department of Agricultural EconomicsTechnical development in animal production, as in agricultural production in general has a twofold function. The first is to substitute capital for human labour, and the second is to gain a higher yield per animal unit. Especially in animal production carried on with hired labour, the production factor capital is substituting the production factor labour at an accelerated rate. In animal husbandry the capital investment in relation to the labour input on modern family farms is, on an average, less than the capital investment in crop husbandry. At the same time it appears also that on the smaller farms the compared values lie closer to each other, while increasing size of farms leads to a much greater increase of capital investment in crop husbandry than in animal husbandry. The need of capital occurs for two different purposes: for investments and circulating capital. The need of circulating capital in relation to the amount of sales (gross return) is 21/2 times greater in milk and beef production than in pork or egg production. In relation to the need of investment capital the demand for circulating capital is particularly great in beef and pork production. The high demand for circulating capital in pork production in relation to the labour input is connected with, among others, the continuous need of large replacements. At a given labour input the capital investment in relation to sales is considerably higher in milk production than in pork production, while egg production occupies an intermediate position.https://journal.fi/afs/article/view/71794
spellingShingle N. Westermarck
The importance of capital and labour in animal production
Agricultural and Food Science
title The importance of capital and labour in animal production
title_full The importance of capital and labour in animal production
title_fullStr The importance of capital and labour in animal production
title_full_unstemmed The importance of capital and labour in animal production
title_short The importance of capital and labour in animal production
title_sort importance of capital and labour in animal production
url https://journal.fi/afs/article/view/71794
work_keys_str_mv AT nwestermarck theimportanceofcapitalandlabourinanimalproduction
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