Broadacre farm productivity and profitability in south‐western Australia

This paper examines broadacre farm performance in south‐western Australia. This region has experienced pronounced climate variability and volatile commodity prices since the late 1990s. Relationships between productivity and profitability are explored using panel data from 47 farms in the study region. The data are analysed using nonparametric methods. By applying the Fare‐Primont index method, components of farm productivity and profitability are measured over the period 1998–2008. Growth in productivity is found to be the main contributor of profitability. Gains in efficiency and technical change are identified as jointly and similarly important in their contribution to total factor productivity for the farm sample in the region from 1998 to 2008. However, across environments, efficiency gains play an increasingly important role in influencing productivity as growing season rainfall increases. We conclude that R,D&E that delivers further improvement in technical efficiency and technical change is needed to support the profitability of farms across the study region.     

Productivity Growth in German Dairy Farming using a Flexible Modelling Approach

A random‐coefficients specification of an output distance function is used to measure and decompose productivity growth in German dairy farming. This specification can accommodate heterogeneity with respect to the technology employed by dairy farms, allowing for specialised and non‐specialised farms to be included in the analysis. The proposed modelling approach is favoured by the data when compared with the conventional translog specification of distance functions. The average total factor productivity growth rate for German dairy farms is estimated at 1.1%, with the technical progress component contributing most of this growth.     

Specialization,diversification, and productivity: a panel data analysis of rice farms in Korea

This article examines the microeconomics of productivity associated with specialization/diversification in production activities, with an application to Korean rice farms. Korean rice farms tend to be very small and highly specialized. Our analysis examines the productivity effects associated with both farm size and farm specialization/diversification in Korean agriculture. Relying on farm‐level panel data, the analysis studies farm productivity in a multi‐input multi‐output context, accounting not only for changes in inputs and technical change in rice production, but also for the role of diversification in the production of other crops in current and previous periods. We find positive but small productivity gains from farm diversification. These gains come mostly from complementarity effects across farm outputs, with minimal effect of scale economies. The positive complementarity effects work against nonconvexity effects, which provide strong productivity incentives for rice farms to specialize.     

Assessing the Impacts of Pillar 1 and 2 Subsidies on TFP in French Crop Farms

This article analyses the impact of common agricultural policy (CAP) subsidies on total factor productivity using a FADN dataset of French crop farms between 1996 and 2003. We first estimate a production function using a system GMM approach and then recover farm‐level total factor productivity (TFP). Further, the impact of Pillar 1 and 2 subsidies on TFP is investigated and results show that several subsidies have a negative impact on productivity during the period covered in the dataset. CAP reforms have also had an impact on the relationship between subsidies and productivity.     

典型家庭农场组织化程度对生产效率的影响分析

现阶段中国农业生产仍属于高投入、低效率的粗放模式,粮食安全缺乏可持续性.研究不同规模下不同组织形式的家庭农场生产效率,有助于揭示在中国农业高质量发展阶段中通过转变农业经营组织形式提高粮食生产效率,保障国家粮食安全的新路径.本文利用湖北武汉、安徽郎溪等地家庭农场的问卷调查数据,采用三阶段DEA方法比较纯种植与种养结合两类...     

我国大规模生猪养殖全要素生产率的动态演进及区域差异研究

[目的]随着我国大规模生猪养殖专业户和商品猪场数量比例逐年增加,对我国大规模生猪养殖全要素生产率进行分析,找出其提高方法,有利于推动我国大规模生猪养殖现代化进程。[方法]文章运用DEA-Malmquist指数和Kernel核密度估计以我国29个省(市、自治区)(除去西藏、宁夏)为研究对象,对2008—2017年我国大规模生猪养殖全要素生产率动态演进及区域差异进行分析。[结果]从整体层面分析,2008—2017年以来我国29个省(市、自治区)大规模生猪养殖全要素生产率整体平均TFP指数为0.995,年均下降0.5%,主要制约因素是技术进步缓慢,但两极分化情况得到有效控制;从区域层面分析,仅有重点发展区TFP上升,其余3个区域均有不同程度下降,其中除适度发展区其余两极分化情况得到有效控制。[结论]从整体层面要提升生猪产业整体科研创新能力,提高大规模生猪养殖高新技术的应用效率以及管理效率;从区域层面要针对不同区域资源禀赋、环境承载能力等因素实施差异化政策。     

Variations in Farm Performance in Transitional Economies: Evidence from the Czech Republic1

This paper revisits the literature on farm restructuring in the CEECs by analysing the variations in farm performance in the Czech Republic a decade after the start of the transition process. It identifies seven clusters of farms that differ in their productivity and profitability usng data from 1998 and 1999. The analysis reveals that the vast majority of farms are unprofitable, and there is no strong evidence that individual farms perform better than corporate farms. In fact, there are large numbers of individual farms that are loss‐making on their agricultural activity with low factor productivity. Producer co‐operatives and limited liability companies suffer from debts inherited from the reform process. Future restructuring is likely to occur in all clusters rather than affecting just corporate farms.     

Resource reallocation and its contribution to productivity growth in Australian broadacre agriculture

This article uses farm survey data to measure the contribution of cross‐farm resource reallocation to industry‐level productivity growth in Australian broadacre agriculture. We show that resource reallocation between farms mainly occurred between incumbent farms and between farms with different productivity growth. Resource reallocation is estimated to account for around half of the industry‐level productivity growth that occurred between 1978 and 2010, and its contribution appears to have increased over time. Moreover, we also show that resource reallocation effects vary across different inputs, partly due to their different mobility. This analysis improves our understanding of how reforms targeting structural adjustment – and the resource reallocation this generates – can influence aggregate productivity growth.     

Impacts of Norwegian Milk Quotas on Output Growth: A Modified Distance Function Approach

Quota regulations that prevent output expansion of farms and reallocation of output between farms can cause lower growth in output and productivity. The aim of this study was to explain the output growth rate of Norwegian dairy farms since 1976, and to decompose it into output, input, socioeconomic and technical change components. Instead of using the standard distance function approach for multi‐output technologies, we use a growth rate formulation, which automatically removes the farm‐specific effects. This formulation also helps to impose non‐negativity constraints on marginal products of inputs (input elasticities), which are often violated for many observations, especially when flexible functional forms are used. The farm‐level panel data cover three periods: before the quota scheme was introduced (1976–1982); the period with the most output‐restricting quota scheme (1983–1996); and the period with a more flexible quota scheme (from 1997 onwards). Results show that the milk quota regulations had a significant constraining effect on output growth, in particular on milk output in the period 1983–1996. Furthermore, the output mix has shifted towards meat production for the average farm. What emerges from this study is that output growth and technical change are negatively influenced by policy aims where productive performance has not been the primary objective, and that there is scope for increased farm growth if the quota regime is liberalised.     

Productivity and farm size in Australian agriculture: reinvestigating the returns to scale

A positive relationship between farm size and farm productivity is often considered to be largely due to increasing returns to scale in farm production. However, using farm‐level data for the Australian broadacre industry, we found that constant or mildly decreasing returns to scale is the more typical scenario. In this study, the marginal returns to various farm inputs are compared across farms with different sizes. We found that large farms achieved higher productivity by changing production technology rather than increasing scale alone. The results highlight the disparity between ‘returns to scale’ and ‘returns to size’ in the industry, suggesting that productivity improvement among smaller farms can be made through increasing their ability to access advanced technologies, rather than simply expanding their scale.     

环境规制对不同规模生猪养殖的影响研究基于“减排”和“增效”双重视角的考察

[目的]为检验环境规制在生猪养殖产业中是否实现了"减排"和"增效"的双赢。[方法]文章通过计量实证方法对2004—2017年中国生猪养殖的环境效率和绿色全要素生产率进行了测度,并分别考察了环境规制对生猪养殖的环境效率和绿色全要素生产率的影响。[结果]在样本考察期内,小规模、中规模、大规模生猪养殖的环境效率均值依次为0.938、0.965和0.952,且3个规模生猪养殖环境效率在时间上均呈现上升趋势。同时,在此期间小规模、中规模、大规模生猪养殖的绿色全要素生产率的年均增长速度依次为1.6%、1.1%和1.7%,均实现了较快速度增长。在小规模和大规模生猪养殖中,环境规制对生猪养殖的环境效率和绿色全要素生产率均有显著的正向影响,而在中规模生猪养殖中,环境规制对生猪养殖的环境效率和绿色全要素生产率均没有产生影响。[结论]环境规制对生猪养殖的环境效率和绿色全要素生产率均具有一定的促进作用,说明对生猪养殖而言,环境规制能够实现"降污"和"增效"的双赢,但这种现象更多的存在于小规模和大规模生猪养殖中。对于环境效率一直处在较高水平的中规模生猪养殖而言,环境规制对环境效率和绿色全要素生产率均没有影响。     

Challenging Small‐Scale Farming: A Non‐Parametric Analysis of the (Inverse) Relationship Between Farm Productivity and Farm Size in Burundi

We use a non‐parametric approach to investigate the (inverse) relationship between farm productivity and farm size. A kernel regression is used on data of mixed cropping systems to study the determinants of production including different factors that have been identified in literature as missing variables in the testing of the inverse relationship such as soil quality, location and household heterogeneity. Household data on farm activities and crop production were gathered from 640 households in 2007 in two Northern provinces of Burundi. Our results do not reject the findings of an inverse relationship between farm size and productivity. However, we find that size returns vary substantially with farm size, that is, between 0.2 for the smallest farms and 0.8 for the largest farms. Other factors that significantly affect production include soil quality. Finally, we find a significant positive association between food security and farm size.     

Deregulation reforms,resource reallocation and aggregate productivity growth in the Australian dairy industry

Deregulation reforms in the Australian dairy industry had long‐lasting repercussions for Australian agriculture and the wider Australian economy. Using farm‐level data from 1979 to 2013, we investigate the effect of these reforms on productivity in the Australian dairy industry which arose from correcting resource misallocation between farms and across segregated state milk markets. Our results demonstrate that after the dairy reforms in 2000, relative market share shifted from less productive farms to more productive ones, and between farms using different production systems – generating additional productivity gains for the farm sector, but imposing some costs on downstream manufacturers by strengthening the seasonality of milk supply. Lessons from the Australian experience provide timely guidance for those countries exploring deregulation now or in the future to improve the industry‐level agricultural productivity growth through facilitating resource reallocation from less efficient to more efficient farms.     

Examining the relationship between farm size and productive efficiency: a Bayesian directional distance function approach

Achieving sustainable food security and increased farm income will depend on how efficient production systems are in converting available inputs to produce outputs. Using data from Malawi, we estimate a Bayesian directional technology distance function to examine the relationship between farm size and technical efficiency. Our results support the existence of an inverse relationship between farm size and productive efficiency, where small farms are more efficient than large farms. On average, farms exhibit inefficiency levels of 60%, suggesting that productivity could be improved substantially. Improving productive efficiency and food security will require farms to operate in ways where the size of cultivated area is matched by nonland production inputs such as labor, fertilizer, and improved seeds. The results highlight the need for policies that could incentivize farmers to adopt productivity‐enhancing technologies and, where possible, to allocate excess land to lease markets.     

Analysing Production Technology and Risk in Organic and Conventional Dutch Arable Farming using Panel Data

This paper compares the production technology and production risk of organic and conventional arable farms in the Netherlands. Just–Pope production functions that explicitly account for output variability are estimated using panel data of Dutch organic and conventional farms. Prior investigation of the data indicates that within variation of output is significantly higher for organic farms, indicating that organic farms face more output variation than conventional farms. The estimation results indicate that in both types of farms, unobserved farm‐specific factors like management skills and soil quality are important in explaining output variability and production risk. The results further indicate that land has the highest elasticity of production for both farm types. Labour and other variable inputs have significant production elasticities in the case of conventional farms and other variable inputs in the case of organic farms. Manure and fertilisers are risk‐increasing inputs on organic farms and risk‐reducing inputs on conventional farms. Other variable inputs and labour are risk increasing on both farm types; capital and land are risk‐reducing inputs.     

Did the Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act Alter Farm Enterprise Diversification?

We estimate how much United States farms changed enterprise diversification in response to a marked increase in crop insurance coverage brought about by the 1994 Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act, which substantially increased insurance subsidies. The analysis exploits farm‐level panel census data to compare farm‐specific changes in enterprise diversification over time. By examining diversification decisions of the same farms over time, we control for time‐invariant unobserved individual heterogeneity. We then use pooled cross‐sectional data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Resource Management Survey to estimate the relationship between farm diversification and average returns. We find that the insurance subsidies caused a modest increase in enterprise specialisation and production efficiency. Estimated efficiency gains are far less than the subsidies.     

On the nature and magnitude of cost economies in hog production

In this article, we assess the impact of farm size on production cost and evaluate the marginal costs and margins by considering that input prices may change with the scale of production. By using French hog farm data, we estimate a system of equations including a feed price function, input demand functions, and an output supply function based on a technology approximated by a combined generalized Leontief‐Quadratic form. Our results suggest that the marginal costs are over‐estimated when the adjustment of the feed unit prices to a change in farm size is not controlled for. More specifically, the cost economies for large farms (enjoying the highest profits) arise primarily from lower feed prices, with technological scale economies having little impact. In contrast, farms with no hired labor exhibit technological scale economies and reach higher price‐cost margins compared to larger farms.     

Nonfarm employment,agricultural intensification,and productivity change: empirical findings from Uganda

This article uses panel data from the Living Standards Measurement Study‐Integrated Surveys on Agriculture for Uganda to assess the farm‐level effects of nonfarm employment on agricultural intensification and productivity change. A sample selection model is used to account for both unobserved heterogeneity and potential simultaneity between agricultural production and nonfarm income. Results show that nonfarm employment can have differential impacts on farm technology intensity and productivity. Nonfarm income is found to have a positive impact on farm hired labor and improved seed intensity; a negative effect on on‐farm family labor use; and no significant impact on fertilizer, soil water management, and joint use of farm technologies. The econometric evidence also indicates that agricultural productivity declines as nonfarm income increases. Taken together, our findings reveal important trade‐offs between nonfarm employment and income and farm productivity growth under smallholder agriculture. The results indicated that targeted policies are required to reduce these potential trade‐offs between nonfarm employment and agricultural intensification and productivity change.     

Financial Structure of Farm Businesses Under Imperfect Capital Markets

Recent finance studies have considered whether gaps between a firm's costs of internal and external sources of investment funds, arising from capital market imperfections, influence its investment behavior and funding preferences. This study tests the applicability of the pecking order and partial adjustment theories of financial structure to farm businesses by fitting a set of simultaneous financial equations with farm panel data from Illinois. Model results indicate that Illinois farms adjust to long-run financial targets for equity, debt, and leasing, but that additional financing needs follow a pecking order that is stronger for farms with greater asymmetric information problems.     

Scale Economies,Technical Efficiency,and the Sources of Total Factor Productivity Growth of Quebec Dairy Farms

Canada's average cost for milk production is among the highest in the world. This paper focuses on specific potential causes by estimating economies of scale and technical efficiency for a panel of Quebec dairy farms that spans the 2001–10 period. Additionally, this paper investigates the sources of total factor productivity growth. The stochastic frontier analysis, based on an input‐distance function, is used to estimate returns to scale relationships across dairy farms. The results show that there is significant economies scale to be exploited and that cost of production could also be reduced by improving technical efficiency. Accordingly, the paper indicates that input‐mix effect is the main source of total factor productivity growth. The results have important implications for Canada's supply management policy, and more specifically for the trading of production quota between dairy farmers, as well as for the delivery of targeted extension services.