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A Profitability Analysis of Dairy Feeding Systems in the Northeast

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Jonathan R. Winsten ,
Robert L. Parsons  and
Gregory D. Hanson
Jonathan R. Winsten
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at The Pennsylvania State University
Robert L. Parsons
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at The Pennsylvania State University
Gregory D. Hanson
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at The Pennsylvania State University
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Abstract

This study analyzes the use and profitability of three distinct feeding systems; confinement feeding, traditional grazing, and management-intensive grazing from a randomly selected sample of northeastern dairy farms. The confinement feeding farms were significantly larger and produced more milk per cow, while the farms using management-intensive grazing incurred the lowest production costs. Both confinement feeding and management-intensive grazing generated significantly higher rates of return to farm assets relative to farms using a mixed system. Multiple regression analysis confirms the critical importance of herd size, milk production per cow, debt level and veterinary expenses to farm profitability in all production systems.

Type
Articles
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , October 2000 , pp. 220 - 228
Copyright
Copyright © 2000 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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