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Pasture-Based versus Conventional Milk Production: Where Is the Profit?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Jeffrey Gillespie  and
Richard Nehring
Jeffrey Gillespie
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Richard Nehring
Affiliation:
Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC.
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Abstract

Costs and returns of pasture-based dairy production are compared with those of conventional production using matching samples. Both whole-farm and dairy enterprise-level estimates are made using the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Resource Management Survey data. Conventional farms are matched to pasture-based farms on the basis of operation scale, scope, region, and farmer demographics and adoption of technology. Results show for pasture-based production lower net farm income on per-cow, per-hundredweight milk produced, and total bases. On an enterprise basis, results show for pasture-based production, higher net return over operating cost and lower net return over total cost per hundredweight milk produced.

Keywords

farm managementmatching samplespasture-based dairyQ10Q12
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 46 , Issue 4 , November 2014 , pp. 543 - 558
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2014

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