Determinants of technical efficiency among dairy farms in Wisconsin.

The US dairy sector is facing structural changes including a geographical shift in dairy production and a tendency toward the implementation of more intensive production systems. These changes might significantly affect farm efficiency, profitability, and the long-term economic sustainability of the dairy sector, especially in more traditional dairy production areas. Consequently, the goal of this study was to examine the effect of practices commonly used by dairy farmers and the effect of intensification on the performance of the farms. We used a sample of 273 Wisconsin dairy farms to estimate a stochastic production frontier simultaneously with a technical inefficiency model. The empirical analysis showed that at a commercial level the administration of bovine somatotropin hormone to lactating cows increased milk production. In addition, we found that production exhibits constant returns to scale and that farm efficiency is positively related to farm intensification, the level of contribution of family labor in the farm activities, the use of a total mixed ration feeding system, and milking frequency. Copyright 2010 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.