The Effect of Collaboration between Cattle Farms on the Labour Requirement and Machinery Costs

✍ Scribed by Villy Nielsen

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 118 KB
• Volume: 72
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8634
• DOI: 10.1006/jaer.1998.0363

✦ Synopsis

Danish farming is based on the principle of freeholding, but interest in alternative types of ownership is increasing, one of the reasons being the high labour pressure on small farms in particular, where each family has to carry out the work on their own. Moreover, the initial capital investment is high, and earnings are often low.

In a study of six milk-producing farms, the potential benefits of joint ownership were examined for field work and for livestock operations. On the establishment of a joint ownership, analyses showed that the number of annual workers can be reduced from 16)8 to between 10)8 and 11)4, if joint field operations are established together with a common feed mill from where feed is distributed daily to the individual cow houses. The number of annual workers can be further reduced to 8)8 if all cows are housed in a joint cow house.

Labour and machine costs for five field plans vary from DKK 3063 to 2515 per ha-highest for the plan with beet and lowest for the plan with straw. Labour and machine costs on feeding vary from DKK 2056 to 1811 per year-cow and rearing stock but if all the animals are gathered in a common cowhouse, the costs can be reduced to DKK 1686 per year-cow and rearing stock.