Profits, Costs, and the Changing Structure of Dairy Farming

James M. MacDonald ; Erik O'Donoghue ; William McBride ; Richard Nehring ; Carmen Sandretto , and Roberto Mosheim

United States Department of Agriculture

关键词: Farms;    dairy;    costs;    production;    cows;    milk prices;    structural change;    labor;    cost advantages;    dairy enterprises;    dairies;    milk;    large dairy farms;    agricultural productivity;    consolidation;    farm structure;    economies of scale;    economies of size;    dairy farm;   

RP-ID  :  ERR-47

学科分类：农业科学（综合）

美国|英语

来源: United States Department of Agriculture Publications

【 摘 要 】

U.S. dairy production is consolidating into fewer but larger farms. This report uses data from several USDA surveys to detail that consolidation and to analyze the financial drivers of consolidation. Specifically, larger farms realize lower production costs. Although small dairy farms realize higher revenue per hundredweight of milk sold, the cost advantages of larger size allow large farms to be profitable, on average, even while most small farms are unable to earn enough to replace their capital. Further survey evidence, as well as the financial data, suggest that consolidation is likely to continue.