Teagasc, Oak Park, Co. Carlow, Ireland R32 XE12.
School of Business and Economics, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland H91 F677.
J Dairy Sci. 2021 Mar;104(3):3169-3180. doi: 10.3168/jds.2020-18843. Epub 2020 Dec 25.
The importance of financial benchmarking has increased in recent years as European Union milk quota abolition has facilitated rapid change in the dairy sector. This study evaluates the association between usage frequency of a financial benchmarking tool [Profit Monitor (PM)] and farm changes on spring-calving pasture-based dairy farms. To this end, physical and financial data for 5,945 dairy farms, representing 20,132 farm years, for the years 2010 to 2018 were used. Farms were categorized by frequency of annual financial benchmarking over the 9-yr period into frequent PM users (7-9 yr), infrequent PM users (4-6 yr), low PM users (1-3 yr), and nonusers. We use a mixed model framework and econometric models to characterize farms and to explore characteristics and determinants of economic performance and user groups. The most frequent users of the financial benchmarking tool had the greatest increase in intensification (measured by change in farm stocking rate), productivity (measured by change in milk production per hectare), and financial performance (measured by change in farm gross output and net profit per hectare) across the study period. Infrequent and low PM users of the benchmarking tool were intermediate for all variables measured, whereas nonusers had the least change. Empirical results indicated that economic performance was positively associated with dairy specialization and pasture utilization for all groups. Despite considerable fluctuations over the observation period, the overall change in total farm net profit between 2010 and 2018 was greatest for the frequent PM users (an increase of 70%, or €37,639), followed by farms in the infrequent PM user category (a 71% increase corresponding to an increase of €28,008 in net profit); meanwhile, low PM user and nonuser categories showed increases of 69% (€26,270) and 42% (€10,977), respectively. The results of this study also clearly indicated the existence of a strong positive association between frequency of financial benchmarking and greater technical and financial efficiency. The econometric analysis revealed that financial benchmarking users are more likely than nonusers to have larger herds, and that regional differences exist in usage rates. Finally, the study concludes by suggesting that the development of simplified financial benchmarking technologies and their support are required to increase benchmarking frequency, which may also help to facilitate a more sustainable and resource efficient dairy industry.
近年来，随着欧盟牛奶配额的取消，欧洲乳业迅速变革，金融基准的重要性日益凸显。本研究评估了在春季放牧的奶牛场使用财务基准工具[Profit Monitor (PM)]的频率与农场变化之间的关联。为此，使用了 2010 年至 2018 年的 5945 个奶牛场的物理和财务数据，代表 20122 个农场年。根据 9 年来每年进行财务基准测试的频率，将农场分为频繁使用 PM 的农场（7-9 年）、不频繁使用 PM 的农场（4-6 年）、低频率使用 PM 的农场（1-3 年）和不使用 PM 的农场。我们使用混合模型框架和计量经济学模型来描述农场，并探索经济绩效和用户群体的特征和决定因素。在整个研究期间，最频繁使用财务基准工具的农场在集约化程度（以农场存栏率的变化来衡量）、生产力（以每公顷牛奶产量的变化来衡量）和财务绩效（以农场毛收入和每公顷净利润的变化来衡量）方面的增长最大。基准测试工具的不频繁和低频率用户在所有测量变量方面均处于中间位置，而不使用者的变化最小。实证结果表明，对于所有群体，经济绩效与乳制品专业化和牧场利用呈正相关。尽管在观察期间存在相当大的波动，但 2010 年至 2018 年期间，总农场净利润的总体变化最大的是频繁使用 PM 的农场（增长 70%，即 37639 欧元），其次是不频繁使用 PM 的农场（增长 71%，即 28008 欧元）；同时，低频率使用 PM 的农场和不使用者的增长率分别为 69%（26270 欧元）和 42%（10977 欧元）。本研究的结果还清楚地表明，财务基准测试的频率与更高的技术和财务效率之间存在很强的正相关关系。计量经济学分析表明，财务基准测试用户比非用户更有可能拥有更大的牛群，并且在使用率方面存在区域差异。最后，本研究得出的结论是，需要开发简化的财务基准测试技术并为其提供支持，以提高基准测试的频率，这也可能有助于促进更可持续和资源高效的乳业发展。
