Pathways Towards to Improve the Feasibility of Dairy Pastoral System in La Pampa (Argentine)

Abstract

Over the last decade, pastoral systems have been intensified in response to an increasing demand for meat and milk, by generating environmental and social problems due to its high dependence on external inputs. The objective of this research was to analyze the economic feasibility of dairy pastoral system in La Pampa (Argentina). The main successful factors were identified through technical efficiency analysis, and subsequently improvement actions were suggested. The technique data envelopment analysis creates efficiency indexes by comparing the performance of each farm with the best practice, which defines the production frontier. The farms were classified attending to two criteria: first, the level of efficiency, second, the regular use of supplementation feed. The results showed that about 40% of the farms were efficient and the efficiency rate of the farms without supplementary feed was 80%. A 70% of the farms uses their own grassland resources adjusting milk yield to the capacity of the pasture. The technical efficiency for this group is 14% higher than the rest. Inefficient farms can adopt different strategies to enhance by practicing benchmarking. One of the examples studied shows two ways to do it: on the one hand the extensification by producing at a minimum cost; on the other hand, the technification, linked to the increase of stocking rate and the use of strategic supplementation. Finally, small changes in the management of the farms positively impact on performance, use of resources, and the sustainability of the system.

Is the increase of scale in the tropics a pathway to smallholders? Dimension and ecological zone effect on the mixed crop-livestock farms

“…Large-scale farms generate various effects; Steinfeld et al (2006), Gerber et al (2013) and Angón et al (2015) suggest that when farms are more specialized in both dimension and intensification tend to increase production volumes, herd size, and productivity, but the number of farms in the territory was significantly reduced. In this regard Udo et al (2011) and Oosting et al (2014) indicated that a considerable part of the smallholders in a village would not be part of the development; some of them will have to become labourers in their community or migrate to urban areas to find employment as effects of increased dimension in long term ("stepping out" strategy by Dorward et al, 2009).…”

“…According to Gerber et al (2013) animal management practices and technologies determine the level of productivity. Angón et al (2015) propose improving technological practices in the grazing dairy system in La Pampa (Argentina). Oosting et al (2014) recommend increasing the production and shift from rural to urban market and Cuevas- Reyes et al (2013) highlight that the clustering and a major organization of smallholders could be an access to a pathway of higher added value.…”

Revisión de la medición de capacidades dinámicas: una propuesta de indicadores para el sector ovino

“…La respuesta de los productores a la situación de crisis ha sido muy diferente. Los cambios se han orientado a incrementar la producción, mano de obra más cualificada, aumento en el uso de tecnologías y reducción progresiva del pastoreo (Angón et al, 2015). Estos cambios estructurales implican un riesgo en la viabilidad de las explotaciones ganaderas, ya que impactan en su carácter multifuncional y reducen el grado de complementariedad existente entre las diferentes actividades (Ryschawy, Choisis, Choisis, Joannon, & Gibon, 2012.…”

Influencia de la capacidad gerencial del apicultor en la viabilidad de unidades de producción apícola en la Pampa Argentina

“…Estas empresas cuentan con el triple de colmenas y generan el doble de miel; sin embargo, sólo duplican su necesidad de mano de obra (P<0.05). Estos resultados indican la existencia de economías de escala; la mayor dimensión de las unidades de producción viables permite hacer un uso más eficiente del factor trabajo, mientras que aquéllas no viables se sitúan en rendimientos de escala crecientes (27,28) . En el Cuadro 3 se muestra la descripción estadística de las variables categóricas y su asociación con la viabilidad.…”