No abstract

-The purpose of this study was to analyse the socio-economic structure of water buffalo farming in the province of Muş, in Turkey. The stratified sampling method was used to calculate sample size of buffalo farms in the Central, Korkut, and Hasköy districts of Muş province, where buffalo farming is widespread. Data were collected from the 94 farms by surveys in the 2013 production period. A single budget analysis method was used to calculate production cost and profit for water buffaloes. Plant production constituted 37.85% of the gross production value, while animal production accounted for 62.15%. The biggest share in the gross production value derived from water buffalo farming (45.71%). Fixed and variable costs were 51.44% and 48.56% of the production cost (USD11691.06), respectively. The largest part of the variable cost was the feed cost (75.81%). The cost of per kilogram buffalo milk in the region was calculated as USD0.64. Consequently, it is important to ensure the continuation of breeding studies to increase milk yield, giving information to farmers about modern techniques, developing policies to increase the scale of the farms, and implementing regional and national policies to increase awareness of buffalo milk and milk products.

-The purpose of this study was to calculate costs of milk production, gross production value, gross margin, absolute profit, and relative profit of dairy cattle farms located in the provinces of east Mediterranean region of Turkey. Primary data were collected from 148 dairy cattle farms designated using the Neyman Stratified Sampling method through surveys. Dairy farms were classified into four groups according to the number of cows. The data belong to the 2012 production season. A single product budget analysis method was used for calculating production costs. According to the results, variable costs amounted to 65.91% of total production costs. Feed cost (86.52%) was the main component of variable costs. The cost of 1 kg of milk, on average, was calculated as USD 0.261. The cost of milk was USD 0.499 on group 1 farms, USD 0.399 on group 2 farms, USD 0.272 on group 3 farms, and USD 0.233 on group 4 farms. Among the farms under study, average gross margin value was negative only on group 1 farm, and positive in all other groups. Absolute profit value was positive only on group 4 farm, and negative in all other groups. The average relative profit of the farms was 0.9067. The expansion of dairy farms could be reached by reducing the feed cost as well as increasing the scale of farms.

-This study estimates the technical efficiency of goat rearing in the province of Isparta in Turkey using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The data used were collected from 92 goat farmers using the stratified sampling method by means of a questionnaire. The technical efficiency of the goat farming varied widely between 0.13 and 1.00. The mean efficiency of 92 goat farms was calculated to be 0.44 and 0.66 for constant and variable returns to scale assumptions, respectively. The greatest slacks were in feedstuff concentrates and labour used. The most significant factors affecting efficiency of goat production were farmer experience, cooperative membership, milk yield per goat, and family and hired labour. Technical efficiency should be improved by providing farmers with well-organised education, an extension program, and research and development programs on goat rearing.

In this study, different capacity laying hen farms in Afyon province, which are of a considerable importance in the laying hen farming in Turkey, were compared in the terms of performance, including feed consumption, production cost and profitability per chick and egg and the most profitable farm size was determined. Data were obtained by conducting a questionnaire research with 75 farmers. Laying hen farms were divided into three groups according to their sizes and were analyzed accordingly. It was found that higher capacity farms had a higher egg yield and a better feed efficiency. It was also found that farms with a higher capacity were advantageous in terms of the technical and economic criteria. Results showed that as farm capacity increased, production cost per hen decreased and net profit per hen increased. It was found that profit margin was negative for group I and positive for group II and III, and profit margin increased as the farm capacity increased.