Assessing the Environmental Efficiency of Greek Dairy Sheep Farms: GHG Emissions and Mitigation Potential

Abstract

One of the main ecological challenges that agricultural and especially livestock production systems face is the adoption of management practices that encourage the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while maintaining their production level. According to the relevant literature, the potential for GHG reduction lies mainly in greater efficiency in meat and dairy production, which suggests that the ecological modernization of livestock farms follows the efficiency/substitution pathway. This study aims to investigate the above assumption and explore the link between the technical efficiency (TE) and environmental efficiency (EE) of livestock farms using data envelopment analysis (DEA). The analysis focuses on dairy sheep farming, since the activity is important for the Greek rural economy while at the same time responsible for half of the country’s agricultural methane emissions. Results indicate that the correlation between technical and environmental efficiency of sheep farms is significant. Environmental efficiency is affected by farm size, specialization and production orientation. Feeding practices, like the ratio of concentrates to forage, also appear to have a positive effect on environmental efficiency. On the other hand, experienced farmers tend to have lower environmental efficiency, which may indicate their reluctance to adopt modern farming practices.

Evaluation of the Contribution of Pastures on the Economic Sustainability of Small Ruminant Farms in a Typical Greek Area

“…For transhumant sheep and goats, the average farm rearing under 350 ewes-dams operated under net losses of 84.2€/ewe excluding income support [19]. More recently, Sintori et al [53] reported an average milk yield of 136.8 kg/ewe for sheep farms in mainland Greece combining feedstuff provision from markets, crops cultivation and grazing, while Pulina et al [12] presented a considerably lower average milk yield for Greek sheep farms (101 kg/ewe) but higher milk prices (0.96€/kg) than those reported in this study. Better results have been reported for more intensive patterns, for instance positive net profit with considerably higher production costs (390€/ewe) [14] and average milk yield of 276.6 kg/ewe for Chios sheep farms, whose grazing average was close to C1 SF in this study [54].…”

The Regional Efficiency in the Use of European Agricultural Funds in Spain: Growth and Employment Analyses

“…The result of these investigations has made it possible to determine how the non-parametric DEA methodology is a research instrument widely used today, and that it is frequently applied to various sectors of the economy [20]. In the specific field of the agrarian economy, the contributions of Karimov [21], Niavis et al [22], Jalilov et al [23], Arru et al [24], Sintori, Liontakis, and Tzouramani [25], Mengui, Oh, and Lee [26], Havlíček et al [27], Gołaś et al [28], Fernández-Uclés et al [29], Işgın et al [30], and Bahta, Jordaan, and Sabastain [31] were identified.…”

“…Then, the improvements of the efficiency are more needed in the recreational services subsector. In the study of Sintori, Liontakis, and Tzouramani [25], the management practices that encourage the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Greek rural economy were analysed. Data analysis was carried out with the aid of DEA methodology, revealing that the technical and environmental efficiency of sheep farms are tied.…”

Efficiency Analysis as a Tool for Revealing Best Practices and Innovations: The Case of the Sheep Meat Sector in Europe

“…To our knowledge, this is the first study that uses efficiency analysis to increase knowledge on best practices that could be potentially introduced to sheep farms as innovations. Regarding the European small ruminant sector, the studies on efficiency are limited in the estimation of the level of technical efficiency of the farms and the detection of the sociodemographic and environmental factors that explain efficiency differentials (indicatively see [2,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29]). Moreover, all of these studies are focused on the dairy sheep sector; only Perez et al [23] estimated the efficiency level on the sheep meat sector, without, however, providing insights regarding the structural and economic characteristics of the efficient farms.…”