The Technical Efficiency of Specialised Milk Farms: A Regional View

Table 8

Structural determinants of production efficiency in EU regions.

Indicator	Unit	Inefficient regions (𝜇1), 𝑁=63	Efficient regions (𝜇2), 𝑁=45	𝐻0(𝜇1−𝜇2)	𝑡-statistic	𝑃 value	Sig.
Labour input per hectare	hours/ha	130.66	268.71	Diff < 0	−1.897	0.0320	**
	SD*	114.99	478.42
Labour input per dairy cow	hours/LU**	155.73	182.32	Diff < 0	−0.691	0.2460	—
	SD	126.67	234.76
Cereals in UAA***	%	18.43	20.16	Diff < 0	−0.649	0.2591	—
	SD	10.37	15.58
Other field crops in UAA	%	2.16	3.15	Diff < 0	−1.462	0.0748	*
	SD	1.81	4.27
Forage crops in UAA	%	76.57	75.23	Diff > 0	0.412	0.3407	—
	SD	13.70	18.62
Set-aside land per total agricultural area	%	0.497	0.262	Diff > 0	1.693	0.0467	**
	SD	0.899	0.537
Dairy cows per total LU	%	62.27	62.92	Diff < 0	−0.484	0.3149	—
	SD	6.94	6.88
Other cattle per Total LU	%	36.56	35.70	Diff > 0	0.603	0.2741	—
	SD	6.99	7.52
Pigs per total LU	%	0.81	1.04	Diff < 0	−0.756	0.2258	—
	SD	1.73	1.48
Poultry per total LU	%	0.177	0.248	Diff < 0	−0.761	0.2243	—
	SD	0.465	0.490
Number of LU per 100 hectares	LU/100 ha	141.28	233.69	Diff < 0	−1.660	0.0518	*
	SD	73.00	368.23
Number of dairy cows per 100 hectares	LU/100 ha	88.773	149.139	Diff < 0	−1.773	0.0414	**
	SD	49.309	224.585
Stocking intensity	LU/ha f.c.***	1.727	2.489	Diff < 0	−1.731	0.0449	**
	SD	0.793	2.875
Milk yield per year	kg/cow	6 363.91	6 546.59	Diff < 0	−0.514	0.3044	—
	SD	1 675.36	1 919.47
Debt ratio	%	17.35	19.91	Diff < 0	−0.734	0.2326	—
	SD	15.36	19.46
Share of hired labour	%	16.71	29.45	Diff < 0	−2.616	0.0056	***
	SD	15.14	30.07
Share of rented UAA	%	60.45	60.73	Diff < 0	−0.056	0.4779	—
	SD	22.66	27.84

Notes: ∗SD = standard deviation; ∗∗LU = livestock unit; ∗∗∗UAA = utilized agricultural area, ∗∗∗f.c. = forage crops.