Productivity and efficiency scores of dairy farms: the case of Turkey

A greater productivity level in milk production is the best answer to the increasing demand for this essential food. The main material of this study, which aims to determine the total factor productivity (TFP) and efficiency of dairy farms, consists of 100 surveys chosen from 1,429 registered farms of the Cattle Breeders Association of Aydin-Turkey by means of stratified sampling in May, 2006. The TFP decreases with farm size which shows that large farms fail to utilize their labour resource in full. In data envelopment analysis 15 farms work with an efficiency rate of 100%. The lowest efficiency rate was found to be 43%; the highest one was 100% and the mean rate was 79%. The efforts to improve efficiency levels should include participatory extension and coordinated research programs that aim to increase the productivity and efficiency levels of these small farms in the long run.