1. Competitiveness and future strategies of mountain dairy farms in Austria
Leopold KIRNER
Institute of Entrepreneurship, Research and Innovation
University College for Agrarian and Environmental Pedagogy Vienna
1st European Symposium on Livestock Farming in Mountain Areas, Bozen, 21. June 2018

2. Introduction High relevance of mountain farming in Austria
High variability of production systems and strategies
Jahr
Unit
All dairy farms
Mountain farms
Dairy farms
farms
28.939
21.358 %
73,8
Milk delivery
1,000 t
3,313
2,186
66,0
Milk delivery per farm t
115
102
Source: Kirner acc. to the green report 2017 (data from 2016)

3. Current competitiveness of mountain dairy farms in Austria
Top 1
Current competitiveness of mountain dairy farms in Austria
102 dairy farms with full-cost accounting for 2016

4. Structure of dairy farms in the dataset 2016
Farm type
Number of farms
UAA (ha)
Cows
Milk delivery (t)
Milk yield per cow (kg)
Organic farms (%)
All farms
102
39,7
38,7
295,2
7.889
28,4
Non-mountain farms 23
47,7
48,5
375,9
8.070
13,0
Mountain farms st level 42
37,1
40,1
312,5
8.099
26,2
Mountain farms nd level 27
40,7
33,6
250,0
7.613
44,4
Mountain farms rd level 10
30,2
23,5
158,6
7.336
30,0
Source: Kirner 2018 according data from full-cost accounting

5. Revenues and expenses of dairy farms in Austria depending on natural site conditions in 2016 (ct/kg of milk)
Entre-preneur‘sprofit
n-mf: -6,9
mf-1: -6,9
mf-2: -4,1
mf-3: -8,2
Source: Kirner acc. data from full-cost accounting 2016

6. Broad distribution of full-costs and entrepreneur‘s profit (Ct/kg of milk 2016)
Expenses (full-costs)
from 43.1 to 122.3
Entrepreneur‘s profit
from to 24.8
Source: Kirner acc. data from full-cost accounting 2016

7. Strategies as a result of the cluster analysis 2016, n=102
Mediocre farms (67)
Entrepr. profit, Ct/kg
-8.1
Full-costs, Ct/kg
62.7
Dairy cows
38.7
Efficiency, g/kg
256
Mountain farms, % 75
Successful farms (24)
Entrepr. profit, Ct/kg
3.6
Full-costs, Ct/kg
75.8
Dairy cows
29.3
Efficiency, g/kg
155
Mountain farms, % 92
Specialised farms (6)
Entrepr. profit, Ct/kg
-1.2
Full-costs, Ct/kg
50.1
Dairy cows
87.3
Efficiency, g/kg
297
Mountain farms, % 33
Fragile farms (5)
Entrepr. profit, Ct/kg
-35.1
Full-costs, Ct/kg
103.5
Dairy cows
24.1
Efficiency, g/kg
228
Mountain farms, %
100
Source: Kirner acc. data from full-cost accounting 2016

8. Future strategies of mountain dairy farms in Austria
Top 2
Future strategies of mountain dairy farms in Austria
Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews in January and February 2018: n=300

9. Estimates for the future herd size of dairy farms in Austria n=300, answers in percent
All dairy farms (300)
Non-mountain farms (70)
Mountain farms (230)
More
13.0
12.9
Around the same amount
73.7
74.3
73.5
Less
6.3
7.1
6.1
Stop milk production
4.7
4.3
4.8
No answer
2.3
1.4
2.6
Source: Kirner acc. to CATI 2018

10. Higher milk yield per cow Higher forage performance
Estimates for the future strategies of dairy farms Area of professionalisation n=300, approval in percent
Higher milk yield per cow
Higher forage performance
Source: Kirner acc. to CATI 2018

11. Label programme for milk Animal welfare programme
Estimates for the future strategies of dairy farms Area of differentiation n=300, approval in percent
Label programme for milk
Animal welfare programme
Source: Kirner acc. to CATI 2018

12. Start a new farm enterprise Start with diversification
Estimates for the future strategies of dairy farms Area of diversification n=300, approval in percent
Start a new farm enterprise
Start with diversification
Source: Kirner acc. to CATI 2018

13. Discussion and Conclusion
Mountain farms in Austria produce with higher costs!
Expansion, cost leadership and diversification is only relevant for a minority
=> Higher product prices and subsidies associated with best production technique are necessary for future competitiveness!
Mountain farmers in Austria focuse on product quality, low-input systems and animal welfare programmes
=> How can we support mountain farmers to implement such strategies and programmes also under future conditions?