Benchmarking dairy farm financial performance

2017 ◽  
pp. 1131-1140
Author(s):  
C. A. Wolf ◽  
N. Olynk Widmar
2020 ◽  
Vol 80 (5) ◽  
pp. 733-744
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Wolf ◽  
J. Roy Black ◽  
Mark W. Stephenson

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to understand US Upper Midwest dairy farm profitability performance over time and across herd size. Profitability is broken down into asset efficiency and operating profit margin. The primary objective is to determine how much information is required to accurately benchmark farm performance.Design/methodology/approachFinancial ratios to measure profitability (rate of return on assets), profit margin (operating profit margin ratio), and asset efficiency (asset turnover) were collected from Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin business analysis programs for dairy farms from 2000 through 2016. Financial ratio patterns were examined both across time and herd size. Annual distributions were divided into quartiles and the use of one to five-year averages were used to determine accuracy of quartile rank compared to true long-run farm profitability performance.FindingsFinancial performance across large herds was more uniform than across smaller herds. Small and large herd profitability performance converged in poor years but diverged in good years. Using three or more years performance greatly improved accuracy of benchmarking profitability.Originality/valueThe data utilized are very rich in the sense of the amount of variation across years and herd size. The results have important implications for farm financial management and benchmarking farm financial performance. Farm firms should benchmark multiple years of profitability before making major management changes to alleviate deficiencies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 646-665
Author(s):  
Jing Yi ◽  
Jennifer Ifft

Purpose Dairy farms, along with livestock and specialty crop farms, face a tight labor supply and increasing labor costs. To overcome the challenging labor market, farm managers can increase labor-use efficiency through both human resource and capital investments. However, little is known about the relationship between such investments and farm profitability. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between dairy farm financial performance and labor-use efficiency, as measured by labor productivity (milk sold per worker equivalent); labor costs (hired labor cost per unit of milk sold and hired labor cost per worker); and investment in labor-saving equipment. Design/methodology/approach Cluster analysis is applied to partition dairy farms into three performance categories (high/middle/low), based on farms’ rate of return on equity, asset turnover ratios and net dairy income per hundredweight of milk. Next, the annual financial rank is fitted into both random- and farm-level fixed-effects ordered logit and linear models to estimate the relationship between dairy farms’ financial performance and labor-use efficiency. This study also investigates the implications of using a single financial indicator as a measure of financial performance, which is the dominant approach in literature. Findings The study finds that greater labor productivity and cost efficiency (as measured by hired labor cost per unit of milk sold) are associated with better farm financial performance. No statistically significant relationship is found between farm financial performance and both hired labor cost per worker and advance milking systems (a proxy of capital investment in labor-saving technology). Future studies would benefit from better measurements of labor-saving technology. This study also demonstrates inconsistency in regression results when individual financial variables are used as a measure of financial performance. The greater labor-use efficiency on high-performing farms may be a combination of hiring more-skilled workers and managerial strategies of reducing unnecessary labor activities. The results emphasize the importance of managerial strategies that improve overall labor-use efficiency, instead of simply minimizing total labor expenses or labor cost per worker. Originality/value This study examines the importance of labor productivity and labor cost efficiency for dairy farm management. It also develops a novel approach which brings a more comprehensive financial performance evaluation into regression models. Furthermore, this study explicitly demonstrates the potential for inconsistent results when using individual financial variable as a measure of financial performance, which is the dominant measurement of financial performance in farm management studies.


2016 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 532-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Wolf ◽  
Mark W. Stephenson ◽  
Wayne A. Knoblauch ◽  
Andrew M. Novakovic

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate dairy farm financial performance over time utilizing farm financial ratios from three university business analysis programs. The evaluation includes measures of profitability, solvency, and liquidity by herd size. Design/methodology/approach Financial ratios to reflect profitability (rate of return on assets), solvency (debt to asset ratio), and liquidity (current ratio) were collected from Cornell University, Michigan State University, and the University of Wisconsin for dairy farms from 2000 to 2012. The distribution of farm financial performance using these ratios was examined over time and by herd size. Variance component methods are used to examine the percent of variation due to individual firm and industry aspects. A simple credit risk score is calculated to examine relative farm risk. Findings Dairy farm profitability performance is similar across herd sizes in poor years but larger herds realized significantly more profitability in good years. Findings were similar with respect to liquidity. Large herds consistently carried relatively more debt. Large herds’ financial performance was more uniform than across smaller herds. Larger herds had more financial risk as measured by credit risk scoring but recovered quickly to industry averages in profitable years. Originality/value The variation of dairy farm financial performance in an era of volatile milk and feed price is assessed. The results have important implications for farm financial management and benchmarking farm financial performance. In addition to helping to evaluate the efficacy of various price and income risk management tools, these results have important implications for understanding the benefits of the new federal Margin Protection Program for Dairy that is available to all US dairy farmers.


2002 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent A. Gloy ◽  
Jeffrey Hyde ◽  
Eddy L. LaDue

The financial performance and relationships between several management factors and financial performance are examined in a panel of 107 New York dairy farms. A panel regression model with fixed effects is estimated in an effort to identify management factors that influence profitability. The model is estimated with two-stage least squares to account for endogenous farm size and debt use variables. Production management factors such as farm size, rate of milk production, and milking system had a positive impact on farm profitability. Financial management variables for the type of accounting system used and the debt use were also significantly related to profitability. Unlike the findings of many other studies, measures of human capital did not have a statistically significant impact on profitability.


PRODUCTIVITY ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-78
Author(s):  
PREETI . ◽  
◽  
Dr. Kuldip Singh Chhikara ◽  

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-111
Author(s):  
Sulastiningsih Sulastiningsih ◽  
Rizka Imanita Sholihati

This study aims to determine whether the financial performance measured by using CAR, ROA, LDR, BOPO, and CSR can affect the value of banking companies as measured by using PBV. This study uses secondary data taken from the annual report of banking companies during the year 2012-2016 listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The number of samples of this study as many as 25 banking companies with a total of 125 data. This research method is quantitative research. The results of this study indicate the effect of CAR, ROA, LDR, BOPO, and CSR variables on firm value measured by using PBV in a banking company listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. Keywords: CAR, ROA, LDR, BOPO, CSR, PBV


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-88
Author(s):  
M. Shobihin ◽  
Sayekti Suindyah Dwiningwarni ◽  
Supriadi Supriadi

The financial statements serve as a benchmark in assessing the financial performance of the company as the basis for making business decisions. The motivation in conducting this research is to support previous research to see the development condition of one of the oil palm plantation companies. The purpose of this study is to assess the financial performance by using financial ratio analysis and horizontal analysis. The method used in this research is Quantitative Descriptive with analysis design using Term series Analysis. The result of the research based on financial ratio analysis shows the liquidity ratio and solvency ratio in good condition, while the activity ratio and profitability ratio are not good because it is below the industry average of similar companies. Based on horizontal analysis, financial performance fluctuated and influenced internal and external factors such as operational performance and the average price of world palm oil. The limitations of this study are using only two analytical tools and financial statements analyzed only the balance sheet and income statement.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document