Structure, Management, and Performance Characteristics of
Specialized Dairy Farm Businesses in the United States by Sara D
Short Agricultural Handbook No. (AH-720) 60 pp, October 2000 The
U.S. dairy industry faces a changing government policy
environment in the year 2000. Milk producers are struggling, and
will continue to struggle, to adjust to markets that are more
dependent on the forces of supply and demand. Data from the
1993-95 Farm Costs and Returns Surveys and the 1996 Agricultural
Resource Management Study show that dairy farm businesses in
general did a fairly good job of meeting short-term debt,
generating returns, and meeting long-term debt from 1993 to
1996. The analysis indicates that farm management strategies
will play an important role in determining the overall
profitability of a dairy farm business as Government supports
decline. However, the 1996 data suggest that changes in
management techniques are adopted slowly. Keywords: Dairy farm
businesses, structure, management, performance, chara