The impact of alternative feeding strategies on total factor productivity growth of pig farming: Empirical evidence from EU countries

• Main Authors: Amer Ait-Sidhoum, Bouali Guesmi, Juan H. Cabas-Monje, Jose M. Gil
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria 2021-06-01
• Series: Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research
• Subjects: data envelopment analysis; productivity; färe-primont index; feeding technologies; pig farms
• Online Access: https://revistas.inia.es/index.php/sjar/article/view/17291

Aim of study: To investigate the impact of adopting new feeding precision technology on pig production. Area of study: Four EU countries (Germany, France, Poland and Spain) during the period 2010–2015. Material and methods: The Färe-Primont index was used to estimate total factor productivity change and its components, technological change and efficiency change. Main results: German, French and Spanish farms experienced total factor productivity (TFP) progress, while Polish farms did not for both feeding strategies. Our empirical findings suggest a high impact on the productivity of ad libitum feeding technique compared to the restricted one for all countries. Research highlights: Precision feeding strategies provide another avenue to more sustainable livestock production and further evidence that implementing individual ad libitum feeding systems for pigs could enhance farm’s productivity.