title: A stochastic frontier approach to study the relationship between gastrointestinal nematode infections and technical efficiency of dairy farms.
abstract: The impact of gastrointestinal (GI) nematode infections in dairy farming has traditionally been assessed using partial productivity indicators. But such approaches ignore the impact of infection on the performance of the whole farm. In this study, efficiency analysis was used to study the association of the GI nematode Ostertagia ostertagi on the technical efficiency of dairy farms. Five years of accountancy data were linked to GI nematode infection data gained from a longitudinal parasitic monitoring campaign. The level of exposure to GI nematodes was based on bulk-tank milk ELISA tests, which measure the antibodies to O. ostertagi and was expressed as an optical density ratio (ODR). Two unbalanced data panels were created for the period 2006 to 2010. The first data panel contained 198 observations from the Belgian Farm Accountancy Data Network (Brussels, Belgium) and the second contained 622 observations from the Boerenbond Flemish farmers' union (Leuven, Belgium) accountancy system (Tiber Farm Accounting System). We used the stochastic frontier analysis approach and defined inefficiency effect models specified with the Cobb-Douglas and transcendental logarithmic (Translog) functional form. To assess the efficiency scores, milk production was considered as the main output variable. Six input variables were used: concentrates, roughage, pasture, number of dairy cows, animal health costs, and labor. The ODR of each individual farm served as an explanatory variable of inefficiency. An increase in the level of exposure to GI nematodes was associated with a decrease in technical efficiency. Exposure to GI nematodes constrains the productivity of pasture, health, and labor but does not cause inefficiency in the use of concentrates, roughage, and dairy cows. Lowering the level of infection in the interquartile range (0.271 ODR) was associated with an average milk production increase of 27, 19, and 9L/cow per year for Farm Accountancy Data Network farms and 63, 49, and 23L/cow per year for Tiber Farm Accounting System farms in the low- (0-90), medium- (90-95), and high- (95-99) efficiency score groups, respectively. The potential milk increase associated with reducing the level of infection was higher for highly efficient farms (6.7% of the total possible milk increase when becoming fully technically efficient) than for less efficient farms (3.8% of the total possible milk increase when becoming fully technically efficient).
authors.affiliation: Social Sciences Unit, Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO), Burg. Van Gansberghelaan 115, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium; Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Bio-Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; Department of Virology, Parasitology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: mariska.vandervoort@ilvo.vlaanderen.be.
authors.forename: Mariska
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van der Voort
authors.affiliation: Social Sciences Unit, Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO), Burg. Van Gansberghelaan 115, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Meensel
authors.affiliation: Social Sciences Unit, Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO), Burg. Van Gansberghelaan 115, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium; Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Bio-Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ludwig
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lauwers
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Parasitology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jozef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vercruysse
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Bio-Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Van Huylenbroeck
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Parasitology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Charlier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001530:Belgium; D002417:Cattle / Q000469:parasitology; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D003612:Dairying; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000469:parasitology*; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry; D008954:Models, Biological; D010028:Ostertagia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Ostertagia ostertagi; animal health economics; stochastic frontier analysis; technical efficiency