The Milking Profile of Dairy Cattle Farms in Central Macedonia (Greece)

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights of the profile of the dairy farms of Central Macedonia (Greece), in terms of their milking practices. The analysis is based on data from a random sample of 123 dairy farms, obtained by means of a survey. The employment of the Categorical Principal Component Analysis on the 14 variables initially used to describe milking practices and of the Two-Step Cluster Analysis led to the grouping of the 123 farms to three clusters. Farms of the first cluster, named “Innovative”, use state-of-the-art equipment, automatic systems and innovative milking techniques (31.1% of the sample farms). “Peasant” farms (11.4%) are mainly extensive, using mainly bucket plants. The third and most abundant group, the “Modernizing” farms (54.5%) are use equipment of reasonable standards and some of them are on the process of renewing it. The results of a Multinomial Logit model verify that “Innovative” farms are large and achieve high yields, while the “Modernizing” ones are smaller, producing milk of lower quality and they are owned by relatively older dairy farmers. An interesting profile is depicted for “Peasant” farms, as they achieve satisfactory economic performance, combined with adequate milk quality. The analytical framework included the reduction of analysis variables to a smaller group of “dimensions”, using the Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CatPCA), based on which farms were clustered to alternative profiles, by employing a Two-Step Cluster (TSC) Analysis. Differences in elements of milk quality and in the social profile of farms and farmers were examined among alternative profiles through the estimation of Multinomial Logit Models.