About us
The International Competence Center on Large Scale Agriculture (LaScalA) brings together a network of international experts in the field of large farm management. Our major focus is on research into economic, organizational and ethical aspects of large scale farming activities as well as into institutional frameworks that enable the development of large agricultural enterprises.
In focus
13 August 2018
Large scale farming is driven by a relentless quest for efficient production and concentration along the food supply chain - Richard Sexton
Opinion -Agri-food markets often exhibit high levels of concentration at all stages of the supply chain – "from farm to fork". As processors get bigger, they demand that farms grow to match the higher demand for standardized products. As a result, small and mid-sized farms face severe economic challenges, while the number of large farms is growing. Richard J. Sexton, Professor in Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Davis, explains to largescaleagriculture.com his view on the dynamics of structural change in agriculture in the US.
News
11 August 2018
Large US dairy farms proved more productive than smaller ones
News -The balance of milk production in the US dairy industry has been shifting from small farms to large farms during the last decade. According to federal data, small dairy farms (with fewer than 500 cattle) produced two-thirds of the nation’s milk in 2001. However, by 2009 their share fell to 40 %. Large farms have proved themselves to be more productive, yielding more milk per cow. While the vast majority of dairies in the U.S. have about 240 cows on the average, small farms have been leaving the business for decades. The total number of dairies fell from 678,000 in 1970 to less than 40,000 in 2018. Notwithstanding the fact that the number of dairy farms decreases, the milk production continues to rise.
10 August 2018
Large dairy farms increasingly enter organic business in the US
News -The trend in the US dairy industry has been toward fewer but larger farms since the 1980s. At that time, organic milk was available only at farmers markets, specialty grocers or small-scale dairy farms selling to a local cooperative. Nowadays, organic dairy products are widely distributed by mass retailers, such as Costco, Target, and Walmart. And much of this organic milk comes from large scale dairies with thousands of cows. One of such dairies, Aurora Organic Dairy, the industry's largest supplier to grocery chains, states that those people who believe organic food should come only from small producers are inaccurately portraying large scale organic production. The 26,000-cow company, which has nine barns in Colorado and Texas with each ranging from 900 to 4,400 cows, manages 12,000 acres (4,856 hectares) of organic pastureland and strictly adheres to the guidelines of organic dairy production, placing animal welfare and sustainable production as top priorities of its business strategy.
10 August 2018
Sexton: there is no finite limit to where the economies of size would cease to matter
News -Richard J. Sexton, Professor in Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California at Davis, observes the trend toward big farm sizes (of e.g. 5,000 to 10,000 cows in the dairy sector) in today’s US agriculture. This development is driven by fierce competition on the food markets and the need for producers to exploit all available sources of efficiency. Small operations just cannot compete anywhere except for little niche markets. Sexton made this statement during the IAMO Forum 2018 in Halle, Germany. The extended interview with Richard J. Sexton is coming soon on our website.
09 August 2018
EkoNiva undergoes tremendous expansion
News -Agroholding EkoNiva, the largest milk producer in Russia, is investing in new farms in order to increase its cattle herd by 40,000 cows till the end of 2018. The total number of cattle on the farms, run by the holding, will thus grow from 110,000 to 150,000, including 70,000 milk cows. "We are currently building seven farms in the Voronezh region, two in the Ryazan region, one in the Novosibirsk region, three in the Kaluga region and one in the Orenburg region. This year we will open eight of them," states Stefan Dürr, the managing director of EkoNiva. Also, the company is in talks on the purchase of a new milk farm in the Kursk region for RUB 2.5 billion ($ 37.8 million). EkoNiva also plans to launch a cheese factory with a cottage cheese production line in the Novosibirsk region in 2020. The volume of investments in the cheese factory project is estimated at RUB 18 billion ($ 272.3 million).
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