The impact of farm size on sustainability of beef cattle farms: A case study of the Samsun province, Turkey

ABSTRACT

Many global agricultural problems, such as the decline of agricultural land, soil pollution, climate change, water scarcity, and rural poverty threaten the sustainability of agricultural production systems. This study aimed to (i) develop a methodology to measure the sustainability of beef cattle farms, (ii) measure economic, social and environmental sustainability, and (iii) determine the impact of farm size on the sustainability of beef cattle farming. The study data were collected from 155 beef cattle sample farms via face-to-face surveys in Samsun Province, Turkey. A multi-stage process was employed to measure sustainability. The most important factors contributing to sustainability were determined as the debt-asset ratio, beef yield, and production cost for economic sustainability; the adequacy of educational institutions in the village or district and misunderstanding with neighbours for social sustainability; paying attention to meteorological conditions for pesticide use and nature conservation for environmental sustainability. The composite sustainability index was determined as 0.43 in small farms, 0.51 in medium farms and 0.61 in large farms. It has been found that an increase in the farm size had a positive impact on economic, social, and environmental sustainability of beef cattle farming. The methodology and indicators developed can be used to ensure the sustainability of different agricultural sectors.

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainability
• farm size
• factor analysis
• index
• Turkey

Acknowledgements

This study is quoted from a part of the Ph.D. thesis of Uğur Başer. This work was supported by TUBITAK with a scholarship under the 2211-C Priority Areas Related to Doctoral Scholarship Program. The authors are very grateful to Sinem Ceylan (University of Leicester School) for the help given in the English editing of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the TÜBİTAK under 2211-C Priority Areas Related to Doctoral Scholarship Programme.