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Technology Adoption by Ontario Dairy Producers: Productivity-enhancing versus Cost-minimizing Technologies
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- Author / Creator
- Ntoni, Jonathan Okyere
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Under supply management, Canadian dairy producers maximize profits subject to their quota holdings. This constraint on supply effectively leads producers to solve a cost-minimization problem, which may have an effect on their use of technology. I hypothesize that Ontario dairy producers have adopted more cost-minimizing (CM) than productivity-enhancing (PE) technologies. Using data from a 2013 survey of Ontario dairy producers, I characterize technology use in Ontario’s dairy industry under the current policy regime and empirically evaluate the effect of various technologies on cow productivity and dairy farm performance. Findings from mean comparison tests show that Ontario producers adopt more CM than PE technologies. Results from propensity score matching and endogenous switching regression models show that the adoption of some PE technologies has positive impact on cow productivity. The adoption of genotyping technology and the use of total mixed rations significantly improve dairy farm performance by reducing feed costs by 8 and 11%, respectively. Overall, my results suggest that producers have adopted technologies that minimize costs. Looking forward, Canadian producers will need not only to consolidate and expand their dairy operations, but will also need to adopt more PE technologies in order to be internationally competitive if supply management weakens.
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- Subjects / Keywords
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- Graduation date
- Fall 2015
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Master of Science
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.