Technical Efficiency of Beef Cattle Breeders in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China

Focusing on the Productivity of Calves Relative to Breeding Cows

Abstract

In recent years, beef cattle breeding and raising have been expanding rapidly in response to the increasing demand for beef in China. However, beef cattle breeding is mainly managed by individual farmers, and differences in the technical efficiency of farmers have become a major challenge for improving productivity and profitability. Therefore, this study focuses on Inner Mongolia—an important livestock production base in China—and aims to identify the factors that create differences in farmers’ technical efficiency using data from 118 households obtained through interviews. Results indicate that the technical efficiency of beef cattle breeding farmers can be improved by acquiring skills through the Internet and by accessing veterinarians with high expertise outside the local area. Further, a large number of breeding cows are found to decrease technical efficiency due to the lack of care.