Francesco Ansaloni

Income Analysis in South American Domestic Camelid Farms

This paper analyses the production costs and income of eight groups of farms: five private farms and three belonging to the Andean rural community. These farms are located in Peru and Bolivia and breed alpacas and llama for both meat and fibre. The research is based on case studies. Each case study includes several farms, grouped according to similar characteristics: available resources; breeding techniques and geographical location. A farm economic data analysis was undertaken by determining economic budget income. Statistics and data from 2003 were analysed to determine farm resources and farm production costs, per animal head and net farm income per labour unit and livestock head. This paper is relevant as regards economic data for production systems which are more often analysed for sociological and cultural aspects and less often for economic data and identification of real productive economic data which are not generally market driven.

Innovative strategies of organic beef producers in Italy

In Italy in recent years, organic animal rearing research projects have centred largely on technical aspects while increasing market demand for organic food products has changed business and farmers marketing strategies. The purpose of this study based on the results of a number of Italian national and regional research projects is to analyse income from beef, sales distribution channels and breeder strategies. Our research shows that breeding farms offer a considerable number of products, especially livestock and value added products (fresh meat cuts, salamis) sold directly to consumers in addition to providing tourist and recreational services. However because organic beef producers have little negotiation power, traditional livestock sales channels are not economically rewarding. The organic beef supply chain stops at the farm stage and therefore organically reared animals are sold at the same price as traditionally reared animals. This situation has motivated some farmers to add meat processing to their normal rearing activities. However not all farmers are able to successfully handle the hardships that this short supply chain requires. As an alternative, the farmers could organise themselves in associations to maximise their negotiation power on the market or manage the short supply chain by outsourcing carcass processing to local abattoirs.