Dairy farms in Republic of Croatia have mostly one or two cows and production is characterized by high manual labor input, low intensity and low market realization.\nData are collected with help of intervju investigation using klaster sample. All farms are from Vukovar-srijem county, they have more than 5 hectare of arable land and more than 3 cows. For each of 40 selected dairy farms the physical and financial indicators are calculated. The farms are ranked according to their success. Calculated indicators are used as the variables in the linear regression model.\nInvestigated dairy farms own altogether 346 cows. Average milk yield per cow and year is 3,605.77ą1,024.95 kg with 3.65ą0.13 % of MF. In average 79.20ą7.07 % of total milk production is sold on the market. The net worth of the farm is 701872ą325584 Croatian kunas. The average income after operating costs is 56286ą54655 kunas and net income is 29608ą43765 kunas. Although businesses generate sufficient funds for family living, low, very often negative returns of farm assets indicate some business problems. Average return to farm assets is -0.60ą4.76%. The best linear regression model with 6 variable is defined with the following variables: farm net worth, livestock value, cash crop value, diversification index, percentage of rented arable land and cost efficiency. The R2 in this model is 0.648. Some farms have reason for their success outside of dairy business. Without them R2 increase on 0.881 in the best 6 variable model. Beside that variable diversification index is replaced with the variable farm type.\nThe results of investigation show that farm growth is not followed by the improvement in organization and management on the farm. It is determined that problems related to the animal nutrition and animal management and care are obstacle for business improvement.

dairy production; family farm; financial analysis; Croatia

Published by University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagreb, CROATIA
Sponsored by Ministry Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia