Economic Performance Measures of Southeastern U.S. Cow-Calf Farms: Which Types of Farms Are the Most Efficient?

The objective of this study is to assess the technical efficiency and other economic performance measures of southeastern U.S. cow-calf farms. We describe and compare cow-calf operations by size, farm resource regions, and states, and measure their relative competitiveness. We estimate a Cobb- Douglas production function using stochastic production frontier (SPF) techniques. Our results suggest there is opportunity for most cow-calf operations to increase the efficiency of their operations.