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Abstract
The paper analyses the determinants of annual income of a family work unit (FWU) for Swiss dairy farms based on data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). Two regression types, namely a random-effects model and a quantile regression focusing on deciles, are applied. Organic and full-time farming, large farm size, high milk yield per cow and a diversification in either arable crops or agriculture-related activities are identified as attributes of a financially successful farm. In addition, the quantile regression reveals that the impacts of milk yield and concentrate inputs on annual income per FWU vary clearly among deciles, indicating that a high milk yield contributes most to the financial success of the best performing farms. The comparison between the two models shows that quantile regression is an appropriate analysis tool in the presence of substantial heterogeneity as is the case for Swiss dairy farms.