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Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between calving date and production costs on
Irish dairy farms from 2000-2007. Using data from the National Farm Survey, the
median calving dates of 400 dairy farms are studied each year using econometric
analysis to determine the relationship between calving date and production costs.
Farms are divided into five categories according to their median calving date. These
categories are imputed into a panel dataset as dummy variables. Unobservable
individual effects are controlled for using a fixed effect model; examples of such
effects are land quality and managerial ability, Results suggest that when scale and
those unobserved effects are controlled for, there was no significant difference in total
cost of production per litre according to median calving date