How Does Cooperative Membership Affect Farm Efficiency? A Case Study of Dairy Farms in Izmir, Türkiye

Abstract

This study aims to measure the efficiency of dairy farms, both cooperative members and non-members, and to investigate the effect of farm size. To assess farm efficiency, we conducted Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Tobit regression analysis to identify the factors that influence efficiency on farms. The study was carried out in Izmir, one of the most significant cities for dairy cooperatives and the dairy sector in Türkiye. The results showed that non-member dairy farms were more efficient than those of members. The study found that large-scale farms are more efficient than small-scale farms. It is also noteworthy that the majority of fully efficient small-scale farms are cooperative members. It can be concluded that cooperatives are more beneficial for small family farms in terms of efficiency; however, they have capacity limitations when compared to IOFs.