Influence of the intensity of feed costs on efficiency of dairy cattle breeding

The aim of this paper is to investigate and analyze the factors that have a positive impact on the stabilization of the development of dairy cattle breeding, in particular the influence of the intensity of feed costs on the efficiency of dairy farms. The current state of dairy cattle breeding development is analyzed on the example of Ukraine; in particular the assessment of influence of the intensity of feed costs on economic efficiency of dairy farms in a chosen region is summarized on the example Kharkiv region. The economic database of the 100 dairy farms located in Kharkiv region was used as the basis. Dairy farms were classified into five groups according to the level of payback on milk costs and also by the cost of feed per 1 cow. The key factors that determine unprofitableness of production are identified, on the one hand; and the factors that affecting on the stabilization of dairy cattle breeding, on the other hand. Results of the grouping of milk farms and correlation analysis confirmed the hypothesis about the positive impact of increasing feed costs per 1 cow on the level of productivity of cows. The problems connected with the decrease in the payback of additional feed costs, which must be taken into account when determining the strategy for the development of dairy cattle farming for the future, have been clarified.