Determination of Farmer Satisfaction Levels in Terms of Sustainability in Dairy Cattle Farming: A Case Study From Turkey

Abstract

The main purpose of this research is to determine the benefits and satisfaction levels enabled by the agricultural aids for dairy cattle farms that are members of S.S. Çavuşlu Village Agricultural Development Cooperative in the Derince district of Kocaeli province and to provide policy proposals for ensuring the sustainability of farms. For this purpose, the data collected from 61 dairy farmers, who are members of the S.S. Çavuşlu Village Agricultural Development Cooperative, through the face-to-face questionnaire method were analyzed. The dairy farms\' activities in 2020 were analyzed under three groups based on the number of dairy cows. Farms with 5 or fewer dairy cows were designated as Group I (19 farms), farms with 6-10 dairy cows as Group II (21 farms), and farms with 11 and more dairy animals as Group III (21 farms). While evaluating the data, simple average and percentage calculations were performed. The Five-Point Likert Scale was used to evaluate the farmers’ opinions, expectations, and satisfaction levels regarding livestock support programs in the farms examined. The research employed the fuzzy pairwise comparison method to determine the support preferences of farmers in dairy cattle breeding. According to the results of the research, the average farm age was determined as 52.41 years, the average education level was 6.60 years, and the agricultural experience was 38.46 years. The average farmland size was 151.41 decares. The average number of dairy cows on the farms was 8.64. The average daily milk yield per animal was 12.68 kg. The average milk selling price was 0.37 USD/kg. According to the Fuzzy Pairwise Comparison, six different support tools were provided to farmers, and they chose milk and forage crop aids as priority support tools. High production costs, especially high feed prices, the inability to sell milk at an affordable price, and lack of support were the most significant problems identified in the farms. As a result, support policies for dairy cattle should be reviewed, payments should be made earlier, the amount of support provided should be increased, and farmers should be made aware of the organization.