Br. vet. ,7. (1990) . 146, 1 5 7
ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN FARMERS' PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS, MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND FARM PERFORMANCE
H . D . TARABLA and K. DODD Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Farm Animal Clinical Studies, University College Dublin, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, Ireland
SUMMARY A survey was carried out in a random sample of 123 dairy farms from the east of Ireland . The monthly mean production per cow was 315 1 of milk and 11 . 5 kg of fat . The mean log herd somatic cell count was 5 . 45 (arithmetic mean=372 573 cells/ml), with almost 50% of the monthly counts over 300 000 cells/ml in a 12month period . Bivariate and multivariate analysis was performed to assess the relative impact of the personal characteristics of the farmer and the management policies he applied on the amount and quality of the milk produced . In five out of six models the group of variables related to farmers' attitudes, values, and sociodemographic profile explained a similar or greater amount (between 14 . 44 and 34 . 35%) of the variation of farm performance than the group of management variables (between 14 . 33 and 25 . 99%) as measured by the R 2 . These results stress the importance of the human factors in explaining variation in farm performance .
INTRODUCTION Only part of the variation in farm performance is due to differences in the quality of land, scale of operation, labour and capital inputs . The rest of the variation must be explained mainly by the factor management and the human factors linked to the adoption of management procedures (Muggen, 1969) . Conventional farm management studies have largely ignored the latter, showing no concern for the fact that the enormous growth in agricultural technology must be ultimately incorporated by individual farmers (Frawley, Bohlen & Breathnach, 1974-75a) . They are by no means an homogeneous sector of society (Gasson, 1973), and their personal and social profile affects the choice of techniques to be applied (Jones & Daw, 1964) and farm performance (Frawley, Bohlen & Breathnach, 1974-75a, b ; Bigras-Poulin, Meek & Martin, 1984-85 ; Frawley, 1985) . As far as mastitis is concerned, despite the fact that farmer's attitudes, knowledge and awareness have long had scope for change or improvement (Francis, 1984), studies have largely dealt with the effect of the environmental and management factors on the disease . The objective of this study was to assess the relative impact of the personal characteristics of the farmer and the management practices he applied on the amount and quality of the milk being produced .
158
BRITISH VETERINARY JOURNAL, 146, 2 MATERIALS AND METHODS
A survey was conducted during the summer of 1987 in 123 randomly selected dairy farms from the east of Ireland . Sociodemographic and psychological variables and management variables were collected using a structured questionnaire . In all cases the interviewee was the farm manager and the interviewer the senior author . One week before the interview a presentation letter was posted to the interviewee . Whenever possible, telephone appointments were made afterwards . Each farmer was paid at least five visits on three different days the aim being to reach all farmers selected . Only two farmers refused to be interviewed and had to be replaced . The questionnaire dealt with a wider spectrum than that covered in this paper, and was tested and adjusted three times before the actual survey . Validity and reliability of the answers were dealt with as suggested by Bigras-Poulin et al. (1984-85) . A summary of the variables used in this study is provided in Table I . To measure awareness of subclinical mastitis (AWARE), a simple definition of subclinical mastitis was provided and the farmers were asked to mention ways of detecting this subclinical stage at the cow or herd level . A correct answer was taken as a proxy for mastitis awareness . The research procedures to assess goals and values such as TRADTION, FAMILY, INDEP, PROFIT, and JOB had been developed by Ilbery (1977, 1983), using approaches suggested by Gasson (1973) . HOUSHLD, INFSEEKB, LEVELIV, RISK, and CREDIT were measured using the approaches developed during previous research in Ireland (An Foras Taluntais, 1984 ; Frawley, 1985) . Farm performance as regards mastitis status, milk yield, and quality was measured for the previous 12 months by the following variables : mean log herd somatic cell count (XLOGSCC), proportion of months with SCC > 300 000 (SCC300), mean grade based on total bacterial count (XGRADE), mean milk yield per cow (XCOWYLD), mean milk yield per cow in the month of peak production (PKCOWYLD), and mean fat production per cow (XFATPROD) . Descriptive statistics were generated for all variables . Normality was checked using normal probability plots, and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov D statistic was used to test goodness of fit. To look for associations between farmer's personal characteristics, management practices, and farm performance, analysis of the data was carried out in three stages, and was a modification of the approach used by Bigras-Poulin et al. (198485) . First, bivariate tests for individual associations between the independent variables on each of the dependent variables were performed (analysis of variance and Student t-test for categorical data and correlation coefficients for continuous data) . Only independent variables that were significantly associated (P
ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN FARMERS' PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS, MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND FARM PERFORMANCE
H . D . TARABLA and K. DODD Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Farm Animal Clinical Studies, University College Dublin, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, Ireland
SUMMARY A survey was carried out in a random sample of 123 dairy farms from the east of Ireland . The monthly mean production per cow was 315 1 of milk and 11 . 5 kg of fat . The mean log herd somatic cell count was 5 . 45 (arithmetic mean=372 573 cells/ml), with almost 50% of the monthly counts over 300 000 cells/ml in a 12month period . Bivariate and multivariate analysis was performed to assess the relative impact of the personal characteristics of the farmer and the management policies he applied on the amount and quality of the milk produced . In five out of six models the group of variables related to farmers' attitudes, values, and sociodemographic profile explained a similar or greater amount (between 14 . 44 and 34 . 35%) of the variation of farm performance than the group of management variables (between 14 . 33 and 25 . 99%) as measured by the R 2 . These results stress the importance of the human factors in explaining variation in farm performance .
INTRODUCTION Only part of the variation in farm performance is due to differences in the quality of land, scale of operation, labour and capital inputs . The rest of the variation must be explained mainly by the factor management and the human factors linked to the adoption of management procedures (Muggen, 1969) . Conventional farm management studies have largely ignored the latter, showing no concern for the fact that the enormous growth in agricultural technology must be ultimately incorporated by individual farmers (Frawley, Bohlen & Breathnach, 1974-75a) . They are by no means an homogeneous sector of society (Gasson, 1973), and their personal and social profile affects the choice of techniques to be applied (Jones & Daw, 1964) and farm performance (Frawley, Bohlen & Breathnach, 1974-75a, b ; Bigras-Poulin, Meek & Martin, 1984-85 ; Frawley, 1985) . As far as mastitis is concerned, despite the fact that farmer's attitudes, knowledge and awareness have long had scope for change or improvement (Francis, 1984), studies have largely dealt with the effect of the environmental and management factors on the disease . The objective of this study was to assess the relative impact of the personal characteristics of the farmer and the management practices he applied on the amount and quality of the milk being produced .
158
BRITISH VETERINARY JOURNAL, 146, 2 MATERIALS AND METHODS
A survey was conducted during the summer of 1987 in 123 randomly selected dairy farms from the east of Ireland . Sociodemographic and psychological variables and management variables were collected using a structured questionnaire . In all cases the interviewee was the farm manager and the interviewer the senior author . One week before the interview a presentation letter was posted to the interviewee . Whenever possible, telephone appointments were made afterwards . Each farmer was paid at least five visits on three different days the aim being to reach all farmers selected . Only two farmers refused to be interviewed and had to be replaced . The questionnaire dealt with a wider spectrum than that covered in this paper, and was tested and adjusted three times before the actual survey . Validity and reliability of the answers were dealt with as suggested by Bigras-Poulin et al. (1984-85) . A summary of the variables used in this study is provided in Table I . To measure awareness of subclinical mastitis (AWARE), a simple definition of subclinical mastitis was provided and the farmers were asked to mention ways of detecting this subclinical stage at the cow or herd level . A correct answer was taken as a proxy for mastitis awareness . The research procedures to assess goals and values such as TRADTION, FAMILY, INDEP, PROFIT, and JOB had been developed by Ilbery (1977, 1983), using approaches suggested by Gasson (1973) . HOUSHLD, INFSEEKB, LEVELIV, RISK, and CREDIT were measured using the approaches developed during previous research in Ireland (An Foras Taluntais, 1984 ; Frawley, 1985) . Farm performance as regards mastitis status, milk yield, and quality was measured for the previous 12 months by the following variables : mean log herd somatic cell count (XLOGSCC), proportion of months with SCC > 300 000 (SCC300), mean grade based on total bacterial count (XGRADE), mean milk yield per cow (XCOWYLD), mean milk yield per cow in the month of peak production (PKCOWYLD), and mean fat production per cow (XFATPROD) . Descriptive statistics were generated for all variables . Normality was checked using normal probability plots, and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov D statistic was used to test goodness of fit. To look for associations between farmer's personal characteristics, management practices, and farm performance, analysis of the data was carried out in three stages, and was a modification of the approach used by Bigras-Poulin et al. (198485) . First, bivariate tests for individual associations between the independent variables on each of the dependent variables were performed (analysis of variance and Student t-test for categorical data and correlation coefficients for continuous data) . Only independent variables that were significantly associated (P
