IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i13p7097-d581318.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Typological Classification for Assessing Farm Sustainability in the Italian Bovine Dairy Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Margherita Masi

    (Department of Veterinary Medical Science, University of Bologna—Alma Mater Studiorum, 40064 Ozzano dell’Emilia, Italy)

  • Yari Vecchio

    (Department of Veterinary Medical Science, University of Bologna—Alma Mater Studiorum, 40064 Ozzano dell’Emilia, Italy)

  • Gregorio Pauselli

    (Department of Veterinary Medical Science, University of Bologna—Alma Mater Studiorum, 40064 Ozzano dell’Emilia, Italy)

  • Jorgelina Di Pasquale

    (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy)

  • Felice Adinolfi

    (Department of Veterinary Medical Science, University of Bologna—Alma Mater Studiorum, 40064 Ozzano dell’Emilia, Italy)

Abstract

Italy is among the most important countries in Europe for milk production. The new European policies encourage a transition towards sustainability and are leading European dairy farms to follow new trajectories to increase their economic efficiency, reduce their environmental impact, and ensure social sustainability. Few studies have attempted to classify dairy farms by analyzing the relationships between the structural profiles of farms and the social, environmental, and economic dimensions of sustainability. This work intends to pursue this aim through an exploratory analysis in the Italian production context. The cluster analysis technique made it possible to identify three types of dairy farms, which were characterized on the basis of indicators that represented the three dimensions of sustainability (environmental, social, and economic sustainability) and the emerging structural relationships based on the structural characteristics of the dairy farms. The classification made it possible to describe the state of the art of the Italian dairy sector in terms of sustainability and to understand how different types of farms can respond to the new European trajectories.

Suggested Citation

  • Margherita Masi & Yari Vecchio & Gregorio Pauselli & Jorgelina Di Pasquale & Felice Adinolfi, 2021. "A Typological Classification for Assessing Farm Sustainability in the Italian Bovine Dairy Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-14, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:13:p:7097-:d:581318
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/13/7097/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/13/7097/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paola Gullino & Luca Battisti & Federica Larcher, 2018. "Linking Multifunctionality and Sustainability for Valuing Peri-Urban Farming: A Case Study in the Turin Metropolitan Area (Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-18, May.
    2. Marta Guth & Katarzyna Smędzik-Ambroży & Bazyli Czyżewski & Sebastian Stępień, 2020. "The Economic Sustainability of Farms under Common Agricultural Policy in the European Union Countries," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-20, January.
    3. Micha, Evgenia & Heanue, Kevin & Hyland, John J. & Hennessy, Thia & Dillon, Emma Jane & Buckley, Cathal, 2017. "Sustainability levels in Irish dairy farming: a farm typology according to sustainable performance indicators," Studies in Agricultural Economics, Research Institute for Agricultural Economics, vol. 119(2), August.
    4. Perrin, Augustine & Cristobal, Magali San & Milestad, Rebecka & Martin, Guillaume, 2020. "Identification of resilience factors of organic dairy cattle farms," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    5. Debora Scarpato & Gennaro Civero & Vincenzo Rusciano & Marcello Risitano, 2020. "Sustainable strategies and corporate social responsibility in the Italian fisheries companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2983-2990, November.
    6. Stefano Gaudino & Pytrik Reidsma & Argyris Kanellopoulos & Dario Sacco & Martin K. Van Ittersum, 2018. "Integrated Assessment of the EU’s Greening Reform and Feed Self-Sufficiency Scenarios on Dairy Farms in Piemonte, Italy," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-27, September.
    7. Mubareka, Sarah & Maes, Joachim & Lavalle, Carlo & de Roo, Ad, 2013. "Estimation of water requirements by livestock in Europe," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 4(C), pages 139-145.
    8. Henry Kaiser, 1958. "The varimax criterion for analytic rotation in factor analysis," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 23(3), pages 187-200, September.
    9. Bunkus, Ramona & Theesfeld, Insa, 2018. "Land Grabbing In Europe?," 58th Annual Conference, Kiel, Germany, September 12-14, 2018 275859, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    10. Mehdi Ghasemi & Mohammad Badsar & Leila Falahati & Esmail Karamidehkordi, 2021. "The mediation effect of rural women empowerment between social factors and environment conservation (combination of empowerment and ecofeminist theories)," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(9), pages 13755-13777, September.
    11. Robert Fairlie & Alicia Robb, 2009. "Gender differences in business performance: evidence from the Characteristics of Business Owners survey," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 375-395, December.
    12. Alan Murray & Keith Skene & Kathryn Haynes, 2017. "The Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Concept and Application in a Global Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 369-380, February.
    13. Tomas Baležentis & Aistė Galnaitytė & Irena Kriščiukaitienė & Virginia Namiotko & Lina Novickytė & Dalia Streimikiene & Rasa Melnikiene, 2019. "Decomposing Dynamics in the Farm Profitability: An Application of Index Decomposition Analysis to Lithuanian FADN Sample," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-15, May.
    14. Adrian Muller & Christian Schader & Nadia El-Hage Scialabba & Judith Brüggemann & Anne Isensee & Karl-Heinz Erb & Pete Smith & Peter Klocke & Florian Leiber & Matthias Stolze & Urs Niggli, 2017. "Strategies for feeding the world more sustainably with organic agriculture," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-13, December.
    15. Maria Angela Perito & Marcello De Rosa & Luca Bartoli & Emilio Chiodo & Giuseppe Martino, 2017. "Heterogeneous Organizational Arrangements in Agrifood Chains: A Governance Value Analysis Perspective on the Sheep and Goat Meat Sector of Italy," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-16, May.
    16. Katarina Arvidsson Segerkvist & Helena Hansson & Ulf Sonesson & Stefan Gunnarsson, 2020. "Research on Environmental, Economic, and Social Sustainability in Dairy Farming: A Systematic Mapping of Current Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-14, July.
    17. Anna Gaviglio & Mattia Bertocchi & Maria Elena Marescotti & Eugenio Demartini & Alberto Pirani, 2016. "The social pillar of sustainability: a quantitative approach at the farm level," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-19, December.
    18. Ramona Bunkus & Insa Theesfeld, 2018. "Land Grabbing in Europe? Socio-Cultural Externalities of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions in East Germany," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-21, August.
    19. Stylianou, Andreas & Sdrali, Despina & Apostolopoulos, Constantinos D., 2020. "Capturing the diversity of Mediterranean farming systems prior to their sustainability assessment: The case of Cyprus," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    20. Barros, Murillo Vetroni & Salvador, Rodrigo & de Francisco, Antonio Carlos & Piekarski, Cassiano Moro, 2020. "Mapping of research lines on circular economy practices in agriculture: From waste to energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Endre Harsányi & Bashar Bashir & Gafar Almhamad & Omar Hijazi & Mona Maze & Ahmed Elbeltagi & Abdullah Alsalman & Glory O. Enaruvbe & Safwan Mohammed & Szilárd Szabó, 2021. "GHGs Emission from the Agricultural Sector within EU-28: A Multivariate Analysis Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-18, October.
    2. Juan Claver & Amabel García-Domínguez & Miguel A. Sebastián, 2021. "Collaborative Cataloging of Spanish Industrial Heritage Assets through Teaching in Project Management Subjects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-22, September.
    3. Rajeev Bhat & Jorgelina Di Pasquale & Ferenc Istvan Bánkuti & Tiago Teixeira da Silva Siqueira & Philip Shine & Michael D. Murphy, 2022. "Global Dairy Sector: Trends, Prospects, and Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-7, April.
    4. Elisa Maini & Marcello De Rosa & Yari Vecchio, 2021. "The Role of Education in the Transition towards Sustainable Agriculture: A Family Farm Learning Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-11, July.
    5. Vlada Vitunskienė & Akvilė Aleksandravičienė & Neringa Ramanauskė, 2022. "Spatio-Temporal Assessment of Biomass Self-Sufficiency in the European Union," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-19, February.
    6. Anne-Charlotte Hoes & Lusine Aramyan, 2022. "Blind Spot for Pioneering Farmers? Reflections on Dutch Dairy Sustainability Transition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-19, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mechthild Donner & Anne Verniquet & Jan Broeze & Katrin Kayser & Hugo de Vries, 2021. "Critical success and risk factors for circular business models valorising agricultural waste and by-products," Post-Print hal-03004851, HAL.
    2. Agnieszka Stacherzak & Maria Hełdak & Ladislav Hájek & Katarzyna Przybyła, 2019. "State Interventionism in Agricultural Land Turnover in Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Sattwick Dey Biswas, 2021. "Smith’s paradox of price and negotiation: Empirical evidence from India," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 68(4), pages 465-484, December.
    4. Tomasz Berbeka & Tomasz Szuk & Aleksandra Plonka, 2021. "Land Concentration Processes: Polish Case Study in the Light of Selected EU Countries," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(3B), pages 325-337.
    5. Shirzad, Hossein & Barati, Ali Akbar & Ehteshammajd, Shaghayegh & Goli, Imaneh & Siamian, Narges & Moghaddam, Saghi Movahhed & Pour, Mahdad & Tan, Rong & Janečková, Kristina & Sklenička, Petr & Azadi,, 2022. "Agricultural land tenure system in Iran: An overview," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    6. Ruxandra Malina Petrescu-Mag & Hamid Rastegari Kopaei & Dacinia Crina Petrescu, 2021. "What Drives Landowners to Resist Selling Their Land? Insights from Ethical Capitalism and Landowners’ Perceptions," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-21, March.
    7. Petrescu-Mag, Ruxandra Malina & Petrescu, Dacinia Crina & Todoran, Silviu Ciprian & Petrescu-Mag, Ioan Valentin, 2021. "Us and them. Is the COVID-19 pandemic a driver for xenophobia in land transactions in Romania?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    8. Anja Scheurich & Alexandra Penicka & Stefan Hörtenhuber & Thomas Lindenthal & Elisabeth Quendler & Werner Zollitsch, 2021. "Elements of Social Sustainability among Austrian Hay Milk Farmers: Between Satisfaction and Stress," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-20, November.
    9. von Hobe, Cord-Friedrich & Mußhoff, Oliver, 2020. "On the effectiveness of restricted tenders as a form of policy intervention on agricultural land markets," 60th Annual Conference, Halle/ Saale, Germany, September 23-25, 2020 305592, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    10. Lucia Palšová & Anna Bandlerová & Zina Machničová, 2021. "Land Concentration and Land Grabbing Processes—Evidence from Slovakia," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-16, August.
    11. Ramona Bunkus & Ilkhom Soliev & Insa Theesfeld, 2020. "Density of resident farmers and rural inhabitants’ relationship to agriculture: operationalizing complex social interactions with a structural equation model," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(1), pages 47-63, March.
    12. Aleksander Grzelak, 2020. "The Objectives of Farm Operations—Evidence from a Region in Poland," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-20, October.
    13. von Hobe, Cord-Friedrich & Mußhoff, Oliver, 2020. "On the effectiveness of restricted tenders as a form of policy intervention on agricultural land markets," 60th Annual Conference, Halle/ Saale, Germany, September 23-25, 2020 305592, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    14. Agus Andrianto & Heru Komarudin & Pablo Pacheco, 2019. "Expansion of Oil Palm Plantations in Indonesia’s Frontier: Problems of Externalities and the Future of Local and Indigenous Communities," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-16, March.
    15. Mechthild Donner & Ivana Radić, 2021. "Innovative circular business models in the olive oil sector for sustainable mediterranean agrifood systems," Post-Print hal-03158870, HAL.
    16. Dominika Milczarek-Andrzejewska & Jerzy Wilkin & Renata Marks-Bielska & Adam Czarnecki & Anna Bartczak, 2020. "Konflikty o ziemię rolną – perspektywa ekonomiczna," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 4, pages 5-31.
    17. Marii Rasva & Evelin Jürgenson, 2022. "Europe’s Large-Scale Land Acquisitions and Bibliometric Analysis," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-13, June.
    18. Vasile Burja & Attila Tamas-Szora & Iulian Bogdan Dobra, 2020. "Land Concentration, Land Grabbing and Sustainable Development of Agriculture in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-19, March.
    19. José Luis Vicente-Vicente & Cristina Quintas-Soriano & María D. López-Rodríguez, 2022. "A Transformative (r)Evolution of the Research on Agriculture through Fostering Human-Nature Connectedness—A Special Issue Editorial," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-7, April.
    20. Theesfeld, Insa & Soliev, Ilkhom & Bunkus, Ramona, 2020. "Social Dimensions of Agricultural Land Transactions in Germany: An Analysis with a Structural Equation Model," 60th Annual Conference, Halle/ Saale, Germany, September 23-25, 2020 305582, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:13:p:7097-:d:581318. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.