The Economics of Use and Non-Use of Antimicrobial Growth Promoters: The case of Danish Broiler Production

Authors: Lawson, Lartey G.; Jensen, Vibeke F.

Source: Journal of International Farm Management, Volume 4, Number 2, February 2008 , pp. 51-63(13)

Publisher: Institute of Agricultural Management

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Abstract:

The use of antimicrobial growth promoters was discontinued in the Danish poultry sector in January 1999 on the recommendations of the industry itself and the government. The aim was to ensure consumer food safety. From the economic point of view it was expected that poultry producers would react by restructuring the input set. This paper reports an investigation of the economics of the use and non-use of antimicrobials as growth promoters by tracing the development of broiler output elasticities with respect to inputs and technical change using a production function. We used aggregated panel data from 1994 to 2004 for broiler farms classified as small, medium and large. Our findings suggest that the component of feed in scale elasticities through the period declined, while that of chick stock increased as a result of a decreasing mortality rate and increasing growth rate. The implication is that discontinuing the use of antimicrobial growth promoters has had no effect on broiler production.

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Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2008-02-01

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