Crop-Livestock Diversification and Efficiency in Agriculture

Authors

Jay Parsons, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Maroua Afi, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Date of this Version

7-9-2023

Document Type

Article

Citation

Cornhusker Economics (July 19, 2023)

Agricultural Economics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Comments

Used by permission.

Abstract

Diversification is a familiar strategy for managing risk in agriculture. It can take several forms including growing more than one crop or operating a farm with both crop and livestock enterprises. As with other strategies for managing risk, diversification comes with a unique set of costs. Managing a farm with multiple enterprises creates additional overhead as well as additional demands on management, labor, land, capital, and other resources. Diversification adds complexity to an operation and too much complexity can lead to inefficiencies.