Non-Parametric Measures of Technical Efficiency in Milk Production

This paper presents estimates of technical efficiency in milk production based on Farrell's non-parametric frontier production function methodology. Data from a sample of Maine and Vermont dairy farms, included in the ELFAC business analysis for 1979, were used to derive Efficient Unit Isoquants for capital-labor and concentrate feed-roughage combinations. The analysis indicates that milk production in Maine and Vermont farms was characterized b{ significant technical inefficiencies during 1979.