What are the preferences of Dairy Farmers regarding their Work? A Discrete Choice Experiment in the Eastern Part of Switzerland

The paper analyzes the preferences of dairy farmers with respect to their work by the means of a Discrete Choice experiment, which was carried out in the Eastern part of Switzerland. 304 dairy farmers, who intend to produce milk beyond the abolishment of the milk quota in 2009, were asked to choose between the status quo and alternatives consisting of several combinations with four attributes. The latter comprise work content, terms of employment, holiday per year and income per year. Using a probit model, the willingness to pay/accept is calculated. The results indicate that there is a strong preference to stay in dairy production. In order to achieve both, maintaining the level of utility and moving away from dairy production, an additional income (willingness to accept) per year of at least CHF 25’000.- would be necessary. The pre-ferences of dairy farmers show that differences between the alternative work contents like suckler cows husbandry, farming without livestock and work outside of agriculture are minor.