Evidence of farm-level synergies in mixed-farming systems in the Australian Wheat-Sheep Zone

Abstract

Synergies are reported for mixed-enterprise farming systems in a benchmarking group in the Wheat-Sheep Zone in New South Wales, Australia. A stochastic input distance function is estimated and a measure of synergies is calculated, based on the second cross partial derivative of output variables in the distance function. Evidence is presented of strong synergies from complementarity between sheep and beef enterprises, sheep and crop enterprises, and beef and crop enterprises.