Anti-crisis management in dairy-oriented farms.

摘要

Approximately 22 000 large agricultural organizations are involved in milk production in Russia, of which around 10 000 are "dairy-oriented" farms, i.e. farms that derive the majority of their income from dairying. Many of these farms are facing financial difficulties. The root cause of many of the problems facing dairy-oriented farms is considered to arise from imperfections in the way the Russian dairy market operates and the lack of government regulation of this market. Ways of bringing dairy-oriented farms out of economic crisis are considered. The initial stage in such "anti-crisis management" should be analysis of the enterprise's current situation, comprising: verifying the enterprise's legal status; analysing land relations; producing an inventory of the enterprise's resources; analysing the enterprise's economic and financial situation; and analysing markets for selling milk and milk products, including comparing the efficiency of different distribution channels for milk. Following this analytical work, the following measures can be implemented as part of an anti-crisis management programme: (1) sale of assets that are not used in production or which are utilized inefficiently; (2) sale of land packages that are not used; (3) business restructuring or re-engineering (e.g. through culling low-yielding cows, reducing numbers of replacement calves, introducing on-farm milk processing facilities, measures aimed at improving milk quality, reducing seasonal fluctuations in milk production, and optimizing feed production); (4) debt restructuring; (5) changing the structure of the enterprise and managing costs; and (6) attracting investment.