Factors Affecting the Structural Features of Dairy Farming Organizations in Yalova: The Habits of Feeding and Nutrition

Abstract

This research has been conducted in order to determine the habits of feed and nutrition in dairy farming organizations, and how the education level of farmers and the number of animals affected these habits. The data that obtained from 324 randomly chosen dairy farms around the city by the means of the survey comprised the material of research. Crosstabb analysis was applied to the obtained data using SPSS 20.0 package program. The most commonly used roughage combination in organizations was knotgrass and straw. It has been founded that the rate of using the this combination was 50% in primary education level, 27.2% in secondary education level and 35.1% in high school and higher education level. The ratio of breeders who have less animals using this combination was 50%. The rate declined to 25.5% with the increase in the number of animals. The number of animals affected the roughage combination considerably (P<0.01).Concentrate usage changed according to the education level. The ratio of using 4-6 kg concentrate was 48.5% in organizations with primary education level. This declined to 43.8% in secondary education level, and 38.9% in high school and higher education levels. So, there was a reverse relation in 7-9 kg feed usage: as education level increases the rate of using concentrate increases. The feed crop production in organizations has been affected by the number of animals considerably. While the rate of feed crop production was 44.9% in organizations which have less than five animals, this rate increased up to 74.5% with the rise in the number of animals. The education level of breeders (P<0.05) and the number of animals (P<0.01) affected the use of silage in organizations substantially.

Keywords

• Dairy farming
• feed types
• habit of feeding
• Yalova