A statistical analysis of the financial performance of organic and conventional farms in the Czech Republic with respect to their size

Abstract

Organic farming represents an environment-friendly alternative to conventional farming techniques. The aim of this paper is to assess whether there are differences in financial performance of the Czech agricultural enterprises as measured by financial analysis indicators in relation to the selected farming system (conventional vs. organic), the farm size (with respect to organic and conventional farms) and the interaction of these two factors in the period 2012-2016. A three-step approach including two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), non-parametric two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), specifically the Scheirer-Ray-Hare test, and post hoc Dunn's test has been employed. The data sample comprises of 172 conventional and 136 organic farms, divided into three size categories. The effect of the selected farming system is manifested in return on sales, cost ratios, and asset turnover ratio. The farm size affects return on assets, cost ratios, liquidity and debt. The interaction of the factors has only been detected as regards return on assets.

Keywords

• analysis of variance
• conventional farming system
• financial indicators
• multivariate analysis of variance
• organic farming system