Preliminary data on comparison of small and medium dairy farms in Albania.

The objective of the study was to compare the performance of the small dairy farms (2=4 cows) and medium dairy farms (≥6 cows) in Albania, with reference to the annual farm income, the cost of milk production and the problems faced. Data on production, expenses and returns were recorded on a monthly basis for each farm over a period of 12 months. Data such as using milking machine, artificial insemination, needs for training, fodder production and feed bought in the market were collected. The difference in milk yield is very little between such farms (2.1%). The annual profit per farm for the small farms is 106.8 Euro and for the medium ones is 254.4 Euro. The small farms sells 79,1% of the milk production while the medium ones 88,9%. In both cases the fodder production and part of concentrate feed is produced in the farm however the small farms bought 1064 kg/cow concentrate while the medium ones 1,682 kg/cow. All farmers are asking for trainings how to prepare silage and good quality hay, as well as learning livestock good practices.