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The evaluation of the competitiveness of different agriculture sectors has, traditionally, been based on the measurement of technical efficiency. We focus on the dairy sector because the EU dairy sector is one of the pivotal agricultural sectors in the EU. The dairy sector currently faces several challenges arising from growing EU and global demand, price volatility, fodder crisis as a result of climate change and the fact that dairy farms are highly specialized, which on the one hand may be an advantage, on the other hand a threat due to higher vulnerability to income shocks. Milk production is carried out on mixed farms or specialized farms. In 2012, the share of the sector covered by specialized farms in the FADN, on which this analysis is based, is more than 80% in the EU-15 (EU members until the 2004 enlargement) and around 50% in the other member states. There are big differences in coverage among EU countries: only 17% of milk production in Slovakia and 19% in the Czech Republic, but full production in Ireland and Finland.

The structure of the national economies throughout the world has undergone important changes in the 20th and 21st centuries. These changes have been carefully monitored and analyzed, especially in relation to the continuous population growth that needs more and more natural resources.