Selected issues of risk management in livestock production

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a review study conducted using the snowba l l ing te chnique. Its primary goal is in-depth analysis of six important, in the author’s subjective opinion, issues concerning risk management in livestock production. The starting point for consideration is the observation that livestock farmers are confronted with various risks that can ultimately (when they materialise) impair their economic and financial situation. However, the most serious threat lies in animal diseases and epidemics, which can also adversely affect the states’ budgetary situation, as well as the supply of animal products and their quality and prices. In this context, both farmers and public authorities should have appropriate economic models in place to control animal health and diseases, an overview of which are provided in this article. However, for the models to be used effectively, all stakeholders should, at minimum, have general knowledge of the sources of risks, their perception and the attitudes of agricultural producers themselves towards them, so the article analyses these categories as well. We also present the formal aspect of production and price risk modelling to address, among others, the reasons for the low uptake of traditional insurance in livestock production. Following this, the practical and political recommendation that every country should have a holistic risk management system for livestock rearing and breeding, which is also the main conclusion of the analysis, is reliably documented. Of course, such system should be continuously improved, and it is also highly desirable that it is gradually supported by complex models of system dynamics. Key words: economic models for livestock health and disease control, risk in livestock production, insurance in livestock production, risk management in livestock production