Full Cost Research Articles

Calculating the true costs of protein sources by integrating environmental costs and market prices

The food sector is responsible for a great part of the environmental impact of our society (for instance, according to the UN, about a third of all human-made greenhouse gas emissions are linked to this sector) and protein sources, as one of the main food groups, have a particularly significant impact on the environment. Understanding the environmental and economic impacts of dietary choices is crucial, especially proteins choices, a main food source. Market prices alone do not comprehensively represent the true costs for society. True Cost Accounting is a methodology that quantifies the comprehensive economic, environmental, and social costs. Calculating the hidden environmental costs of the different alternative proteins helps to inform the public about the environmental consequences of their dietary choices. Adjusted prices, which integrate market prices with hidden environmental costs of protein alternative sources, including both animal-based and plant-based options, were estimated. In determining the true cost of proteins, assigning monetary values to environmental impacts is essential. Calculating environmental costs and adjusting the price of proteins provide a more accurate reflection of their true cost by accounting for the environmental externalities associated with protein production. A life cycle approach was applied, considering both a conventional mass-based functional unit and a proposed protein-content-based functional unit, which integrates the source's efficiency to deliver protein nutrient. In a mass-based calculation, beef and lamb production consistently demonstrate the highest adjusted costs, amounting to 33.72€ per kg of source, while plant-based protein sources typically exhibit lower adjusted costs, with an average of 12.31€ per kg of source. In between, seafood ranks fourth at 26.41€ per kg of source.However, when the calculation of the adjusted price is based on real protein content, seafood commands the highest value, reaching 179.97€ per kg of protein, whereas beef and lamb drop to the third position at 131.76€ per kg of protein, and plant-based options Increase to 116.32€ per kg of protein. In summary, our study emphasizes the significance of informed dietary choices that account for both environmental sustainability and economic factors, and the need to use proper methodologies for the quantitative accounting. Further research is necessary to include social dimensions in the study, given their current unmeasurability due to complexity and limited information.

Economic burden of tobacco use in Pakistan

BackgroundThe lack of reliable tobacco healthcare and economic cost estimates leaves the tobacco industry undertaxed and thriving in Pakistan and makes the country as one of the top tobacco-consuming nations....

Sustainability Science Communication: Case Study of a True Cost Campaign in Germany

The Anthropocene, marked by human-induced climate change, necessitates urgent action to address climate goals and respect planetary boundaries. While sustainability research provides knowledge, the first challenge lies in communicating the findings in an adequate manner to the public and several stakeholders, such as economic and political actors. Therefore, this study explores the significance of science communication in sustainability science, focusing on a case study—the True Cost Accounting (TCA) campaign by the University of Greifswald, Technical Institute of Nuremberg, and German retailer PENNY. TCA herein serves as a transparency tool, economic incentive, and discussion basis for sustainable consumption. This study investigates consumer perceptions of ecological prices of foods through a face-to-face survey during the 2023 PENNY campaign, comparing results to an informational campaign carried out in 2021. Findings indicate a high awareness of the true cost campaign in 2023, with 50.8% of participants hearing about it. Consumers’ willingness to pay true costs and potential behavior changes were explored. In comparison to results from the informational campaign of 2021, customers showed a decrease in this WTP when the true prices would actually impact their spending, indicating an attitude–behavior gap. In addition, a willingness to reduce the consumption of animal foods—if TCA was implemented—of 60.5% was determined, which suggests that TCA has the potential for sustainable behavior change. This study highlights factors that influence consumer attitudes and preferences regarding the inclusion of TCAs, such as environmental, social, and animal welfare costs. Customers’ understanding of increased prices—like, in this case, the compensation for environmental and social costs—is an argument in favor of true prices. The results emphasize the need for differentiated scientific communication strategies to bridge knowledge and action gaps in sustainability science.

ANALYSIS OF HOUSEHOLDS’ WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR THE PROVISION OF PDAM TIRTA RAHARJA’S PIPE CONNECTION USING CONTINGENT VALUATION METHOD

Gandasari is one of the villages in Katapang Sub District, Bandung Regency. Most people in Gandasari Village use groundwater as their main water source to fulfill their needs of water. Groundwater in Gandasari Village has bad quality and quantity. Hence, the provision of a safe water supply is needed in Gandasari Village. On the other hand, Perusahaan Daerah Air Minum (PDAM) Tirta Raharja is developing their House Connection (SR) in Gandasari Village RW 5,6,7,9, and 11. Provision and management of water supply required to achieve full cost recovery. Therefore, it is necessary to know the willingness to pay (WTP) value for the provision of PDAM’s pipe connection. This study aimed to determine households’ WTP for the provision of piped water service and identify the factors affecting it. The WTP was estimated through questionnaires collected from 89 households in Gandasari Village using Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) and bidding games technique. Based on the questionnaire result, the Estimated Mean WTP (EWTP) value of WTP for installation fee is Rp961.798 and Total WTP is Rp735.775.281. Meanwhile the EWTP value of WTP for retribution fee is Rp51.180/month and TWTP is Rp39.152.528. Factors affecting the value of WTP for installation fee is household size and average income, meanwhile for retribution fee WTP value average income was the affecting factor. Provision of communal well is recommended for households who cannot afford to pay for PDAM.

Implementation of Calculation of Cost of Goods Production by Full Costing and Variable Costing Methods (Case Study of MSMEs in the Food Sector in Jambi City)

Implementation of Calculation of Cost of Goods Production by Full Costing and Variable Costing Methods (Case Study of MSMEs in the Food Sector in Jambi City)

Towards ultra-low-cost smartphone microscopy.

The outbreak of COVID-19 exposed the inadequacy of our technical tools for home health surveillance, and recent studies have shown the potential of smartphones as a universal optical microscopic imaging platform for such applications. However, most of them use laboratory-grade optomechanical components and transmitted illuminations to ensure focus tuning capability and imaging quality, which keeps the cost of the equipment high. Here, we propose an ultra-low-cost solution for smartphone microscopy. To realize focus tunability, we designed a seesaw-like structure capable of converting large displacements on one side into small displacements on the other (reduced to ∼9.1%), which leverages the intrinsic flexibility of 3D printing materials. We achieved a focus-tuning accuracy of ∼5 𝜇m, which is 40 times higher than the machining accuracy of the 3D-printed lens holder itself. For microscopic imaging, we used an off-the-shelf smartphone camera lens as the objective and the built-in flashlight as the illumination. To compensate for the resulting image quality degradation, we developed a learning-based image enhancement method. We used the CycleGAN architecture to establish the mapping from smartphone microscope images to benchtop microscope images without pairing. We verified the imaging performance on different biomedical samples. Except for the smartphone, we kept the full costs of the device under 4 USD. We think these efforts to lower the costs of smartphone microscopes will benefit their applications in various scenarios, such as point-of-care testing, on-site diagnosis, and home health surveillance. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: We propose a solution for ultra-low-cost smartphone microscopy. Utilizing the flexibility of 3D-printed material, we can achieve focusing accuracy of ∼5 𝜇m. Such a low-cost device will benefit point-of-care diagnosis and home health surveillance.

Analisis perhitungan biaya produksi menggunakan metode full costing dan variable costing dalam menetapkan harga pokok produksi roti pada Toko Kartini

Production costs are costs that include all costs, either directly or indirectly that can be identified with the activities of processing raw materials into finished products. Cost of goods manufactured is a collection of costs that have been incurred and processed that occur in a process of producing goods consisting of raw material costs, direct labor costs and factory overhead costs. The full costing method is a method for determining the cost of goods manufactured by charging all fixed and variable production costs to the products produced. The variable costing method is a method for determining the cost of goods manufactured by only taking into account variable production costs. The purpose of this study was to determine how to analyze the calculation of production costs using the full costing and variable costing methods in determining the cost of production of bread products at Toko Kartini. This study used qualitative approach with a descriptive analysis. The results of this study show that the calculation of the cost of goods produced when applied the full costing method and variable costing get different results compared to company's method. The full costing method gets bigger results than the company’s method, while the variable costing method gets smaller results than company’s method, as well as the full costing method which gets bigger results than when calculated using the variable costing method.

Cost Effectiveness of Dapagliflozin for Heart Failure Across the Spectrum of Ejection Fraction: An Economic Evaluation Based on Pooled, Individual Participant Data From the DELIVER and DAPA-HF Trials.

The sodium glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors are guideline-recommended to treat heart failure across the spectrum of left ventricular ejection fraction; however, economic evaluations of adding sodium glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors to standard of care in chronic heart failure across a broad left ventricular ejection fraction range are lacking. We conducted a US-based cost-effectiveness analysis of dapagliflozin added to standard of care in a chronic heart failure population using pooled, participant data from the DAPA-HF (Dapagliflozin and Prevention of Adverse Outcomes in Heart Failure) and DELIVER (Dapagliflozin Evaluation to Improve the Lives of Patients With Preserved Ejection Fraction Heart Failure) trials. The 3-state Markov model used estimates of transitional probabilities, effectiveness of dapagliflozin, and utilities from the pooled trials. Costs estimates were obtained from published sources, including published rebates in dapagliflozin cost. Adding dapagliflozin to standard of care was estimated to produce an additional 0.53 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) compared with standard of care alone. Incremental cost effectiveness ratios were $85 554/QALY when using the publicly reported full (undiscounted) Medicare cost ($515/month) and $40 081/QALY, at a published nearly 50% rebate ($263/month). The addition of dapagliflozin to standard of care would be of at least intermediate value (<$150 000/QALY) at a cost of <$872.58/month, of high value (<$50 000/QALY) at <$317.66/month, and cost saving at <$40.25/month. Dapagliflozin was of at least intermediate value in 92% of simulations when using the full (undiscounted) Medicare list cost in probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Cost effectiveness was most sensitive to the dapagliflozin cost and the effect on cardiovascular death. The addition of dapagliflozin to standard of care in patients with heart failure across the spectrum of ejection fraction was at least of intermediate value at the undiscounted Medicare cost and may be potentially of higher value on the basis of the level of discount, rebates, and price negotiations offered. URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifiers: NCT01035255 & NCT01920711.

Estimating the costs and perceived benefits of oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) delivery in ten counties of Kenya: a costing and a contingent valuation study.

Kenya included oral PrEP in the national guidelines as part of combination HIV prevention, and subsequently began providing PrEP to individuals who are at elevated risk of HIV infection in 2017. However, as scale-up continued, there was a recognized gap in knowledge on the cost of delivering oral PrEP. This gap limited the ability of the Government of Kenya to budget for its PrEP scale-up and to evaluate PrEP relative to other HIV prevention strategies. The following study calculated the actual costs of oral PrEP scale-up as it was being delivered in ten counties in Kenya. This costing also allowed for a comparison of various models of service delivery in different geographic regions from the perspective of service providers in Kenya. In addition, the analysis was also conducted to understand factors that indicate why some individuals place a greater value on PrEP than others, using a contingent valuation technique. Data collection was completed between November 2017 and September 2018. Costing data was collected from 44 Kenyan health facilities, consisting of 23 public facilities, 5 private facilities and 16 drop-in centers (DICEs) through a cross-sectional survey in ten counties. Financial and programmatic data were collected from financial and asset records and through interviewer administered questionnaires. The costs associated with PrEP provision were calculated using an ingredients-based costing approach which involved identification and costing of all the economic inputs (both direct and indirect) used in PrEP service delivery. In addition, a contingent valuation study was conducted at the same 44 facilities to understand factors that reveal why some individuals place a greater value on PrEP than others. Interviews were conducted with 2,258 individuals (1,940 current PrEP clients and 318 non-PrEP clients). A contingent valuation method using a "payment card approach" was used to determine the maximum willingness to pay (WTP) of respondents regarding obtaining access to oral PrEP services. The weighted cost of providing PrEP was $253 per person year, ranging from $217 at health centers to $283 at dispensaries. Drop-in centers (DICEs), which served about two-thirds of the client volume at surveyed facilities, had a unit cost of $276. The unit cost was highest for facilities targeting MSM ($355), while it was lowest for those targeting FSW ($248). The unit cost for facilities targeting AGYW was $323 per person year. The largest percentage of costs were attributable to personnel (58.5%), followed by the cost of drugs, which represented 25% of all costs. The median WTP for PrEP was $2 per month (mean was $4.07 per month). This covers only one-third of the monthly cost of the medication (approximately $6 per month) and less than 10% of the full cost of delivering PrEP ($21 per month). A sizable proportion of current clients (27%) were unwilling to pay anything for PrEP. Certain populations put a higher value on PrEP services, including: FSW and MSM, Muslims, individuals with higher education, persons between the ages of 20 and 35, and households with a higher income and expenditures. This is the most recent and comprehensive study on the cost of PrEP delivery in Kenya. These results will be used in determining resource requirements and for resource mobilization to facilitate sustainable PrEP scale-up in Kenya and beyond. This contingent valuation study does have important implications for Kenya's PrEP program. First, it indicates that some populations are more motivated to adopt oral PrEP, as indicated by their higher WTP for the service. MSM and FSW, for example, placed a higher value on PrEP than AGYW. Higher educated individuals, in turn, put a much higher value on PrEP than those with less education (which may also reflect the higher "ability to pay" among those with more education). This suggests that any attempt to increase demand or improve PrEP continuation should consider these differences in client populations. Cost recovery from existing PrEP clients would have potentially negative consequences for uptake and continuation.

Multicriteria Machine Learning Model Assessment—Residuum Analysis Review

The use of machine learning (ML) and its applications is one of the leading research areas nowadays. Neural networks have recently gained enormous popularity and many works in various fields use them in the hope of improving previous results. The application of the artificial intelligence (AI) methods and the rationale for this decision is one issue, but the assessment of such a model is a completely different matter. People mostly use mean square error or less often mean absolute error in the absolute or percentage versions. One should remember that an error does not equal an error and a single value does not provide enough knowledge about the causes of some behavior. Proper interpretation of the results is crucial. It leads to further model improvement. It might be challenging, but allows us to obtain better and more robust solutions, which ultimately solve real-life problems. The ML model assessment is the multicriteria task. A single measure delivers only a fraction of the picture. This paper aims at filling that research gap. Commonly used integral measures are compared with alternative measures like factors of the Gaussian and non-Gaussian statistics, robust statistical estimators, tail index and the fractional order. The proposed methodology delivers new single-criteria indexes or the multicriteria approach, which extend the statistical concept of the moment ratio diagram (MRD) into the index ratio diagram (IRD). The proposed approach is validated using real data from the Full Truck Load cost estimation example. It compares 35 different ML regression algorithms applied to that task. The analysis gives an insight into the properties of the selected methods, enables their comparison and homogeneity analysis and ultimately leads towards constructive suggestions for their eventual proper use. The paper proposes new indexes and concludes that correct selection of the residuum analysis methodology makes the assessment and the ML regression credible.

Harga Jual Beras melalui Perhitungan Harga Pokok Produksi dengan Metode Full Costing dan Variable Costing pada Penggilingan Padi Talago

This descriptive quantitative research was conducted to determine the selling price of rice through the calculation of the cost of goods manufactured. The data used consisted of primary data from interviews with the manager of the Talago Rice Mill. Data processing was carried out using the full costing and variable costing methods to determine the cost of goods manufactured. The results of the analysis and discussion show that the selling price of rice determined by the manager is lower than the selling price calculated by the full costing method and higher than the selling price by the variable costing method. The selling price obtained from the full costing method is IDR 16,200/kg, while the selling price using the variable costing method is IDR 15,400/kg. This price is different from the selling price determined by the manager as the producer, which is IDR 16,000/kg.

Analysis of Determination of Production Costs and Full Cost Recovery (a Case Study at PDAM XYZ Banda Aceh City)

PDAM XYZ's complete cost recovery rates in 2020 and 2021 is another goal of this study. This study uses a qualitative, descriptive methodology. Primary data from interviews and secondary data from PDAM XYZ performance evaluation reports that have undergone an audit by BPKP serve as the research's data sources. The Miles &amp; Huberman research model is the data analysis technique that is applied, consisting of data gathering, reduction, presentation, and conclusion drawing. The study's findings indicate that employing PDAM XYZ's genuine NRW yields a higher manufacturing cost than utilizing standard NRW. This study also demonstrates that, when employing the real cost of production, PDAM XYZ has not achieved the entire cost recovery rate, but, when using the standard cost of production, PDAM XYZ has achieved the complete cost recovery rate.

Cost of implementing CAR-T activity and managing CAR-T patients: an exploratory study.

Chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T) represent an innovation but raise issues for healthcare payers because of the uncertainty on impact at market launch, high cost and important organisational impact. The literature has focused on their assessment, appraisal and market access solutions. No evidence on the costs sustained to implement CAR-T is available and a few studies reported the cost of the CAR-T clinical pathway, including the activities that are remunerated through inpatient or outpatient fee-for-service/episode. This paper aims at filling the information gap, assessing the cost of implementing CAR-T activity and the full cost of managing the CAR-T clinical pathway. Cost analysis relied on the Activity Based Costing approach, which was applied to two Italian healthcare organisations, both CAR-T Centres authorized by the regional governments with a minimum of 20 patients treated with the first two CAR-T therapies launched on the market. The cost of implementing CAR-T was estimated at €1.31million (calculated for one of the organizations with complete data). Most of these costs (77%) were generated by quality assurance activity. The mean cost per patient entering the CAR-T pathway (59 and 27) and surviving at follow-up (21 and 5) ranges from €48K to €57K and from €96K to €106K, respectively. Fees for hospitalization and infusion of gene therapy accounts for more than 70% of these costs. The actual hospitalisation cost varies greatly across patients and is in general lower than the fee-for-episode paid by the region to the hospital. Despite its limitations (exploratory nature; the time spent by staff on activities which are not remunerated through fees was estimated through interviews with the CAR-T coordinators; cost items are not fully comparable), this research highlighted the relevant organisational and economic impact of CAR-T and provided important insights for policy makers and healthcare managers: the necessity to invest resources in CAR-T implementation; the need for assessing activities which are not remunerated through fees for service / episode; the opportunity to shift from fee-for-episode/service to bundled payments for CAR-T clinical pathway.

Perhitungan Harga Pokok Produksi dalam Menentukan Harga Jual pada UMKM Kangen Roti

Analyze the cost of producing tiny bread in determining the selling price per slice of bread based on the profit desired by Kangen Roti using the full costing and variable costing methods. This research is a descriptive research with data collection techniques using interviews and documentation techniques. The results show that there are differences in the results of calculating the cost of goods manufactured and selling prices between the full costing and variable costing methods. Production costs generated according to calculations with the Full Costing method are IDR 750 and with the Variable Costing method that is IDR 656, while according to the results of data processing with the full costing method approach that is IDR 1,114 and with the Variable Costing method that is IDR 806, and in setting the selling price using the competitor's price method, Kangen Roti sets a selling price of IDR 1,500 and earns a profit of 100% the production price of IDR 750, but after conducting research the results of data processing show that the cost of production is IDR 1,114 and the price selling using the cost plus pricing method with an expected profit of 40% of Kangen Roti is IDR 1,575

Assessing the contribution of nonmarket factors to the market value generated by cow-calf operations in rangelands of the western USA: A true cost accounting approach.

Food system transformation requires a better understanding of the negative and positive externalities involved in food production and consumption. Although negative externalities have received substantial attention, positive externalities have been largely overlooked. True Cost Accounting (TCA) is an economic assessment aimed at accounting for externalities in food systems. The beef industry is an important part of the US food system. In the western USA, beef cattle production is a major land use and economic activity that involves direct links among the cattle, range ecosystems, range management, climate, and ranchers' decisions and welfare. We present a case study based on a TCA assessment to quantify and monetize the contribution of human, social, natural, and produced capitals, as well as farm structure, to the market value generated by cow-calf operations, a key component of the USA beef industry. We estimated an Ordinary Least Square regression model based on indicators of these capitals and of farm structure derived from publicly available data sources at the county level. From model coefficients, we estimated the marginal revenue product of these factors. Results show that nonmarket factors linked with human and social capitals support market performance by contributing to the market value of cow-calf production. These factors operate at scales above the ranch, usually remain hidden, and seldomly are considered in policy decision-making which can lead to policies that inadvertently hamper or eliminate these positive externalities.

Evaluating the impact of industrial loads on the performance of solar PV/diesel hybrid renewable energy systems for rural electrification in Ghana

Access to reliable electricity remains a significant challenge in many rural communities worldwide. Off-grid solar PV hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) have emerged as a viable option for rural electrification. However, rural communities' lack of productive load often limits their effectiveness. This study aimed to assess the impact of agro-processing productive loads on the performance of off-grid solar PV HRES for rural electrification. Hybrid Optimization Multiple Energy Resource (HOMER) software was used to perform a techno-economic analysis of a solar PV/diesel HRES. The study findings showed improvement in the rural community's load factor and solar load correlation with the integration of the productive load. Subsequently, increasing the renewable energy fraction in solar PV/diesel HRES reduces the levelized cost of energy (LCOE), making electricity generation more cost-effective for rural electrification in Ghana. Comparatively, the improved LCOE was found to be substantially higher than the End User Tariff of all residential consumers on the national grid, even under high PV penetration and full capital cost subsidy cases. The study provides valuable insights into the role of agro-based productive loads in enhancing the performance of rural off-grid solar HRES.

Valuing for sustainability: hidden costs and benefits in multidimensional agriculture

The concept of agriculture has changed over the years. Whereas it was once considered simply a “means” for the production of goods (food and non-food), today, its multifunctionality, understood as the ability to also provide environmental and social services, takes on greater importance. The concept of multifunctionality is intended to change the conception of the agricultural sector and make it more suitable for the historical period of transition we are currently experiencing, for which it is essential to abandon old paradigms in order to create new ones. An unresolved challenge is providing value for each of the multifunctional services. This article provides a brief review of studies dedicated to identifying the main market and extra-market effects of multidimensional agriculture and describes some approaches used to adopt (monetary) quantification of related and secondary activities to facilitate the adoption of more sustainable practices. Special attention is given to payments for ecosystem services, true cost accounting, and true price tools to analyse the positive and negative externalities of multifunctional agricultural systems.

Case study of cost efficiency in selected business entities in Poland in light of current economic conditions

Motivation: Current economic conditions, including, but not limited to, the rising inflation rate, changes in electricity prices or changes in tax law significantly affect the manner of operation of business entities in Poland. The economic impact of these changes varies greatly depending on the type of business, industry or economic sector represented. These changes are also reflected in the level and structure of the entities’ own costs — primarily in the when considering costs by type. The multitude of changes that Polish companies now face also indicates the importance and relevance of the concept of effective cost management in these difficult economic conditions. Therefore, the need to adapt the business to the peculiarities of the new economic reality created the basis for a thorough identification of cost information needs coming in from the cost accounting systems used in companies. This became one of the prerequisites for undertaking research on evaluating the usefulness of cost accounting systems used in business entities for effective management of their costs.Aim: The purpose of this article is to analyze and assessment the cost effectiveness of selected entities representing production, commercial and service activities in the context of recent changes in economic in Poland.Results: The main conclusion of the analysis is that the current economic conditions have a significant impact on the level and structure of own costs in business entities. Therefore, these entities need specialized economic tools to improve the efficiency of their cost management. It is because the traditional full-cost accounting system used by most business entities in Poland is proving to be inadequate in this regard.

Cost Plus Pricing with a Full Costing Approach in Determining the Selling Price of Mie Aigo Bangkalan Bangkalan

This research aims to compare the selling prices applied by the Aigo Bangkalan Noodle Company with the cost plus pricing method using a full costing approach. Apart from that, the aim of this research is also to assess the company's level of efficiency in achieving profits using financial ratios, especially profitability ratios. This research utilizes a descriptive approach, with two types of data used, namely quantitative and qualitative, and adopts interview techniques as a data collection method. Analysis was carried out using descriptive analysis methods. The research findings show a difference in selling prices between companies using a pricing approach based on additional costs (cost plus pricing) and a full costing approach, with a difference of IDR 1,425 (11.42%). However, the Company's performance in generating profits is considered efficient based on evaluation using profitability ratios

Sustainable intensification of grass-based beef production systems in alpine regions: How to increase economic efficiency while preserving biodiversity?

CONTEXTBeef production on grasslands has multiple positive impacts. In addition to the production of high-quality protein, marginal lands in particular enable high biodiversity and landscape quality. However, this type of production is perceived as less economical than more intensive meat production systems. OBJECTIVEThe aim of the study is to develop recommendations on how different grass-based production systems can be economically improved without endangering biodiversity. METHODSThirty-five suckler cow farms supplying into two different brand programmes (Natura-Veal: slaughter age at five months; Natura-Beef: slaughter age at 10 months) were grouped into four production systems across two production sites in Switzerland: Natura-Veal, mountain region, extensive (VMount); Natura-Beef, mountain region (BMount); Natura-Veal, hilly region, intensive (VHill) and Natura-Beef, lowlands (BLowla). On the farms, beef production was analysed in detail on the basis of technical production data as well as full cost accounting. The farms were grouped into one model farm (farm type) per production system. On each model farm, optimisation options were simulated and checked for practicability with farmer participation. The optimisation focused primarily on improving cow efficiency via the sale of more slaughter animals per cow, through lower animal losses, higher fertility or the additional purchase of calves suckled by a nurse cow. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSDescriptive statistics showed significant positive correlations between stocking rate and land productivity and significant negative correlations between stocking rate/land productivity and the share of biodiversity areas (SBA), confirming previous findings. These relationships were also reflected in the production site of the farms, as mountain farms with lower productivity had a significantly higher SBA, while farms in areas with better grass growth had fewer biodiversity areas but higher productivity. Accordingly, the optimisation options were adapted to the production site under the constraint of a constant stocking rate. In favourable forage-growing areas, further intensification via improving cow efficiency by buying foreign calves led to significant improvements in profitability (VHill and BLowla). In mountain areas, the optimisation potential is lower. Site-adapted, i.e., small-framed and robust, cow types lead to better cow efficiency, which also contributes to good profitability in extensive production with a high biodiversity share, although this is strongly determined by national direct payments (VMount and BMount). Both income and biodiversity can be optimised if cow efficiency is increased and production systems are adapted to the site as closely as possible. SIGNIFICANCEThe study shows practicable recommendations for sustainable intensification in grass-based meat production systems in the current discussion on maintaining or increasing biodiversity in agriculture.