Cooperation among farmers for cost saving machinery

摘要

The agriculture of the Central-Eastern European countries were considerably transformed during the 1990s. The property structure became fragmented, arable land and means of farming were privatized by different methods in different countries and - as a consequence of this - the hegemony of large-scale farming was wound up but to different degrees. Most of the newly formed small farms had no appropriate equipment and power machines for performing competitive production. The integration of these countries into the European Union has brought significant changes which further strengthened the need for competitiveness. Producers in the agriculture of Western European countries represent major market power due to the cooperation models (cooperative movements, machine and farm ring movement, producer organisations, etc.), but requirements of productivity, efficiency and profitability are also highlighted within these cooperation arrangements. The paper focuses on cooperation arrangements for joint machinery use and examines the factors affecting their expansion. The starting point of examinations is a former situation analysis made about the equipment supply of agricultural plans of a Romanian settlement and the cooperation willingness of producers. The survey which was carried out in 2002, was complemented by primary research through deep interviews in 2012, during which the observable changes and the impacts of access to the European Union were explored.