Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2010
The economic significance of size in animal production processes manifests itself mainly through an influence on the biological efficiency of the animal population or the individual animal. Within limits, those factors affecting biological efficiency are also ones which have a dominant effect on financial efficiency. These effects relate almost solely to total financial returns and the cost of feeding livestock per unit of product. However, size of animal may have a major impact on the need for resources other than feed, particularly labour and capital, and these aspects also merit some consideration.