MARKET RELATIONSHIP ORGANIC BEEF CATTLE BREEDERS IN THE REGION OF THE MARCHES (ITALY)

The major objectives of this research are to analyse distribution channels, production strategies and problems in the production of organic beef in the Italian region of the Marches (Le Marche). In this area in 2005, by organic farms with animals and those in transformation was slightly less than 17,000 arable hectares or 21 % of the 79,591.90 hectares used in organic farming and 3.4 % of the total 507,181 hectares in the Marches. The area includes 314 organic farms for all types of animals. The percentage of farms in the Region raising animals for organic meat is 0.8 % of the total. In this area 164 farms raise organic sheep followed by beef cattle with 117 farms. The decision to research the beef meat chain was based on the following factors: greater production specialisation, uniform distribution in the territory and greater market orientation by the farms. The research was carried out in 2007 using data gathered from beef cattle farmers. The farms in the sampling have at least 5 hectares of agricultural land; this excludes small and non market oriented farms. The farms which have been selected also specialise in producing beef in fairly large amounts. The sampling included 75 out of 109 farms in the Marches. Personal interviews were carried out with farmers at their farms to collect data. Data wa