This study investigated direct energy consumption and land performance under two different methods of farming—organic and conventional. The aim of our study was to examine the performance of farmers in the Czech Republic and identify the differences between organic and conventional farming regarding food safety and direct energy consumption. Based on the data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network of the EU, we measured the performance of both organic and conventional farmers in terms of product per unit of land and direct energy consumption per unit of product regarding the natural condition of the farm localization. Our findings show that organic farms produce lower output with less direct energy per unit of land; however, they need more direct energy for one unit of production. We found that a product from organic agriculture consumes 1.7-fold greater direct energy than a conventional product. The worse the natural conditions for farming, the broader the difference between organic and conventional regimes regarding their performance and energy consumption. Our conclusions may help shape agricultural policy in the Czech Republic, where organic farming is receiving systematic political support, leading to an increase in the proportion of organically farmed arable land.

The paper aims to explore the relationship between size, production orientation, and performance in the Czech agriculture and to answer the research question as to what extent a farm size and a product orientation of farm do matter in relation to its productivity and profitability. We use data from FADN CZ database (Farm Accountancy Data Network—Czech Republic) of conventional farms oriented on fieldcrops production, milk production, other grazing livestock and mixed production, and we cover the period from 2015–2020. Pursuing an econometric approach (ANOVA and multivariate regression analysis), we test productivity and profitability differentiation among the different-sized and different production orientation companies. Finally, subsidies and their effects on different groups of companies are assessed. The findings from testing our empirical model indicate that very large farms have statistically significantly higher total factor productivity than large farms, which perform better than medium and small farms. Average productivity of large-size farms compared to small and medium farms is 1.4 times higher in terms of total factor productivity, more than two times higher in terms of agricultural land productivity, and 3.2 times higher in terms of labour productivity. The findings show that farms with field production statistically significantly outperform farms with orientation on other grazing livestock and mixed production. Different levels of productivity are translated into differentiation in the profitability. The highest profitability ratios are achieved by large farms followed by very large, medium, and small ones. The assessment of ratio of subsidies to agricultural production shows that small farms received 2.3 times higher agricultural subsidies per unit of agricultural production compared to very large farms.

Research background: Regional development of the European territory is becoming a key priority area and thus arouses interest in analyzes of the impact of development not only of business activities on economic competitiveness. Entrepreneurship is an important part of every country's economic system and has important implications for the growth of society. The paper focuses on the possibility of identifying the determinants of regional competitiveness of the manufacturing industry with a focus on defining their impact on SME performance, in the sense of EVA in the programming period 2014-2020. Purpose of the article: The presented paper focuses on the performance of companies in the Czech economy in connection with the reflection of national regional policy documents. Purpose of the article is to evaluate the economic performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in the manufacturing industry in connection with the level of development of the regions in the Czech Republic in which they are located. Methods: The evaluation of the achieved level of regional development is performed at the level of regions and administrative districts of municipalities with extended powers. Through multidimensional regression modelling, the determinants of regional development disparities are identified with a focus on defining their impact on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises expressed by the economic value added (EVA) indicator. Findings & Value Added: Public sector expenditure on science and research was evaluated as the most important parameter of regional disparities, which explains the economic performance of companies. Based on the achieved results, measures are proposed for the cultivation of the business environment for the next programming period. The contribution is the proposals for the formulation of regional policy with a focus on the segment of small and medium-sized enterprises.

This paper aims to examine the productivity of Czech farms with dependence on their size and natural conditions. The methodological approach is based on the analysis of variance (ANOVA), which enables to assess whether there are significant differences between groups of farms with different size and from different locations in terms of their productivity and profitability. We use data from the FADN CZ database for the period 2015–2020 and show that very large and large farms reach substantially higher productivity in all regions, whatever the natural conditions are. Results confirmed that farms in areas without natural constrains achieve statistically significantly higher levels of all productivity indicators in comparison with farms located in areas with natural constraints. The results also showed that the agricultural policy is decisive for functioning of small farms. The subsidies have a greater effect on smaller farms than on their larger counterparts.

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, the scientific journal of the Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic