Localisation des activités de production et de transformation du lait

Location of milk production and dairy plants - In this paper the authors endeavour to select dairy production areas according to the geographic location and the technical and economic characteristics of the dairy plants and of the consumption centers. To do so they use an econometric model taking into account the irregularities of supply and demand and the interaction of the various economic operators. This model applies to the three levels of the dairy branch. It enables the optimal allocation of inputs and outputs between firms to be determined and plant locations and resources allocations to be chosen. The study carried out at dairy plant level is divided into three parts. The first part presents the pattern of the econometric model. The second part gives the classification of the production areas and of the dairy plants according to their competitivity on the markets. The third part presents some results on the location of the dairy surpluses.