Asian Journal of Agriculture
Vol. 10 No. 2 (2026)

Productivity and constraints in smallholder beef cow-calf farms in Klaten District, Central Java, Indonesia

KHARISMA IMAM ADINATA (Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro. Jl. Prof. Soedarto, SH, Tembalang, Semarang 50275, Central Java, Indonesia)
MUKH ARIFIN (Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro. Jl. Prof. Soedarto, SH, Tembalang, Semarang 50275, Central Java, Indonesia)
LIMBANG KUSTIAWAN NUSWANTARA (Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro. Jl. Prof. Soedarto, SH, Tembalang, Semarang 50275, Central Java, Indonesia)
ENDANG PURBOWATI (Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro. Jl. Prof. Soedarto, SH, Tembalang, Semarang 50275, Central Java, Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
01 Jul 2026

Abstract

Abstract. Adinata KI, Arifin M, Nuswantara LK, Purbowati E. 2026. Productivity and constraints in smallholder beef cow-calf farms in Klaten District, Central Java, Indonesia. Asian J Agric 10 (2): g100208. https://doi.org/10.13057/asianjagric/g100208. Smallholder beef cow-calf systems on Java, Indonesia, usually have very small breeding herds, making farm productivity highly vulnerable to reproductive inefficiencies and calf losses before weaning. This survey provided a snapshot of the output of weaned calves and the main challenges faced by 92 farms with 126 productive breeding cows in Klaten District, Central Java, Indonesia, from July to November 2025. Productivity was calculated as the number of weaned calves per 100 breeding cows, based on a 12-month calf-flow accounting system. The average weaned-calf productivity was 73.46 ± 69.75 calves per 100 cows per year, with a median of 50, an interquartile range of 0-100, and a range of 0-200. Among farms with at least one calf event, mean calf mortality was 9.07 ± 24.34% (median 0; range 0-100%), with more than 85% recorded no calf losses. Mean calving interval was 15.85 ± 5.80 months (range: 10-36 months), but this estimate was based on only 27 farms (28%) that were able to recall paired consecutive birth dates. None of these indicators differed significantly across breeding-cow ownership categories (P > 0.05). The main productivity constraints identified were prolonged calving interval and concentrated preweaning calf loss. These findings indicate that improving postpartum nutritional management, colostrum provision, calving supervision, and routine reproductive recording may substantially improve productivity and calf survival in smallholder beef cattle production systems in Klaten District.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

aja

Publisher

Subject

Agriculture, Biological Sciences & Forestry

Description

Aims and Scope Asian Journal of Agriculture encourages submission of manuscripts dealing with all aspects to optimizing the quality and quantity of both plant and animal yield and final products, including agricultural economics and management, agricultural engineering and mechanization, agronomy ...