The economic performance of a large proportion of cattle farms in the Dominican Republic (Eastern Region, including the province of Monte Plata) was examined on the basis of available field information. Differences between the more common dairy farming systems were also analysed. The study showed that direct production costs for 70 percent of the farms and for 73 percent of the total milk produced were covered by current market prices. Economic performance with varying input prices was examined for five distinct livestock systems, and the economic sensitivity of the three main dairy models was evaluated. The best and most stable economic results were found using the improved dual-purpose model Those of the specialized dairy model were midway and very unstable, while the traditional dual-purpose model was very stable but yielded low economic returns.
