This paper investigates the impact of the engagement of individual farmers with Farm Advisory Services (FAS) on total factor productivity (TFP) growth, as a relevant indicator of competitiveness under the vision of sustainable intensification. Using farm-level data from the Irish dairy sector between 2008 and 2017, we estimate a random-coefficients stochastic frontier model and construct a TFP growth index, extending Orea (2002) such that the contribution of FAS becomes an additional component of the index. The results indicate that the main driver of TFP growth was technical change and efficiency gains; a negative scale effect slowed down TFP growth, but this impact was counteracted by the positive contribution of FAS to productivity growth.

中文翻译：

---

爱尔兰乳业的农场咨询服务和全要素生产率增长

本文调查个体农民参与农场咨询服务 (FAS) 对全要素生产率 (TFP) 增长的影响，作为可持续集约化愿景下竞争力的相关指标。使用 2008 年至 2017 年间爱尔兰乳业的农场级数据，我们估计了一个随机系数随机前沿模型并构建了一个 TFP 增长指数，扩展了 Orea (2002)，使得 FAS 的贡献成为该指数的一个额外组成部分。结果表明，全要素生产率增长的主要驱动力是技术变革和效率提升；负面的规模效应减缓了 TFP 的增长，但这种影响被 FAS 对生产率增长的积极贡献所抵消。