Table 1_Adoption intensity of whole-cycle reproductive management practices and economic returns in smallholder beef breeding-cow systems in China.docx

Yet limited evidence is available on the extent to which smallholder farmers adopt whole-cycle reproductive management practices and how adoption intensity is associated with farm-level returns. Using survey data from 384 beef breeding-cow farmers in Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Shaanxi Provinces, China, this study develops an adoption-intensity index covering four reproductive management stages: pre-breeding, gestation, postpartum management, and remating/culling.

A pooled repeated cross-sectional quadratic ordinary least squares model is used to examine the relationship between adoption intensity and net income per breeding cow. The results reveal a conditional nonlinear association between adoption intensity and economic returns, with a more pronounced U-shaped pattern observed among farmers receiving subsidy or credit support. At low levels of adoption, returns remain limited, likely because management practices are implemented only partially and coordination across reproductive stages is insufficient.