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This paper deals with the economic performance and technical efficiency of dairy production in the European Union and its persistent and transient parts. Attention is focused on the differences in these efficiency indicators according to the economic size. The analysis covers two types of farming: specialized milk and mixed crops and livestock using FADN data in the period from 2004 to 2017. The analysis is based on the four-component model that represents the most advanced approach to technical efficiency analysis at present and the one-step estimation procedure. To the best of knowledge, this is the first application of the four-component model based on the one-step estimation procedure on these types of farming in the EU. The results show the highly efficient production in both types of farming. In both types of farming, the transient technical efficiency is higher than the persistent one. The overall and transient technical efficiency do not differ statistically among groups according to economic size. The lowest persistent technical efficiency was found in the group of highest economic size. This group has the highest share of current subsidies in gross farm income, produces the least gross farm income in total output, achieves also the lowest cost-effectiveness and the lowest value of performance indicators compared to the others.

The aim of the research was to determine the family income from the wine farms depending on their economic size in selected EU countries in the years 2004-2016. It was found that the family income of wine farms increased along with the increase of the economic size. The smallest income was obtained from the smallest farms. At the same time, the largest family income was in the largest class of economic size. The largest family income was on Italian and French farms. However, in the analysed periods, the French farms recorded an increase in income, while in Italian it dropped. Comparing the income of families growing vines with the average wage in the national economy it was found that in general it is higher from the third economic size class.