Highlights:Farmers' organizations improve access to market information on milk quality. Farmers' organizations improve access to technical information. Buyer-seller relationships are strengthened by farmers' organizations. Farmers' organizations improve access to information on milk quality regulations.Semina: Ciências Agrárias, Londrina, v. 41, n. 1, p. 293-304, jan./fev. 2020Casali, M. et al. AbstractMilk production has great social and economic importance in Paraná, Brazil. However, dairy farmers have abandoned the activity over the past few years because of difficulties in meeting institutional and market demands for increased milk production and quality. Information asymmetry between dairy farmers and market agents may be contributing to this scenario. It occurs when one agent in a transaction has more or better information than another. Information asymmetry can encourage opportunistic behavior and negatively affect the relationship between parties. These problems can be minimized or resolved by horizontal collaboration, such as participation in farmers' organizations, cooperatives, or associations. The aim of this study was to assess the extent of information asymmetry among dairy farmers and investigate whether participation in farmers' organizations strengthens buyer-seller relationships and stimulates compliance with milk quality standards. A total of 204 semi-structured questionnaires were applied to head farmers of dairy production systems in Paraná. Two sets of variables were analyzed: variables related to socio-economic and production characteristics and variables related to transactions between farmers and the dairy industry and the head farmer's knowledge about milk quality regulations.The second set of variables was subjected to common factor analysis, which generated four factors: F1, knowledge about institutional requirements; F2, technical support from the buyer; F3, technical knowledge; and F4, level of trust in the buyer. Dairy farmers who did not participate in farmers' organizations operated under greater information asymmetry and were disadvantaged with regard to F2, F3, and F4 (P < 0.05). Participation in horizontal collaborations can help farmers survive and thrive in the dairy activity.

This study aimed to identify a typology of corporate and family dairy farms in eastern Goiás, Brazil. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 170 farm operators in the municipalities of Cristalina, Luziânia, and Silvânia. Dairy farms were categorized into two groups, corporate and family farms. Data were analyzed by exploratory factor analysis using principal component analysis extraction. Four factors were identified: Milking management (F1), Production scale (F2), Productivity (F3), and Sociodemographic characteristics (F4). Corporate and family farms were then compared in terms of factor scores. Corporate farms scored higher on F1 and F2 and were characterized by larger production scale, greater adoption of milking management and hygiene practices; and consequently, greater alignment with institutional and market demands. These results indicated that corporate dairy farms in eastern Goiás have higher sustainability and are more likely to remain in business than family dairy farms.

Milk production has great social and economic importance in Paraná, Brazil. However, dairy farmers have abandoned the activity over the past few years because of difficulties in meeting institutional and market demands for increased milk production and quality. Information asymmetry between dairy farmers and market agents may be contributing to this scenario. It occurs when one agent in a transaction has more or better information than another. Information asymmetry can encourage opportunistic behavior and negatively affect the relationship between parties. These problems can be minimized or resolved by horizontal collaboration, such as participation in farmers’ organizations, cooperatives, or associations. The aim of this study was to assess the extent of information asymmetry among dairy farmers and investigate whether participation in farmers’ organizations strengthens buyer–seller relationships and stimulates compliance with milk quality standards. A total of 204 semi-structured questionnaires were applied to head farmers of dairy production systems in Paraná. Two sets of variables were analyzed: variables related to socio-economic and production characteristics and variables related to transactions between farmers and the dairy industry and the head farmer’s knowledge about milk quality regulations. The second set of variables was subjected to common factor analysis, which generated four factors: F1, knowledge about institutional requirements; F2, technical support from the buyer; F3, technical knowledge; and F4, level of trust in the buyer. Dairy farmers who did not participate in farmers’ organizations operated under greater information asymmetry and were disadvantaged with regard to F2, F3, and F4 (P < 0.05). Participation in horizontal collaborations can help farmers survive and thrive in the dairy activity.

O Estado do Paraná é o terceiro maior produtor de leite do Brasil, atividade que desempenha importante papel social e econômico. Neste trabalho, buscou-se comparar as características estruturais e produtivas dos produtores rurais que participam e não participam de programas para melhoria da qualidade do leite definidos pela indústria. A coleta de dados foi realizada a partir de formulário aplicado junto a 42 produtores de leite localizados nas mesorregiões Oeste, Centro Oeste, Centro Norte, Noroeste e Sudoeste do Estado do Paraná, que foram divididos em dois grupos: G1 (n = 28) aqueles que não participam de programas de melhoria da qualidade e G2 (n = 14) aqueles que participam. Os produtores que participam de programas de melhoria da qualidade do leite apresentaram maior número de funcionários na atividade leiteira e maior volume de leite produzido (p < 0,05). Além disso, utilizavam com maior frequência técnicas de pré e pós-dipping e possuíam melhor conhecimento sobre os parâmetros para melhoria da qualidade do leite, como contagem bacteriana total, contagem de células somáticas, proteína e gordura. Esses produtores tinham a oferta de assistência técnica como principal estímulo para a participação dos programas. Dessa forma, programas para a melhoria da qualidade do leite estabelecidos pela indústria podem representar uma importante estratégia para incentivar os agricultores a aumentar o volume e a qualidade do leite produzido.