Milk production is an important economic and social activity in Brazil. Failure to meet institutional and market demands for quality and sustainability has led farmers, particularly small-scale farmers, to leave agriculture. The aim of this study was to assess and compare the sustainability of dairy farms in Paraná, Brazil. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 75 dairy farm operators. Sustainability indicators were generated on the basis of economic, environmental and social data using exploratory factor analysis. Factor scores were subjected to hierarchical clustering, which resulted in the formation of three groups of dairy farms. Groups 1, 2 and 3 had high, intermediate and low levels of sustainability, respectively. Group 1 comprised large-scale dairy farms with high productivity. Dairy farms with intermediate sustainability (group 2) had medium production capacity, and farms with low sustainability (group 1) had the smallest production scale and capacity. Large-scale dairy farms have greater economic, environmental and social sustainability and are, therefore, more likely to survive in the medium and long term.

An empirical investigation was conducted to study whether dairy farmers involved in horizontal arrangements (HA)

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.

Although milk production is widespread, several barriers remain that limit its competitiveness, including those related to low performance parameters in milk production systems (MPS), which can be minimized through the adoption of effective nutritional strategies. The increased use of corn can provide benefits to both rural production and the entire milk production chain. Moreover, it represents the major economic strategy of adding value to grain produced in Brazil, via the transformation of milk. The objective of this study was to characterize MPS in the north and northwest regions of Paraná, Brazil, and identify the relationship between productive and structural variables across the supply of concentrate containing corn and grain corn for dairy cows. Data were collected from 185 MPS and analyzed via multivariate statistical techniques, including the analysis of hierarchical clusters, as well as hypothesis testing and means comparison using ANOVA. A cluster analysis was performed based on two qualitative and dichotomous variables: (i) concentrate containing corn fed to dairy cows and (ii) grain corn fed to dairy cows. Four groups were defined: Group 1 (N = 99 MPS) was characterized by systems where cows were fed corn only in the form of a concentrate, referred to as "Concentrate"; Group 2 (N = 41 MPS) where cows were fed corn incorporated in both concentrate and grain form, referred to as "Concentrate + Grain"; Group 3 (N = 14 MPS), where corn was supplied to cows solely in the form of grain, referred to as "Corn Grain"; and finally, Group 4 (N = 41 MPS), which included systems where no corn was supplied to cows, referred to as "Zero Corn." When weighed against the productive and structural variables, Groups 1 and 2 did not differ significantly (P > 0.05), nor did Groups 3 and 4 (P > 0.05). However, Groups 1 and 2 were significantly different from Groups 3 and 4 (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the strategy of supplying corn either exclusively as concentrate or in combination with grain corn resulted in better responses to the structural and productive variables analyzed in the MPS. Our results indicate that this is an important strategy for aggregation of grain value via transformation of milk. In addition, no difference was noted between exclusive use of grain corn and non-use of corn. ResumoA cadeia produtiva do leite possui grande representatividade. Entretanto, há ainda um conjunto de entraves ao aumento de sua competitividade, entre esses, aqueles relacionados aos baixos índices zootécnicos nos Sistemas de Produção de Leite (SPL), que podem ser minimizados com estratégias nutricionais. O maior emprego do milho poderá trazer benefícios para a produção rural e para toda a cadeia produtiva do leite. Além disso, representará uma importante estratégia econômica de agregação de valor ao grão produzido no Brasil, via transformação deste em leite. O objetivo proposto foi caracterizar SPL nas Regiões Norte e Nordeste do Paraná e identificar a relação entre variáveis produtivas e estruturais frente ...

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