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

-The objective of this paper was to analyze financial management practices in dairy production systems. More specifically, we sought to identify which milk producers adopt financial management practices. We conducted 55 semistructured questionnaires in the Western Region of Paraná. The data were processed through descriptive and multivariate statistical analysis. The analysis of hierarchical clusters defined, based on variables related to financial management practices, two distinct groups. The first group included milk producers who do not adopt financial management practices (N = 49) and the second group described the milk producers who do adopt these practices (N = 6). We then used Common Factor Analysis, along with structural, technical, productive, and socioeconomic variables to define the three factors that best explained the variance between the clusters: factor 1 -structural; factor 2 -social; factor 3 -informational. Smaller dairy production systems, with lower production, managed by younger producers, and employing younger workers, are those adopting financial management practices. Therefore, the scarcity of resources is not a limiting factor in the adoption of financial management practices.

Work is a central concern for sustainable farming systems and rural communities, especially regarding specific issues of the agricultural sector, as the strong decrease in rural employment and the less attractive working conditions. Many articles covering diverse related topics have been published. However, the few studies analyzing the state of worldwide scientific research on work in agriculture give only a fragmented view, since they focus on specialized topics and disciplines. To fill this knowledge gap, the aim of this study was to review the state of research on work in agriculture addressed by the scientific literature, through a bibliometric analysis by country, institution, journal, author, and keywords. Our main finds are that (1) work in agriculture issues is divided into six main research domains: occupational health and safety, labor market and rural employment, labor and farm sustainability, work organization, agricultural policy and agrarian changes, and labor and family farms; (2) these research domains are analyzed by five scientific communities: ergonomics, agricultural economics, livestock farming systems, rural sociology, and agricultural policy; (3) the reference authors, most-cited articles, and main journals were identified for each scientific community; (4) USA, France, and China arise as leaders in the scientific landscape. We show for the first time the characteristics of the main scientific communities worldwide that have performed the most relevant research related to work in agriculture over the past 10 years. This review provides a benchmark for future research on agricultural work-related topics and encourages collaborations between researchers from different scientific communities for interdisciplinary innovation, which support sustainable working conditions in agriculture. Keywords Work. Agriculture. Bibliometric analysis. Communities Contents 1. Introduction 2. Building and analyzing the database 3. Characteristics of literature on work in agriculture 3.1 Institutional context of research: countries, institutions and funding agencies 3.2 Overview of journals and disciplines 3.3 Productive authors, their affiliation and the journals of publication 3.4 Most-cited articles 3.5 The domains of research from keywords to linkages and pools 4. Scientific communities researching work in agriculture over the past 10 years 5. Scientific communities working towards interdisciplinary innovation 5.1 Major current issues addressed by the scientific communities 5.2 Looking beyond limitations for further research on work in agriculture 6. Drawing the scientific landscape of work in agriculture Conclusion References

-Brazil is the fourth largest milk producer in the world. Besides its economic relevance, milk production has an important social function in Brazil. Dairy activity employs a large amount of people and contributes to regional development. But some drawbacks remain, such as poor labor conditions and problems for family succession. Labor conditions may be critical for successors to decide whether to remain in dairy activity. Paraná is the second largest milk producer in Brazil, mainly with smallholder family dairy systems. This paper aims to discuss labor conditions, family succession and structural features in Paraná's dairy activity. Our hypothesis is that family-based farms present poorer structure, poorer labor conditions and are less prone to family succession. The method comprised face-to-face interviews with 153 dairy farmers, in two groups: 117 family-based farms (Group 1) and 36 hired-labor farms (Group 2). Common factor analysis led to identify three factors: "structure", "labor conditions" and "individual conditions to family succession". Dairy farms in Group 1 present poorer structural and labor conditions, although being more prone to family succession, partially supporting our above hypothesis. Thus, structural features and labor conditions seem not to be the driving factors for the intent to family succession, which suggests the existence of other incentives. Results also indicate the need to improve labor conditions, especially for Group 1, since poor labor conditions may threaten family succession in the very long run. Efforts to improve family labor conditions are necessary to ensure long-term sustainability of dairy farming in Paraná State. Further studies could investigate social, market, technology and political features directing decision-making in family succession. Expanding the variables for labor conditions and structure, as well as including other social and behavioral factors, could put more light on the differences between dairy farms using and not using hired labor. Finally, a deeper investigation on reasons why family-based farmers do not promote better labor conditions is critical for the future of Paraná's dairy sector.

O presente trabalho busca caracterizar produtores de leite da região Sudoestedo Paraná, identificando aspectos técnicos, tecnológicos, gerenciais, econômicos e sociaisque diferenciam os produtores com níveis de produtividade distintos. Para tanto, foramaplicados 202 questionários e, com auxílio da metodologia de análise de clusters, foramencontrados três grupos com características distintas em termos de produtividade.Pôde-se constatar que os produtores da região em estudo apresentam, em média,indicadores superiores aos observados para o Estado, o que indica melhor organizaçãodo sistema leiteiro na região Sudoeste. Foram identificadas algumas diferenças relevantesentre produtores de diferentes níveis de produtividade. Os produtores com baixaprodutividade do rebanho têm como principal ocupação o trabalho rural, produzemmenor volume de leite e estão há mais tempo na atividade leiteira, o que pode indicardependência de trajetória. Além disso, maior proporção de produtores desse grupo nãotem o leite como principal atividade e apresentam limitações para atuação agropecuária,seja por possuírem menor tamanho de área, seja por características da propriedade, oque compromete o desempenho na atividade. Outras limitações dizem respeito ao níveltecnológico, ao uso de mecanismos de gestão agropecuária, ao acesso a crédito, assistênciae capacitação e à realização de investimentos na atividade leiteira.

Pingado" is a Brazilian beverage similar to cappuccino, macchiato. For a good "pingado", coffee and milk should be of good quality. The formal institutions ensure the minimum attributes of quality for coffee and for milk in Brazil. However, in order to reach consumer desirable quality attributes for a differentiated "pingado" the transactions between farmers and agroindustry in quality-driven systems is likely to be conducted with hybrid forms. Thus, "Pingado Dilemma" involves the interactions between private and public institutions affect the combination of formal and informal governance mechanisms in transactions, in both chains, and involve complexities in terms of obligations to do and obligations to give in contract farming. This paper aims at analyzing the contract farming and the role of public and private institutions in transactions between farmers and agroindustry in Brazilian high-quality dairy and coffee chains. The research design used in this study is a case study based on multiple cases. The results indicate that while in dairy chain the private institutions reinforce public requirements (formal institutions), for the coffee sector, the role of private institutions is to establish and guarantee a new level of quality and differentiation. Interactions between private and public institutions affect the combination of formal and informal governance mechanisms in transactions, in both chains, and involve complexities in terms of obligations to do and obligations to give in contract farming.

As evoluções observadas na trajetória do Sistema Agroindustrial (SAG) do leite no Brasil refletiram no modo de operação e nas relações dos segmentos produtor e processador. Embora esse SAG apresente crescimento, a diversidade no nível tecnológico do segmento de produção rural tem efeito sobre o desempenho da cadeia de forma geral, e se estende para a estrutura das relações, impactando na distribuição de valor nas transações. Assim, toma-se como base a proposta de entender a estratégias de organização dos segmentos que integram a cadeia produtiva por intermédio da Economia dos Custos de Transação e Teoria dos Custos de Mensuração, de forma pontual no estado do Paraná. Para isso, o seguinte objetivo foi definido: compreender como se dão as relações entre o segmento produtor e processador no SAG de leite, ao se considerar o nível de especialização tecnológica dos produtores nas diferentes regiões do estado do Paraná. Para isso, utilizou-se procedimentos metodológicos sustentados em pressupostos qualitativos, e pesquisa descritiva. Os dados primários foram obtidos a partir de entrevistas semiestruturadas com produtores e processadores localizados nas diferentes regiões do Estado. Como resultado identificou-se que as estruturas de governança predominantes  são de forma híbrida, envolvendo contratos formais e, em sua maioria, informais, requerendo confiança e reputação. A contratação formal se associa a níveis elevados de tecnificação no segmento de produção rural, sendo encontrada apenas na região Centro-Oriental do Estado, indicando que a elevação na capacidade produtiva tem influência na definição dos arranjos, e consequente obtenção de eficiência e melhor distribuição de valor.