Structural features, labor conditions and family succession in dairy production systems in Paraná State, Brazil

Abstract

-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.

Traspaso trunco: la continuidad de los productores lecheros familiares en cuestión

“…Al ser explotaciones trabajo-intensivas, las condiciones laborales pueden constituir un factor crítico para que los sucesores quieran permanecer en la actividad (Bankuti et al 2018). No solo el doble ordeñe diario se ha generalizado, sino que también se incrementaron las tareas conexas al tambo, tanto de tipo manual como administrativo.…”

Transversal views on work in agriculture

“…Numerous other subjects are linked to employment, such as on-and off-farm work, its determinants and consequences (Owusu et al, 2011, for example), migration (e.g. Preibisch, 2010), successions (Bánkuti et al, 2018, in this issue), selling a farm or the early cessation of activities. In France, early cessations (before the age of 55) are quite common at present.…”

Desenvolvimento e aplicação de modelo para avaliação de sustentabilidade em sistemas produtivos leiteiros

“…The larger scale of production and higher productivity of G2 might be a consequence of their greater professionalization and higher percentage of hired workers compared to family workers, as observed by Redin (2015). Rural producers who hire workers must comply with the legal requirements of Brazilian work regulations (SOUZA et al, 2013;MARTINS et al, 2015), such as the non-use of child labor and providing workers with a weekly day-off and annual leave (BÁNKUTI et al, 2018). G1, which comprised the highest percentage (63.8%) of DPS, had an intermediate performance in sustainability (Table 8) and structural and production variables (Table 9).…”