Farmer’s conduct analisys in dairy systems and its results in production and quality of milk

Abstract

There was carried a research with 18 dairy systems aiming typify these farms concerning their zootechnical conduct and comparing that against the production and quality indicators of the milk as a product. The study was placed in northwest Paraná state region, in five municipalities. Data was obtained using DRP – Fast Participative Diagnosis, by means of an interview. Milk was sampled in each farm and analyzed as follows. Data analysis was made using a multivariate techniques Multilple Correspondence Analysis and Cluster’s Analysis. Were obtained four homogeneous groups (clusters) concerning to conduct that influenced (p<0,05) the quality and production indicators of the milk. This was obtained using analysis of variance with clusters as factors and milk variables as response variables. There were identified four distinct dairy farmer profiles. These concerning to: general structure of the dairy system, technologic level and possibility of continuity of dairy farming related to farmer’s age. The actions of technical assistance must be adequate to those profiles but not homogenized, like is usual in our context, for reach many dairy farms as possible and make these production systems.