Intergenerational sharing in dairy farming in Minas Gerais

Abstract

The State of Minas Gerais remains the largest milk producer in Brazil, despite the observable barriers in its productive capacity. The purpose of this article was to analyze the socio-economic characteristics and the management and management practices of milk producers “with and without family members” working together with them in the dairy industry. Secondary data referring to 1975, 1995, 2006, and 2017 agricultural census of IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), as well as primary data generated from a survey applied to 1,611 milk producers. The theoretical-analytical the perspective of the study was based on the concept of practice, understood as an inherited and acquired habitus. The research results revealed differences between the two groups of producers analyzed in terms of 1) the socioeconomic profile; 2) the type of labor employed on the property; 3) the range of daily milk production and, 4) the diversification of economic activities. However, the technological profile of both groups of producers did not show significant contrasts. It was concluded that, although there was a reduction in the number of establishments that practiced the dairy activity, in Minas Gerais, between 1975 and 2017, among those who remained in the activity there was no lack of a family member of another generation working with the producer. Among these owners, productive diversification, especially with the breeding of beef cattle, stood out.