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Abstract
This study aimed to analize the business maintenance issue
faced by milk producers, in the long term. It was analized farms in the
states of Rondônia, Tocantins and Rio de Janeiro. The main goal of this
study was to verify the existence of economies of scale among milk pro-ducers. The function that presented better adequacy to the data was that
of cost translog. The production factors taken into consideration were:
capital, land, work and direct expenses. The economic analysis shows
the difficulties to survive faced by farmers in the long term. This ha-ppens because the relation immobilized capital/production is very high.
The regression results reveal that the vast majority of producers in this
case study operate in economies of scale, being that only 3.4% of them
do not. The point of minimum average cost was obtained at about 178
thousand liters per year, that is, an average of 487 liters per day. Another
group formed by 10% of the case study is closer to the point of minimum
average cost and presents a daily production between 183 and 487 liters.
And finally, the last group which presents itself in a less favorable situ-ation with a production lower than 180 liters per day. It is highlighted
that these producers can significantly reduce their costs if they increase
their production, once they are found in the most accentuated part of
the average cost curve in the long term and can greatly develop in the
activity by using the economies of scale.