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Abstract
In the discussion of agrarian reform in Brazil, a central concern is the
competitiveness of farms on land settlements. This comparative study between
milk producers on land settlement schemes and outside aims to enhance
understanding of the settlers’ technical and economical potential. The analysis is
based on data collected from 39 milk producers from the Rio das Pedras settlement
and 42 milk producers located in the bordering municipalities of Uberlândia and
Monte Alegre, State of Minas Gerais. The field research took place on April and
June but the farm data refer to production, costs, and income occurred in March
2006. We use various technical and economic measures to assess farm
performance, though focused on the gross margin per liter and per hectare. The
survey results reveal that the average gross margin per liter of milk obtained by
producers from outside the settlement was higher than for the settlers. However,
the difference in the two averages can be explained by the higher average price per liter obtained by producers from outside the settlement. The larger total gross
margin were found among producers ranging from 600 to 1400 liters. Both
outside and on the settlement there was wide variation in farm performance. The
highest gross margins per liter were obtained on some of the small and
medium-size farms, including a few settler farms. The full range of performance
indicators which we used did not demonstrate an absolute superiority of
non-settler producers over the settlers: producers with poor performance were
found among small and large farms, regardless their location. These results lead us
to recommend the identification and implementation of actions designed to raise
the price of the liter of milk for small scale producers. The study also revealed a need
to reassess the optimum intensity of use of purchased feed-stuffs and for the
transfer of best practice between farms with similar resource endowments.