Skip to main content

Work organization on smallholder dairy farms: a process unique to each farm

Tropical Animal Health and Production volume 47, pages 1271–1278 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

The way smallholder farms organize and carry out work impacts their ability to secure their livelihoods and meet growing demand for agricultural products. This study investigates the way dairy family farms in Brazil manage their workforce to achieve their objectives of production and income. Fifteen smallholder farms were surveyed using the QuaeWork method to understand the work organization on each farm. A high diversity of workloads was found, but these do not appear to be strictly related to the farms’ production systems. The high variability of workloads is linked to the available workforce, technical choices, and the delegation of tasks to an external workforce. Farmers can decrease their workload by adopting milking mechanization, silage, hiring labor, and increasing the duration of the work day. Work organization depends on a farmer’s personal choices, rendering the whole issue of workforce management a process unique to each farm.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price includes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

References

  • Altafin, I., Pinheiro, M.E.F., Valone, G.V., and Gregolin, A.C., 2011. Produção familiar de leite no brasil: um estudo sobre os assentamentos de reforma agrária no município de Unaí (MG). Revista UNI 1, 31–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Astigarraga, L., and Ingrand, S., 2011. Production Flexibility in Extensive Beef Farming Systems. Ecology and Society 16, 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernard, J., Le Gal, P.Y., Triomphe, B., Hostiou, N., and Moulin, C.H., 2011. Involvement of small-scale dairy farms in an industrial supply chain: when production standards meet farm diversity. Animal 5, 961–971.

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, D.A., Phyn, C.V.C., Tong, M.J., Collis, S.J., and Dalley, D.E., 2006. A systems comparison of once- versus twice-daily milking of pastured dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Sciences 89, 1854–1862.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darnhofer, I., Bellon, S., Dedieu, B., and Milestad, R., 2010. Adaptiveness to enhance the sustainability of farming systems. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 30, 545–555.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dedieu, B., 2009. Qualification of the adaptive capacities of livestock farming systems, Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia 38, 397–404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferris, C.P., Frost, J.P., Binnie, R.C., Patterson, D.C., 2006. Dairy cows performance and labour inputs associated with two silage feeding systems. Grass and Forage Science 61, 304–314.

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guilhoto, J., Azzoni, C.R., Silveira, F.G., Ichihara, S.M., Diniz, B.P., and Moreira, G. R. In : PIB Da Agricultura Familiar: Brasil – Estados. 2011. http://ssrn.com/abstract=1803225 orhttp://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1803225. Accessed on 18 Apr 2015.

  • Hemme, T., and Otte, J., 2010. Status and Prospects for Smallholder Milk Production. A Global Perspective. FAO-PPLFP, Rome, Italy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hostiou, N., and Dedieu, B., 2012. A method for assessing work productivity and flexibility in livestock farms. Animal 6, 852–862.

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lemaire, G., Franzluebbers, F., Carvalho, P., and Dedieu, B., 2014. Integrated crop–livestock systems: Strategies to achieve synergy between agricultural production and environmental quality. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 190, 4–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martel, G., Dourmad, J.Y., and Dedieu, B., 2008. Do labour productivity and preferences about work load distribution affect reproduction management and performance in pig farms? Livestock Science 116, 96–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Novo, A.M., Jansen, K., and Slingerland, M., 2012. The sugarcane-biofuel expansion and dairy farmers’ responses in Brazil. Journal of Rural Studies 28, 640–649.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sraïri, M.T., Bahri, S., and Kuper, M., 2013. Le travail et sa contribution aux stratégies d’adaptation de petites exploitations agricoles familiales mixtes d’élevage bovin/polyculture au Maroc. Biotechnologie, Agronomie, Société et Environnement 17, 463–474.

  • Stup, R.E., Hyde, J., and Holden, LA. 2006. Relationships between selected human resource management practices and dairy farm performance. Journal of Dairy Science 89, 1116–1120.

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, A., Palmer, R.W., Bewley, J., and Jackson-Smith, D.B., 2001. Producer satisfaction, efficiency, and investment cost factors of different milking systems. Journal of Dairy Science 84, 1890–1898.

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wiggins, S., Kirsten, J., and Llambí, L., 2010. The Future of Small Farms. World Development 38, 1341–1348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, I.A., Tarawali, S., Blümmel, M., Gerard, B., Teufel, N., and Herrero, M., 2011. Integrating crops and livestock in subtropical agricultural systems. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 92, 1010–1015.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the 15 livestock farmers from Unaí-MG who participated in the study and Grace Delobel for translating the paper into English. This work was funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche under the Systerra Program: ANR-08-STRA-10 (Ecological, technical and social innovation processes in Conservation Agriculture).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. INRA, UMR 1273 Métafort, Theix, 63122, Saint Genès Champanelle, France

    Nathalie Hostiou

  2. CIRAD, UMR Innovation, 34398, Montpellier, France

    Nathalie Cialdella & Pierre-Yves Le Gal

  3. Montpellier SupAgro, 2 Place Viala, 34060, Montpellier, France

    Vincent Vazquez

  4. EMBRAPA Amazonia Oriental, Trav. Dr. Eneas Pinheiro s/n, CP 48, 66095-100, Belém, PA, Brazil

    Nathalie Cialdella & Artur Gustavo Müller

Authors
  1. Nathalie Hostiou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nathalie Cialdella
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Vincent Vazquez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Artur Gustavo Müller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Pierre-Yves Le Gal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nathalie Hostiou.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hostiou, N., Cialdella, N., Vazquez, V. et al. Work organization on smallholder dairy farms: a process unique to each farm. Trop Anim Health Prod 47, 1271–1278 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-015-0859-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-015-0859-7

Keywords

  • Labor
  • Brazil
  • Task duration
  • Workload
  • Variability