Economic analysis of the milk production of cattle in a commercial farm at Baraúna city, RN, Brazil

Abstract

The objective of this study was to carry out economical analysis of the milk production in a commercial farm in the county of Baraúna, state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil and identify the critical points and main difficulties for a profitable exploitation within one-year period 2003-2004. Costs production with it’s respective under costs, and the gross income. Costs with medication were the main factor causing non-profitability in this study. The others costs were due to the herd and the number of workers employed. The gross income was composed by only 63.9% from milk production the sale of animals was responsible for the 36.1% remaining. The proportion of nursing cows in relation to the total number of cows in the herd is 39.49% showing the reproductive management deficiency and the low milk production, in other words, 4.75 l.day-1 of milk per animal per day in the herd. Prile paid for liter of milk was R$ 0.60. The economical analysis of the exploration milk in the farm indicated negative profit for the studied period by due to the high costs of medication and the low efficient of the reproductive management. However, when analyzing the activity more ample view these results could be attributed to the absence of an adequate business administration plan. Keywords: Dairy cattle, costs, profit