Strategic cost management of family dairy farms of Minas Gerais

Abstract

Dairy farming, as well as the properties that works with family labor, which predominate in the activity, are fundamental for the development of Brazilian agribusiness. Due to the scarcity of studies that explore the strategic cost management with economic projections, the objective of this research was to analyze economic indicators of two family dairy farms (A and B) in the south of Minas Gerais and investigate whether economic projections can contribute to the development of management cost strategy. The economic data for the years 2011 to 2017 were analyzed and a projection of these results for the years 2018 to 2030 was carried out. The operating cost and total cost methodologies were used to analyze the costs of the dairy farms. The Microsoft Excel® was used for the economic data projection of the farms. Farm A showed less economic development, with smaller productive increments over the analyzed years. Its economic projection showed that the non-growth of milk production in the years analyzed could encourage the discontinuation of dairy farming, which would become unfeasible in a future scenario. Farm B showed more favorable economic results and milk production with annual growth from 2011 to 2017. This growth was identified in the economic projection, a fact that would guarantee the economic development of this farm in the future scenario. The economic projections proved being important tools for decisionmaking with the aim of reversing unfavorable expected behavior, being possible this way to develop a framework for the strategic cost management system in dairy farms.