Beef cattle production system competitiveness in the South of Brazil

Abstract

The internal competitiveness of the beef cattle production systems in the Southern Region of Brazil was studied. Thirty-six beef cattle farmers of the state of Rio Grande do Sul were interviewed during the first quarter of 2010. The main indicators that affect the farm gate sector competitiveness were defined: technology, management, market relations, and institutional environment. Then, those indicators were developed into 10, 10, 4 and 7 factors respectively. They were assigned individual weights in order to calculate their competitiveness indices (CI) with specific equations. The competitiveness indices for the 4 indicators and the 31 factors were also calculated, and they ranged from unfavorable to very favorable. The Item Response Theory was employed to statistically treat the data. Data analysis also employed the Correspondence Analysis Technique (ANACOR) available in the SPSS software in its 18.0 version. The average CI of the production systems 7.27, which is considered a favorable one. The main critical competitiveness factors include the producers' organization, price formation, strategic planning and availability of technological innovations. Researches like the current one are of fundamental importance to develop strategies to be carried out by both the public and the private sectors aiming to enhance competitiveness of the beef production chain.