Determinants of farmers’ loyalty to dairy processors in Minas Gerais, Brazil

ABSTRACT: The current study explores variables associated with the loyalty of dairy farmers to dairy processors in the Brazilian context. A multivariate discrete choice (Logit) model and alternative formulations assess the associations between loyalty metrics and farm and processor characteristics for a sample of 32 dairy farmers in 16 municipalities at the Zona da Mata in Minas Gerais. Twenty-two dairy processors were identified as milk buyers in the area studied, but each farmer indicated that they could sell to an average of five alternative buyers of milk. Farmers’ attributes such as production scale or the technological level are not statistically significantly associated with loyalty in this sample. The current milk price paid to farmers in our sample is not associated with increased loyalty (sales to a single processor for 6 or more years) in all estimated models; although, further research on this impact is merited to inform buyer-pricing policy. Variables associated with increased loyalty include payment of premiums for quality, farmer years of experience and cooperation among farmers in the purchase of inputs. Delayed payment is associated with reduced loyalty. We could not determine the effect of participation in technical assistance programs offered by processors on loyalty, because in our sample all farmers received free university-provided technical assistance. The payment of a premium based on milk volume was also unassociated with loyalty determination. The small size of our sample limits the ability to generalize our results but provides exploratory results that facilitate future investigation.

摘要：本研究旨在探讨巴西背景下乳农对乳品加工商忠诚度相关变量。通过多变量离散选择（Logit）模型及替代公式，本研究评估了忠诚度指标与农场及加工商特征之间关联，研究对象为位于米纳斯吉拉斯州马塔区的16个市政区域内的32位乳农样本。研究识别出22家乳品加工商为该区域牛奶的购买者，但每位乳农均表示他们平均可以向五家替代购买者出售牛奶。在本样本中，乳农的生产规模或技术等级与忠诚度无显著统计学关联。本研究样本中支付给农民的当前牛奶价格与增加忠诚度（对单一加工商销售6年或以上）在所有估计模型中均无关联；尽管如此，进一步研究这一影响以指导买方定价政策仍属必要。与增加忠诚度相关的变量包括对优质牛奶的溢价支付、农民的从业年限以及农民在购买投入品方面的合作。延迟支付与降低忠诚度相关。由于我们的样本中所有农民都接受了免费由大学提供的专业技术援助，因此我们无法确定参与加工商提供的专业技术援助计划对忠诚度的影响。基于牛奶体积的溢价支付与忠诚度确定也无关联。样本规模较小限制了结果的可推广性，但提供了有助于未来研究的探索性结果。