Diagnosis of family economy properties and milk qualityin the municipality of Gouveia-MG

Abstract

The objective was to make a diagnosis of milk producing properties, in a family economy regime, regarding aspects related to milk quality. Interviews were carried out in 11 milk producingproperties of the municipality of Gouveia, MG, between July 4th and 30th, 2016. The information was collected from a semistructured form with 97 questions. Analyzes of Somatic Cell Count (CCS) and Total Bacterial Count (CBT) of milk from all the properties visited (an analysis / property), to verify its microbiological quality. The results show that approximately 21.0% of the producers would have CBT values within the initial limits imposed by Normative Instruction nº 62. With respect to the CCS, 9.1% of the producers would be disqualified, demonstrating that microbiological quality being considered as the main problem related to milk quality in the region studied. The main strengths observed were: residing in the property, more than six years of experiencein the dairy activity, property has electricity and water source, store the milk in the property in the expansion tank for a maximum of two days and there is sanitary calendar. The weak points were: low levels of education of the producers, no training, no strategies to improve milk quality and no water treatment. Milk cattle breeding in the Gouveia region of Minas Gerais is characterized by significant deficiencies that compromise productivity and efficiency in obtaining quality milk, which shows, among others, a lack of professionalization of owners and an insufficient supply of assistance technique.