Abstract In this study, we investigated the principal transformations in dairy farming among Brazilian federative units in the period from 2006 to 2017. Data were drawn from the Agricultural Censuses from 2006 and 2017. In order to compare the variations between the states and macroregions, descriptive analyses were performed. Pearson correlation was used to test the correlation among the variables. A 4.63% decrease was observed in the number of establishments supporting cattle, notably in the states of PE (-23.02%), RS (-20.67%) and PR (-19.65%). Some states showed greater participation in terms of increase in number of cattle, particularly in the Northern region. No significant change in pasture area was observed. A decrease of 12.92% in number of milk producers was observed, mainly in the traditional dairy basins, such as RS (-36.62%), PR (-27.33%), SP (-24.67%) and SC (-20.21%). Producers who continued in the activity had a rise in the scale of their daily production. Although there was a 9.47% reduction in the number of cows milked, the herd productivity showed a 61.96% surge, particularly in the Southern (72.98%) and South-eastern (62.31%) areas. Milk production revealed higher correlation with number of cows milked (P<0.05; r=0.97) and productivity per cow (P<0.05; r=0.63), than with area of the rural establishments (P<0.05; r=0.38). In conclusion, there were significant changes in dairy farming over an eleven-year period, including changes in the geography of production, greater concentration and professionalization of the activity, as well as the expressive growth of milk production in almost every state, which is reflective of higher productivity of the national herd.
Analysis of Brazilian livestock transformations: a focus on dairy farming