Santa Catarina is the fifth largest milk producer in Brazil, and milk production is an important source of income for farmers. For the continuity of this reality, it is important that farmers be suited to the milk quality standards set by Normative Instruction 51/2002 (IN 51). With the objective to identify the profile of dairy farms and to verify the perception of farmers on milk quality requirements set by IN 51, a diagnostic research was carried out through the application of a structured questionnaire to 166 dairy farmers in the regions of Meio-oeste and Alto Vale do Itajaí, in the period among April to September 2006. The farms presented mostly, profile compatible with familiar agriculture, selling an average of 97.6kg of milk/day, with an average of 13.6 cows in lactation per farm. Farmers had a low education level and age over 40 years. Milk was one of two main economical activities in 88.0% of farms. Considerable portion of the farmers still performs manual milking (33.7%) in conventional stall (94%) and kept the milk in bulk tank (56.6%). Less than 30% of the farmers knew the IN 51, and among these, the majority believes that the IN 51 will have high impact on their farms, which is not related to the level of milk production. In the opinion of the farmers, to adapt to IN 51, they need to acquire equipments, but in their opinion it is not necessary, to emphasizes on hygiene and milking control of mastitis.
familiar agriculture; milk quality; socioeconomic factors