Mirandesa meat PDO: the strategies of family-farm systems for their governance

Mirandesa Meat has been a PDO since 1995, which originated from a small area in the northeast of Portugal, far away from the large consumption centers. It involves 316 producers, from which 180 are organized in a cooperative that manages the PDO. All producers practise small scale family-farm systems. The majority of the producers of Mirandesa Meat are already retired or benefit from multiple sources of income, and only have a small number of cows (average of 8 cows) in a policulture production system. More than 90% of the Mirandesa meat production is sold in large population centers, with a higher social stratification, located more than 250 km away from the production region. The spatial separation between production and consumers forced the Mirandesa meat producers to adopt three main governance strategies: interactive communication with the consumers through promotion and direct sales in fairs, progression in the value chain via product differentiation and the valuation of the certified dimension of the PDO, and the recognition of Mirandesa meat derivatives like Mirandesa sausage, a Slowfood Presidium. The interactive communication between producers and consumers, in this context, becomes vital since, due to distance, the consumers lose direct control in the production and the sale of meat. For small producers, the utilization of different kinds of certification is crucial, because through its utilization they have the possibility to positively stand out in the market. The Mirandesa Meat PDO’s production has been sold out every year since 1998. In the year 2010 it sold 268 t of meat, from 1960 carcasses. On a national scale it is the meat PDO that provides the highest prices to producers (5.25€/Kg). In the production region, non-PDO carcasses of the same type command an average price of only 4€/Kg (a 31% difference)

Evolution of the production systems of the endangered cattle breed Mirandesa: threats and alternatives for family-farm systems

Family-farm systems are largely dominant in the rural communities of northeastern Portugal. Familiar farming systems can be organized based on the interrelations and the diversity of its characteristics such as farmer's age, farm dimension, external resources, productive orientation, or livestock type and number. A significant number of the regional family-farm systems raise Mirandesa cows, a local cattle breed classified as endangered in 1994. Since 1995 the Mirandesa veal enjoys a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) in northeastern Portugal. The carcasses of weaning calves, that aren’t PDO, are currently paid 4 €/kg. The PDO producers receive 5,25€/Kg, a 31% higher premium price. During the past 15 years, the number of family-farms decreased 64% (from 1465 in 1996 to 501 in 2008), and the number of breeding cows decreased 3.7% (4358 in 1996, to 4198 in 2008). The most resilient farms, practice a traditional production mode, with 3 to 10 cows average per farm. On these farms the gross margin for calf was in 1999, 50% higher than in more specialized farms (>10 cows). However, the number of more intensive is rapidly growing. The PDO success is associated to the recent cereal prices collapse. It provided an opportunity to increase the livestock density and specialization in beef production, hanging the cow feeds on oat forage. A density of 0.3 - 0.5LSU/ha on the pasture areas, increased to 1.5-2LSU/ha. The intermediate consumptions of the production system, concentrated feeding, fertilizers and diesel had an inflation rate between 40% and 70%, in the period 2006-2011. These agriculture systems now give signs of rupture. Competitiveness of the Mirandesa cattle production system in the future depends on the conversion of former cultivated areas into pastures and on the introduction of a new land management that promotes a higher cooperation/integration of the family-farm systems

Evolution of the production systems of the endangered catle breed Mirandesa: threats and alternatives for family-farm systems

Family-farm systems are largely dominant in the rural communities of northeastern Portugal. These systems can be organized based on the interrelations and the diversity of its characteris5cs such as farmer's age, farm dimension, external incomes, productive orientation, or livestock type and number (1). A significant number of the regional family-farm systems raise Mirandesa cows, a local cattle breed classified as endangered in 1994. Since 1995 the Mirandesa veal enjoys a Protected Designa5on of Origin (PDO). The carcasses of weaning calves, that aren’t PDO, are currently paid 4 €/kg. The PDO producers receive 5,25€/Kg, a 31% higher premium price. Since 1998, a producers group guarantees the sale of all production. In the last decade, the national inflation average was 2.45%; the group achieved a gross margin on the sale price, on average, 1% above infla5on. However, despite the commercial success of the PDO, the Mirandesa cow and the farmers numbers continues to decline

Diálogos inacabados con Arturo Andrés Roig : filosofía latinoamericana, historia de las ideas y universidad

Los trabajos reunidos en la presente compilación repasan distintas instancias de la producción escrita y la actuación profesional en el ámbito universitario de Arturo Roig. Varios de ellos fueron ponencias presentadas en la Jornada de Homenaje al pensamiento de Arturo Andrés Roig, que se desarrolló en la Universidad Nacional de Cuyo el día 3 de septiembre de 2012. Para esta edición se ampliaron los textos originales por parte de cada uno de los participantes en esa ocasión. Otros escritos incluidos con posterioridad tuvieron su origen en la convocatoria realizada a autores que no habían podido estar presentes en ese encuentro, pero quisieron sumarse a este homenaje por su cercanía con Roig y su obra. Las distintas partes que componen este libro reflejan las temáticas más significativas que fueron tratadas por el pensador mendocino en su vasta y fecunda tarea intelectual. Sin duda que somos concientes de no haber agotado el tratamiento de su obra, desde ya que era de hecho difícil de abarcar en toda su extensión y complejidad, a la vez que hay que mencionar la existencia de otros estudios complementarios que pueden consultarse.Fil: Acosta, yamandú. Universidad de La República (Uruguay).Fil: Ramaglia, Dante. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo.Fil: Oviedo, Gerardo. Universidad de Buenos Aires.Fil: Vermerem, Patrice.Fil: Dussel, Enrique. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.Fil: Contardi, Laura Aldana. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo.Fil: Serrano Caldera, Alejandro. Universidad Nacional Agraria (Nicaragua).Fil: Rochetti, Cristina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo.Fil: Muñoz, Marisa. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo.Fil: Fernández Nadal, Estela. CONICET. INCIHUSA (Instituto de Ciencias Sociales, Humanas y Ambientales).Fil: Romero Forcada, Pablo. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo.Fil: Paladines, Carlos.Fil: Ponce León, Fernando. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador.Fil: Arpini, Adriana. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo.Fil: Jalif de Bertranou, Clara Alicia. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo.Fil: Peñafort, Eduardo. Universidad Nacional de San Juan.Fil: Picotti, Dina. Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento.Fil: Rubinelli, María Luisa. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy.Fil: Cerutti-Guldberg, Horacio. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.Fil: Biagini, Hugo. Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Buenos Aires.Fil: Ferreyra, Luis Gonzalo.Fil: Aveiro, Martín Omar. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo.Fil: Pérez Zavala, Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto.Fil: Godoy, Susana. CONICET. INCIHUSA (Instituto de Ciencias Sociales, Humanas y Ambientales).Fil: Velarde Cañazares, Marcelo. Universidad Nacional de Lanús (Buenos Aires, Argentina).Fil: Mastrangelo, Fabiana. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo