Introduction:

The cow-calf system consists of the production of calves, which will then be fattened for meat production. The state of Tabasco a high percentage of farmers are engaged in this activity, however, most of the technology transfers are focused on the dual purpose system, which has not allowed to make significant improvements in the productive variables of the cow-calf system. The objective of this study was to characterize the cow-calf system and identify the factors that affect the production of calf in the State of Tabasco.

Method:

Therefore, 342 farmers were interviewed through a structured survey to get information about the farmer date, social characteristics, infrastructure, herd structures, management practices and productive. To identify the types of farmers, a cluster analysis was performed by the Ward method and Euclidean square distance, and to identify the variables that explain the production of calves, a linear regression analysis.

Results:

The cluster analysis identified three types of farmers (small, medium, and large). 63.40% of the farmers were classified as small (<of 14 cows in production), 29.0% as medium (between 15 and 34 cows in production) and 7.60% as large producers (between 35 and 80 cows in production). In the three types of farmers the number of cows in production, index of adoption of technology and quantity of concentrated feed explain the production of calf.

Discussion or Conclusion:

The characterization of the cow-calf system of tropical regions is important because more than half of the livestock in these regions use this system of production. In addition, knowing the factors that determine the production of calf can help generate strategies for the support of this type of farmers and improve the productive variables of the system.