Rapports au temps de travail et modes d’organisation en élevage laitier

[b]Society puts pressure on working time as does the rationalisation movement in dairy farms. Farmers need to de- and re-construct their relationships to time, work and organisation. This paper analyses the diversity of dairy farmers’ conceptions of work based on 30 interviews conducted in the Segala Region, SW France, a natural area of small and medium-sized family dairy units. Farmers describe diversified conceptions which combine the standardisation of livestock farming norms at various levels, clearly influenced by industrial production, as well as societal norms based on a well-controlled working time management and the breeders’ passion for their work and their animals. Three conceptions are highlighted : “creative and impassionate,” whose principal characteristic is a continuous learning process, “mastered and efficient” and a “difficult” approach which differs from the other two in that it reflects work as an inflicted activity. The organizational modes which are related to these approaches are described in this paper: technical models, equipment, labour division. This variety of conceptions leads us to examine the role and working methods of experts and advisors as changes are under way. [/b