This article is a study of the use and importance of benchmarks in the dairy industry's milk production segment. Employing Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a technique of Mathematical Programming, we analyzed a sample of 54 milk production systems used by members of the Central Cooperative of Rural Producers of the State ofMinas Gerais, Brazil (CCRP-MG). We found an estimated average technical efficiency of 83.7%, which shows that it is possible to reduce production factor costs to 16.3% of total costs without compromising the activity's average gross revenue. We also found average scale efficiency to be 85.7%, showing that it is possible to raise the systems' average gross revenue about 13.3% through production scale adjustments.