Because of the importance of the dairy activity in Brazil and the recognized call for increasing domestic production, the objective of this work was to verify technical efficiency levels in three alternative production systems, using the stochastic production frontier model. Factorial analysis was used to evidence the heterogeneity of resources applied to the activity, which allowed the 11 original quantitative variables to be synthesized in only three characteristic management variables - "machine use", “facility use" and "quality of the herd". Three additional variables, characteristic of the professionalization of the activity, were considered: “specialization", "scale" and "average cost". Both categories of variables allowed the levels of technical efficiency found to be explained through the Tobit regression model. The results indicated significant differences in relation to resource management not only among the three systems, but also within each system. However, such differences did not impair technically the productive systems of European and crossbred cattle, once those producers were shown efficient. Zebu cattle producers, in turn, were shown technically inefficient, operating, in average, with less than 44% of its level of potential product due to the available resources and technology. However, it was verified that management adjustments, as well as increased professionalization, allow for expressive reductions in inefficiency indexes. The results represent useful information to the effective and potential producers and other decision makers.