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Assessment of a decision-making model in meat sheep cooperatives in SW Spain

•A decision-making model to manage sheep farms in dehesa areas was assessed.•The model was applied to different farms typologies in different weather scenarios.•Models may contribute to the design of sustainable management strategies in extensive sheep-for-meat farms.•Farmers seem to prefer to adapt...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Livestock science 2021-12, Vol.254, p.104767, Article 104767
Main Authors: Rodríguez-Ledesma, A., Mesías, F.J., Horrillo, A., Gaspar, P., Escribano, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:•A decision-making model to manage sheep farms in dehesa areas was assessed.•The model was applied to different farms typologies in different weather scenarios.•Models may contribute to the design of sustainable management strategies in extensive sheep-for-meat farms.•Farmers seem to prefer to adapt their stocking rates to the average years.•The use of the model could be useful for decision-making in sheep-for-meat cooperatives. The need to produce safe food products for an ever-growing world population while reducing the impact on climate change makes it necessary for the farm business to combine productivity and sustainability. As more efficient and sustainable production systems need to be developed for this purpose, the creation of new instruments that allow the management of farms and provide information to contribute to their evolution and improvement becomes more relevant. The main goal of this paper is to assess a model to be used as a decision-making tool in a meat sheep cooperative group in southwest Spain. The methodology is structured in three stages: (i) creation of a model, (ii) identification of representative farms and (iii) model assessment. The model is applied to representative farms obtained from a cluster analysis. A simulation of the model is performed taking into account profitability variables under different stocking rate and weather scenarios. The outcomes of the model show that farmers may try to maximize the profitability per hectare adjusting their stoking rate to average weather scenarios. In a climate change framework this model could be a useful tool to assess extensive sheep farms, as it might contribute to the design of sustainable management strategies. [Display omitted]
ISSN:1871-1413
1878-0490
DOI:10.1016/j.livsci.2021.104767