Abstract :
In order to maintain small ruminant grazing systems it is necessary to know precisely how
they work and what actions can be taken to improve them. The objective of this paper
was to characterize, classify, analyse and propose improvements for the dairy goat grazing
systems in three countries from the western Mediterranean area: Spain, France and Italy.
A multivariate analysis was conducted with 21 indicators obtained from the data collected
from 45 farms. As a result of the multivariate analysis, 82.5% of variance was explained
by two principal components. The first component included proportion of cultivated pasture
area and cultivated pasture area per goat. The second included goats present and forage supply
per goat.After conducting a cluster analysis based on these two principal components, farms
were classified into four groups. Group 1 was made up of French and Italian farms, which
had a smaller territorial base but a high cultivated pasture area per goat, contributing to
greater self-sufficiency in feed. However the concentrate per goat was too high in relation
to milk production, which was medium. The difference between milk income and feed
cost is also medium. Group 2 was basically made up of Italian farms. The farms in this
group had the most extensive management systems, with a low use of inputs. However,
the milk production was low, meaning that the difference between milk income and feed
cost was also low. Group 3 was mainly made up of Spanish farms. On these farms the
concentrate supply was excessive and the forage supply was low. The milk production per
goat was medium and the difference between milk income and feed cost was small. Group
4 was made up mainly of French farms. The farms of this group had a moderate supply of
concentrate although the forage supply was very high. They had a high milk production,
which lead to a large difference between milk income and feed cost per goat.
The main weaknesses observed are related to feeding management, particularly grazing,
and to the goat productivity. In the former case research on the nutritional utilization of
rangelands and pastures and correct feed supplementation is to be encouraged. In the latter,
the production capacity of the goats present in these systems should be improved, without
forgetting the balance between hardiness and general productivity.
