We characterised the livestock-farming management strategies of multiple-job holders and identified which variables contributed most to the differentiation of these strategies. We hypothesised that they would mainly be differentiated by the contribution of the farming income to the total household income and the availability of the household members for farming. The multiple-job holding livestock-farmer's motivations, decisions and actions about both multiple-job holding and livestock farming were obtained in semi-directed interviews of 35 sheep farmers who held multiple jobs, on farm and off farm. They were synthesised into six variables characterising the diversity of the livestock-farming objectives and management guidelines. Thanks to a multiple factorial analysis, we showed that the diversity of the sheep-farming management strategies of multiplejob holders was better explained by two factors 'level of motivation of the farmer to get high technical results' and 'more personal fulfilling v. the family business conception of farming', than the factors we hypothesised. Within our sample, the performances ranged from 0.7 to 1.4 weaned lambs per ewe per year. Six sheep-farming management strategies were identified. They illustrated the importance of the level of production objectives and of farming income expectation, which were found to be independent, in explaining diversity. No direct relationship between farm work organisation and sheep-farming management strategy was identified. Explaining the diversity of the livestock-farming management strategies of multiple-job holders appears to require that all the benefits expected from farming and their hierarchy be identified before analysing how they are translated into production objectives and management guidelines.
L’Union Européenne encourage l’extensification des surfaces fourragères dans les élevages bovins et ovins, en vue de maîtriser les volumes de production et éviter la déprise. Mais cette extensification doit être menée dans de bonnes conditions afin de maintenir la productivité du troupeau et surtout ses résultats économiques, tout en conservant en bon état d’entretien les surfaces d’herbe. Un essai de longue durée (5 ans) a été mis en place dans un Domaine de l’INRA situé en montagne (800 m d’altitude), comparant deux troupeaux ovins de même effectif conduits avec une différence de chargement de 30 % (en UGB/ha d’herbe). Le protocole de conduite a été ajusté chaque année pour aboutir à la meilleure utilisation possible des surfaces de chacun des systèmes. L’extensification n’a pas entraîné de réduction des performances des brebis et a amélioré de 6 % le poids de carcasse des agneaux, malgré une diminution de 26 % de la consommation d’aliments concentrés et de 50 % des frais fourragers par brebis.
Sur l’ensemble de l’essai, le bilan économique est en faveur du système plus extensif. Le supplément de marge, obtenu pour les 3/4 grâce à la réduction des intrants, permet de faire face aux charges de structure entraînées par l’agrandissement. Les résultats du système extensifié sont plus irréguliers et exigent une anticipation plus forte des décisions, notamment dans une gestion pluriannuelle des récoltes avec constitution de stocks de report pour la sécurité. Les exigences de technicité sont au moins aussi grandes qu’en conduite intensive. L’expérimentation présente un potentiel de réussite, qui ne pourra être mis en oeuvre par les éleveurs qu’avec un accompagnement technique et aussi des mesures soutenant les systèmes extensifs comme la Prime à l’Herbe instaurée en France depuis 1993.
Revue semestrielle d'anthropologie des techniques 63 | 2015 Pâturages Pâturer : regards agronomiques et pratiques d'éleveurs La conduite du pâturage comme révélateur des stratégies d'éleveurs dans le Livradois-Forez Grazing management, an indicator of livestock farmers' strategies in the Livradois-Forez
The analysis of the consequences of participatory foresight in agriculture over the long term is little studied in the scientific literature. In particular, it questions how farmers deal with the proposed scenarios afterwards and the modalities of their implementation. This article aims to overcome this by proposing an ex-post analysis of a foresight process with New World Kirkpatrick's Model (NWKM) carried out in mid-2018 in the Fourme de Montbrison cheese Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) area in the Massif Central (France). A set of 24 semi-structured interviews was conducted in spring and summer 2020 with the dairy farmers involved. Moreover, collective organization has been investigated through participatory observation and an analysis of project's progress reports until March 2021. The results show that while the engagement of farmers in the collective dynamic remains, it needs to be continuously rebuilt over time, particularly in order to overcome the effects of social risk-taking and insecurity that farmers must face. In addition, the place of stakeholders needs to be clarified. The article proposes a series of guidelines based on the project's experience and the “Monitor and Adjust” approach of the NWKM. It demonstrates the importance of establishing long-term follow-ups to foresight approaches to encourage farmers into action.
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