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The economic effects of grazing in small-scale lamb fattening production systems in central México through a scenario analysis

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Abstract

The objective was to assess grazing as an element of profitability and competitiveness of a small-scale lamb fattening production system in central México and compare its economic performance by means of an analysis of scenarios. Two scenarios were analysed to assess the contribution of grazing on profitability and competitiveness. The first analysis was when grazing was the feed base, and secondly, costs of opportunity and economic impacts were studied under the assumption that sheep do not graze, and total feed has to be bought from external suppliers. The economic effect of grazing on the profitability was analysed by means of the Policy Analysis Matrix. Differences were found between strata; farmers with more than 70 sheep have the best profitability indices and the least vulnerability under the non-grazing scenario. Grazing had a positive effect reducing the cost of production and increasing competitiveness in the four strata assessed. However, farmers with higher technical level, specialised breeds and larger flocks (strata 3 and 4) have higher economic profits. The conclusion was that the profitability in fattening sheep is linked to taking advantage of grazing. However, to keep and improve the current financial performance, there is a need for the adoption of strategies for an integral improvement of the system and the adoption of better grazing management to further reduce production costs.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the 66 farmers who participated in this study for their willingness to collaborate, welcomed the research team in their farms and provided the required information. Our gratitude also to the students of the degree in Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics from Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo for their participation in collecting information.

Funding

This research was funded by the researchers’ own resources.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencias Agropecuarias (ICAp), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (UAEH), Universidad Km, 1, Ex Hacienda de Aquetzalpa, C.P. 43600, Tulancingo, Hidalgo, México

    Jesús Armando Salinas-Martínez & Juan Carlos Ángeles-Hernández

  2. Escuela Superior de Zimapán, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (UAEH), Avenida Jorge Preisser Terán, Col. Nueva Reforma, C.P. 42330, Zimapán de Zavala, Hidalgo, México

    Rodolfo Rogelio Posadas-Domínguez & Leydi Diana Morales-Díaz

  3. Centro Universitario UAEM Temascaltepec, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México Colonia Barrio de Santiago Estado de México, Km. 67.5 carretera Toluca-Tejupilco, C.P. 51300, Temascaltepec, México

    Samuel Rebollar-Rebollar & Rolando Rojo-Rubio

  4. Instituto de Ciencias Agropecuarias y Rurales (ICAR), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Campus UAEM el Cerrillo, C.P. 50090, Toluca, Estado de México, México

    Carlos Manuel Arriaga-Jordán

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  1. Jesús Armando Salinas-Martínez
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  2. Rodolfo Rogelio Posadas-Domínguez
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  3. Juan Carlos Ángeles-Hernández
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  5. Samuel Rebollar-Rebollar
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  6. Rolando Rojo-Rubio
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  7. Carlos Manuel Arriaga-Jordán
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Contributions

Jesús Armando Salinas-Martínez, Rodolfo Rogelio Posadas-Domínguez, Carlos Manuel Arriaga-Jordán: conceptualisation; Rodolfo Rogelio Posadas-Domínguez, Juan Carlos Ángeles-Hernández: methodology; Jesús Armando Salinas-Martínez, Rodolfo Rogelio Posadas-Domínguez: formal analysis and investigation; Rodolfo Rogelio Posadas-Domínguez, Juan Carlos Ángeles-Hernández, Jesús Armando Salinas-Martínez, Leydi Diana Morales-Díaz, Samuel Rebollar-Rebollar, Rolando Rojo-Rubio: writing the original draft; Carlos Manuel Arriaga-Jordán, Juan Carlos Ángeles-Hernández: writing, review and editing.

All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rodolfo Rogelio Posadas-Domínguez.

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Work with the collaborating farmers followed the guidelines accepted by Instituto de Ciencias Agropecuarias of Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo.

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Collaborating small-scale sheep farmers were duly informed and were fully aware of the objectives of the work agreeing to participate in the study, and their privacy and that of their families is respected by not disclosing their names.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Salinas-Martínez, J.A., Posadas-Domínguez, R.R., Ángeles-Hernández, J.C. et al. The economic effects of grazing in small-scale lamb fattening production systems in central México through a scenario analysis. Trop Anim Health Prod 54, 233 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-022-03240-5

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