Energetic and Monetary Analysis of Efficiency in Family-Owned Dairy Goat Production Systems in Andalusia (Southern Spain).

Simple Summary Dairy goat farming in Andalusia is diverse and predominantly family-based and presents particularities in terms of its economic strategies that require a specific approach. For this reason, in the context of climatic and energy crises that have a decisive influence on the activity, it has been considered relevant to deepen the knowledge of the economic and energy profiles of the different goat production systems, filling an information gap that existed. For this purpose, twenty-one farms, representatives of the dairy goat system diversity in Andalusia, were monitored for one year, obtaining technical-economic information that allowed the calculation of different energy and economic indicators. The results of this work demonstrate that, from an energetic point of view, goat farms that base their feeding strategies on grazing and make optimal use of natural resources are more efficient than models based on permanent stabling. This greater environmental sustainability derived from extensification is penalized by the markets, which give priority to intensive models with greater milk production and less food autonomy. Nevertheless, this study demonstrates that extensification strategies are capable of remunerating family labor and can, therefore, be economically viable, provided that support from the Common Agricultural Policy is included in the analyses. Abstract The family-owned dairy goat sector in Andalusia presents great diversity. Taking into account the particularities of their economic strategies, which are focused on generating net value added and a stable long-term remuneration for family labor, this work aims to expand the scarce existing knowledge on the energetic and economic profiles of the different caprine management systems in a context of climate and energy crisis. For this purpose, twenty-one farms, representatives of the four typologies of the Andalusian dairy goat system, were monitored for one year: pastoral systems, grazing systems w