Sheep production systems in the semi-arid zone: Changes and simulated bio-economic performances in a case study in Central Chile

• Sheep systems in the semiarid zone of Central Chile are classified into three farms types.
• Meat- and- wool sheep are mainly run by family farms close to subsistence level.
• Economic subsistence of family farms occurs at the expense of not valuing some production resources.
• Social and environmental sustainability require support of public policies.

A sheep farm typology was developed to describe the evolution of sheep farming between the censuses of 1997 and 2007 in the semiarid zone of Central Chile. The typology yielded three groups (I–III) that accounted for 81, 17 and 2.5% of the farms respectively, differing in farm size and in the ratio of sheep to cattle and other agricultural activities. Sheep represented 80–86% of the livestock units in small farms, as opposed to 53% in the larger, more diversified, ranches. Farm-based technical and economic parameters were not available. Stochastic mathematical simulation of bioeconomic performance for prototype farms representative of each of the three groups showed differences accounted for by farm size, farm diversification and animal breed. Large between-farms within group variation in performance suggest the existence of room for incorporation of technology. Smaller flock sizes in I and II were associated with larger production costs and less income per lamb and per kg live weight. Larger farms carrying Merino produced more lambs per ewe and had lower unitary costs. Unaccounted for costs of family labor in the smaller farms, together with some evidence of their gradual decapitalization, explain the continued existence of the small sheep farm sector. Implications for the future development of these farms are discussed.