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This research has been funded with Project DICORELA: The contribution of dialogic practices in teamwork quality: an evolution of the relational coordination model V946. High Performance Research Group OPENINNOVA (URJC).

Analysis of institutional authors

Bastanchury-Lopez, MtAuthorDe-Pablos-Heredero, CAuthorMartin-Romo-Romero, SAuthor

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September 27, 2022
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Assessment of Key Feeding Technologies and Land Use in Dairy Sheep Farms in Spain

Publicated to:Land. 11 (2): 177- - 2022-02-01 11(2), DOI: 10.3390/land11020177

Authors: Bastanchury-Lopez, Maria Teresa; De-Pablos-Heredero, Carmen; Martin-Romo-Romero, Santiago; Garcia, Anton

Affiliations

Univ Cordoba, Anim Sci Dept, Rabanales Univ Campus, Cordoba 14071, Spain - Author
Univ Rey Juan Carlos, Dept Business Econ Adm Management & Org, Appl Econ & Fundamentals Econ Anal 2, Paseo Artilleros S-N, Madrid 28032, Spain - Author
Univ Rey Juan Carlos, ESIC Univ, Dept Business Econ Adm Management & Org, Appl Econ & Fundamentals Econ Anal 2, Paseo Artilleros S-N, Madrid 28032, Spain - Author

Abstract

Familiar mixed dairy sheep farm is the most widespread system in the Mediterranean basin, in Latin America and in developing countries (85%). There is a strong lack of technological adoption in packages of feeding and land use in small-scale farms. To increase competitiveness, it would be of great interest to deepen the knowledge of how innovation was selected, adopted, and spread. The objective of this research was to select strategic feeding and land use technologies in familiar mixed dairy sheep systems and later assess dairy sheep farms in Spain. This objective was assessed by combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies. In the first stage, with the aim to identify and select the appropriate technologies, a panel of 107 experts in dairy sheep production was used. A questionnaire was applied to all of them with successive rounds using Delphi methodology. Later, these technologies were grouped by principal components analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA). In a second stage the technological results from a random sample of 157 farms in the Center of Spain were collected. The technologies selected were linked to the technological adoption level of the farms in Castilla la Mancha by a multiple regression model. Ten technologies were selected by the 107 experts. Four factors were retained by PCA that explained at 67.11% of variance. The first factor is related to feeding strategies, the second to land use for livestock production, the third to efficient management of land resources or ecoefficiency and the fourth to by-products use. The expert evaluation was grouped in three clusters using the Ward's method and the squared Euclidean distance measure, where the second showed higher values in the adoption level of each technology. The multiple regression model explained the relationship between the technologies and the technological level of the farms (R-2 73.53%). The five technologies selected were: use of unifeed (1), supplemental feeding (5), grazing (6), raw materials production (7) and sustainable use of water and soil (10). These ten technologies identified can be directly extended to small-scale dairy farms from other countries in the Mediterranean basin and Latin America. This technological selection was supported from the broad and diverse panel of experts used. Besides, five technologies identified by the quantitative model will be able to be taken into account for the development of public innovation policies. They are direct technologies and easy to apply on the farm and seeking increased viability through innovation vs. intensification.

Keywords

AdoptionDairy sheep farmsDelphi methodInnovationLevelManagementMilk-productionMixed systemsMultivariate analysisPerformanceProduction systemsProductivityQualityRegression modelTechnological sustainability

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Land due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position 48/128, thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Environmental Studies. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q2 para la agencia Scopus (SJR) en la categoría Ecology.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 1.61, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-16, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 3
  • Scopus: 4

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-16:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 27.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 57 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Bastanchury López, María Teresa) .