In Colombia, cattle-fattening farms account for 20.7% of the Colombian cattle herd and play an important role in terms of economic and social benefits for rural communities. However, few characterization studies have been conducted on these production systems, which limit our understanding of their production dynamics and environmental impacts. This study aimed to characterize very small, small, medium, and large cattle-fattening farms from technical and environmental perspectives. The data analyzed were obtained from the Ganadería Colombiana Sostenible and the LivestockPlus projects, which gathered information from a total of 2618 farms, classified according to their cattle production orientation. From those, 275 cattle-fattening farms were classified as being either very small (1–30 bovines), small (31–50 bovines), medium (51–250 bovines), or large farms (more than 251 bovines). Numerical and categorical variables were distributed into five components: (1) general farm information, (2) composition and management of the herd, (3) pasture management, (4) production information, and (5) environmental information. Each component was analyzed using the factorial analysis of mixed data (FAMD) method. According to FAMD, for the components general farm information, herd composition and management, pasture management, and production information, distribution of variables led to a spatial separation of the centroid from each category of producers. For the component environmental information, there was no separation of the centroid. Better infrastructure, machinery and equipment, better pasture management, and better productive parameters and practices were observed in larger farms. This suggests that those public policies aimed at improving productive and environmental performance of the livestock sector should give priority to small- and medium-sized livestock producers considering their farm characteristics.

中文翻译：

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哥伦比亚肉牛育肥农场的技术和环境特征，重点是农场规模和提高产量的方法

在哥伦比亚，养牛场占哥伦比亚牛群的 20.7%，在为农村社区带来经济和社会效益方面发挥着重要作用。然而，对这些生产系统进行的表征研究很少，这限制了我们对其生产动态和环境影响的理解。本研究旨在从技术和环境角度对非常小型、小型、中型和大型牛育肥场进行表征。分析的数据来自 Ganadería Colombiana Sostenible 和 LivestockPlus 项目，这些项目从总共 2618 个农场收集信息，并根据其养牛方向进行分类。其中，275 个牛育肥场被归类为非常小型（1-30 头牛）、小型（31-50 头牛）、中等（51-250 头牛）、或大型农场（超过 251 头牛）。数值和分类变量分为五个部分：（1）一般农场信息，（2）畜群的组成和管理，（3）牧场管理，（4）生产信息，和（5）环境信息。使用混合数据的因子分析 (FAMD) 方法分析每个组件。根据 FAMD，对于一般农场信息、畜群组成和管理、牧场管理和生产信息的组成部分，变量的分布导致每个类别生产者的质心在空间上分离。对于组件环境信息，质心没有分离。在较大的农场中观察到更好的基础设施、机械和设备、更好的牧场管理以及更好的生产参数和做法。