Applications of Farmers' Knowledge Management to Sheep and Goat Farm Typology

Sheep and goat farm typology varies according to producers' tacit and explicit knowledge state. The research objectives were to analyze new Knowledge-Based Systems trends and applications for management support in animal production and characterize sheep and goat production systems based on the knowledge management process. Typologies are used to elucidate the variability of farm and farmer characteristics. The methodological approach integrated: a) the development of a conceptual model that has tacit and explicit knowledge as a central connection, b) a literature analysis of the knowledge-based system for management support in animal production and the farmers' knowledge domain, and c) the categories of knowledge obtained by farmers according to the production objective and their technological level in the study area. The Development and Implementation of a Technological Management System in the Sheep and Goat Chain (SIGETEC, for its acronym in Spanish) methodology have made it possible to define technological levels and development interventions using the appropriate models for each technological scale-up. Knowledge-Based Typology Systems can be sorted into roughly five dimensions: technical assistance, rotational grazing systems, type of mating, recording and control system implemented, and decision-making. Hence, the proposed typological model has captured the major trends within the scale of the technological changes affected by the expression level of sheep and goat producers' knowledge. We concluded that the new typology is analytically helpful in enhancing the understanding of farmers' knowledge systems and could be an operational/development tool for farmers, professionals, and researchers.