Family dairy farms in Galicia (NW Spain):: Classification by some family and farm factors relevant to quality of life

A survey of 103 family dairy farms in Galicia (N.W. Spain) collected information on 94 variables (78 quantitative, 16 qualitative) belonging to seven groups dealing with the location of the farm, family structure, sources of income, production variables, characteristics of the farm house ('housing quality'), characteristics of the complex comprising farm house and farm buildings (the 'central area'), and the characteristics and proximity to the farm house of the routes used for transit of cattle, fodder, slurry, etc. Following elimination of redundant variables, principal components analysis identified four factors accounting for about 40% of the total variance: three dominated each by a single a priori group (house-farm separation, central area, and housing quality), and one (production capacity) that combined production and source-of-income variables. Using these factors, the farms studied were subjected to hierarchical clustering by means of the Ward aggregation strategy, and a typology was established accordingly. Finally, guidelines for the design and improvement of farm installations and housing on Galician family dairy farms are sketched. (C) 2004 Silsoe Research Institute. All rights reserved Published by Elsevier Ltd.