How is decision-making about grazing management influenced by reliance on rangelands at farm level? Insights from small ruminant farms in French Mediterranean areas

Abstract

Shrubby and wooded rangelands are highly heterogeneous environments that require adaptive grazing management. In the Mediterranean basin, their use is increasingly challenged by climate change, land abandonment, and the erosion of intergenerational knowledge. This study examined how small-ruminant farmers structure their decision-making about rangeland use, depending on their reliance on them to feed the flock. We conducted 18 semi-structured interviews in Ardèche and Hérault (France), covering diverse farm types and levels of reliance on pastoral resources. Discourse analysis identified four objects shaping decision-making for all farmers: landscape units, vegetation, pastoral resources, and animal behaviour. The farms were categorized in three groups (P−, P, P+) on the basis of the integration of rangelands into the feeding system, ranging from input-dependent feeding systems aimed at the stability of intake and animal performance, to systems relying heavily on rangelands and aimed at self-sufficiency, accepting variations in animal performance. The three types of farms were associated with contrasted decision-making systems, ranging from simplified and reactive approaches based on a limited set of measurable indicators (e.g. resource availability, animal performance), to more integrative and anticipatory strategies combining multiple indicators such as vegetation dynamics, resource diversity and animal behaviour. This study provides a structured way to analyse how farmers mobilise knowledge and indicators in their decision-making, and helps identify how additional information may complement farmers' decision-making in a context-specific manner.