**3.1. Farm types**

After collecting data and creating the database, it was noted that, based on the aspects studied, organic farms could clearly be subdivided into two production systems, so it was decided that a classification of the farms selected needed to be made, with the resulting following groups:



a, b, c Mean values with different letters in the same row are significantly different. \* p<0.05, \*\* p<0.01, \*\*\* p<0.001. SD: standard deviation. 1 UAA: Utilized Agricultural Area. 2 LU: Livestock Units. 1 cow = 1 LU; 1 sheep = 0.12 LU; 1 sow = 0.37 LU. 3 Total Stocking rate = LU/ha UAA. 4 Analysis of Variance of the groups Conventional, Organic 1 and Organic 2. 5 Analysis of Variance of the groups Conventional vs. All Organic.

**Table 1.** Herd and farm structure. Mean values, standard deviation and level of significance.



Furthermore, organic farms were also analysed as a whole in a group called "All Organic" (*n* = 33).

#### **3.2. Farm structure and management**

#### *3.2.1. Farm and herd characteristics*

The average size of farms was 268.44 ha utilized agricultural area (UAA) (**Table 2**). Organic 2 farms were larger than 'All Organic', but the high variability within the sample did not allow identifying significant differences between this group and Organic 1. With regard to herd size, All Organic farms were also similar to Conventional farms, and an important variation within farms was identified in relation to the mean cattle herd size (140.95 livestock units (LU) in Organic 2 vs. 80.18 in Organic 1, *p* < 0.05).


a, b, c Mean values with different letters in the same row are significantly different. \* p<0.05, \*\* p<0.01, \*\*\* p<0.001. 1 Calculated as the annual average proportion of heifers bred for reproduction/number adult. 2 Annual average proportion of cows synchronized/total adult cows in the farm. 3 Average annual proportion of inseminated cows/total adult serviced cows in the farm. 4 Annual average proportion of: live births/serviced cows. 5 Annual average number of days from calving to calving in the adult cows of the farms. 6 Analysis of Variance of the groups Conventional, Organic 1 and Organic 2. 7 Analysis of Variance of the groups Conventional vs. All Organic.

**Table 2.** Reproductive management and performance, and productive orientation. Mean values, standard deviation and level of significance.

In relation to the various land uses and the type of ownership, it was seen that 59% of land was in property (owned area/UAA in percentages). Fifty-two percent of UAAs had tree presence. Moreover, crop areas were almost inexistent.
