## 3 Results
### Characterisation of the Production System
In what concerns the meat production performance of the Jarmelista breed, available data related to the carcass conformation of animals slaughtered between 2001 and 2018 is presented in Table 3. The data corresponds to a total of 338 Jarmelista carcasses of different age classes. Conformation (the shape and development of the carcass) is denoted by E, U, R, O, P, with E being the best and P the poorest. The majority of the carcass (295) were graded as R or O. Letter R corresponds to a well-developed round and shoulder with thick \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **Age at 1 st** & **Interval between** & & **Age of Registered** & **Age of Registered** \\  & **(Months)** & **Deliveries (Days)** & **Fertility Rate** & **Females (Years)** & **Males (Years)** \\ \hline
**Average \(\pm\) SD** & 38.32 \(\pm\) 10.36 & 440.28 \(\pm\) 57.43 & 84.22 \(\pm\) 10.42 & 6.6 \(\pm\) 1.77 & 2.6 \(\pm\) 2.18 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Source: Author’s calculation from research dataset of structured survey.  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Reproductive management parameters evaluated from enquires. back. Letter O corresponds to average round, slightly lacking thickness on a marginally flat back. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Age Class**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Weight**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Sex**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Conformation Grade**} \\ \hline  & & & E & U & R & O & P & TOTAL \\ \hline
**1** & **\textless{}12 M** &
\begin{tabular}{c} 163.64 \(\pm\) \\ 47.9 \\ \end{tabular} & F & & & 9 & 22 & & **31** \\  & & M & & & 18 & 30 & & **48** \\
**2** & **13–18 M** &
\begin{tabular}{c} 208.28 \(\pm\) \\ 60.1 \\ \end{tabular} & F & & 0 & 8 & 39 & 0 & **47** \\  & & M & & 2 & 34 & 49 & 1 & **86** \\
**3** & **19–24 M** &
\begin{tabular}{c} 247.65 \(\pm\) \\ 66.2 \\ \end{tabular} & F & & & 1 & 5 & 1 & **7** \\  & & M & 1 & 4 & 13 & 24 & 0 & **42** \\
**4** & **25–36 M** &
\begin{tabular}{c} 276.71 \(\pm\) \\ 76.3 \\ \end{tabular} & F & & 0 & 2 & 3 & 1 & 6 \\  & & M & & 1 & 3 & 5 & 0 & **9** \\
**5** & **37–60 M** &
\begin{tabular}{c} 405.46 \(\pm\) \\ 184.0 \\ \end{tabular} & F & 0 & 0 & 0 & 5 & 15 & **20** \\  & & M & 5 & 5 & 10 & 0 & 0 & **20** \\
**6** & **\textgreater{}60 M** &
\begin{tabular}{c} 306.54 \(\pm\) \\ 122.0 \\ \end{tabular} & F & 0 & 0 & 0 & 12 & 4 & **16** \\  & & M & 1 & 1 & 1 & 2 & 1 & **6** \\ \cline{3-8}  & & TOTAL & **7** & **13** & **99** & **196** & **23** & **338** \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: Characteristics of Jarmelista carcasses according to age classes. Figure 3: Weight of the sale of Jarmelista cattle in the farm income with cattle sales. Source: Authors’ calculations from the structured survey research dataset. Lower grades are a common feature of autochthonous breeds due to their slower growth rates, often associated with less intensive feeding. Conversely, exotic breeds have better feed conversion ratios and are mostly graded as E or U. Hence, with comparable prices for the meat, the tendency is for the reduction of the Jarmelista flock as a result of its lower profitability. Figure 4 presents average carcass weights and the respective standard deviations of animals of different class ages. Classes 5 and 6 correspond to animals at the end of their production cycles or to animals with low reproductive performances, which were sent for slaughter. Comparing the carcass weights of groups 1-4, one can conclude about the slow growth rate of Jarmelista cattle compared to exotic breeds or even to other European autochthonous breeds within the same age classes [38]. Average weights of animals of the age class 4 (25-36 M) represent around 70% more as compared to the weights of animals in class age 1 (<12 M). This is also one reason why farmers opt to sell animals with less than 18 months (ca. 77% of age classes 1-4). [PERSON] and co-workers [39] used a multidimensional approach to evaluate the risk status of several Polish farm animal breeds.