Empiric evaluation of farming sustainability through summary indicators.
The aim of this paper is to develop a practical methodology to evaluate the sustainability of farming businesses and apply it to two farming systems in Castilla y León. The methodology proposed is based on the calculation of 16 sustainability indicators that cover the three components included in the concept (economic, social and environmental) and the construction of different types of summary indicators. The empiric results obtained reveal the heterogeneity of farming businesses within the same farming system as regards their sustainability, and permit the structural and decision-making variables that influence sustainability to be analysed. This information could be used to improve the current orientation of farming policies in order to increase the sustainability of the sector. Keywords: farming sustainability, summary indicators, farming businesses.