Sustainable intensification in rangelands of the southernmost region of Chile

Abstract

Rangeland-based sheep ranching has shaped the agricultural economy of Chile’s southernmost grasslands for over a century and a half. Ranching systems in the region, established in the late 1800s, transitioned from large European corporate enterprises, common until the mid-20th century, to family ranches and cooperatives that emerged as a result of the land tenure reforms of the 1960s and 1970s. Intensification efforts, aimed at increasing system productivity, have been a constant and evolving endeavour of the region’s livestock industry throughout its history. Specialised grazing systems and the quest for forage varieties adapted to harsh Patagonian environments are perhaps the most common examples of such efforts. In recent years, Holistic Resource Management (HRM) planning was tested as a new means of intensification that promised dramatic stocking rate increases while improving vegetation and soils. A group of ranchers and HRM-affiliated consultants received funding from the Chilean government to test this intensification strategy. A few years after the project concluded, we visited several participants to learn about their experience and opinions. This paper summarises what we learned during these informal conversations and places the HRM planning experiment in the broader context of the history of intensification efforts in the region.