The anti-meat consumption trend is installed globally, where different organized and influencer collectives propose a transformation of agri-food systems and a diet practically free of red meat. The narrative is mainly based on the negative effects of meat consumption on human health, the environment, and cruelty to animals. However, evidence based on scientific information is counteracting these visions. At least 500 million people around the world are totally dependent on livestock for their livelihood and food security.

Breeding sheep for increased feed efficiency (FE) and decreased methane emissions (ME) is an alternative for developing more sustainable sheep production systems. With the aim of generating genetic and genomic tools, we added in 2018 the evaluation of FE and greenhouse gas emissions to the usual phenotyping as part of the national genetic evaluation per breed, for wool, meat, growth, health and reproduction traits. This initiative provides the information to characterize FE and ME and estimate genetic parameters for Uruguayan sheep.

Residual feed intake (RFI) has become in a widely spread index of feed efficiency, however, although most of beef cattle systems in the world are pasture-based, RFI evaluation and research is usually performed in confinement conditions. Currently, selection in favor of feed efficiency has an unclear effect on reproductive performance of grazing beef heifers.

Cow-calf grazing systems are the main economic and social activity at Campos grassland, a biodiversity hotspot and ecosystem service provider. However, low reproductive, productive and economic results have triggered these systems sustainability for decades. Low results have been explained mainly by lack of grazing management (overgrazing) and low cow energy intake for calf production.

Cow-calf grazing systems are the main economic and social activity at Campos grassland, a biodiversity hotspot and ecosystem service provider. However, low reproductive, productive and economic results have triggered these systems sustainability for decades. Low results have been explained mainly by lack of grazing management (overgrazing) and low cow energy intake for calf production.

Real evapotranspiration (ETR) is a key variable in socio-ecological systems since it is related to the food supply, climate regulation, among others. Additionally, ETR plays a significant role in determining water yield (WY) at the catchment level, which directly impacts water availability for consumption and irrigation. Therefore, it is essential to quantify ETR and WY fluctuations in response to various human pressures to enable comprehensive water planning. In recent decades, remote sensing has become increasingly employed worldwide for hydrological monitoring and estimating ETR.