05/11/2010 - With more than 1,500 attendants and 77 sponsor companies, and an extensive coverage of the press, the Open Fences meeting was a success.

Under the slogan “A commitment to the Land”, the III Eastern Open Fences workshop was held on Friday October 29, at the Santa María farm of Paraje Aramendia, in Lavalleja, Uruguay.

The preparation of the event by the Rural Association Cándido N. Cal (a livestock union), CALVASE (a fodder cooperative), ACA (Rice Growers’ Association), and a multilocal company (El Tejar) was very enriching both for the people organizing it and for the institutions. Furthermore, there was a rich exchange of ideas and perspectives with excellent experts from the INIA and the School of Agronomy.

In the morning, 4 panelists approached the environmental issues scheduled: Carbon financing for agricultural activities; transparency benefits; the water resource in Uruguay; and the prevention of environmental impact.

After the lunch in aid of rural schools, the farm visit allowed an enlightening exchange of technological issues; different generations as well as people from different activities all enjoyed the tour.

_The livestock station showed the use of different pastures associated to rotation and the incorporation of grains and by-products in the agricultural system in different feeding structures, such as supplementation and feedlot, generating thus an agricultural-livestock synergy.

_The “Green bridges” station evidenced the important role of the winter covers in the current agricultural activity and displayed different species, which development has been monitored by INIA’s engineers.

_Different tests of wheat varieties could be seen, which have been developed by INIA for three years, recognizing similarities and differences at a non-traditional area like the East of Uruguay as compared to a typically agricultural area, like the litoral.

_The last-stop crop is typical of the area: rice. The challenge: to integrate an irrigated crop in the rainfed rotations without losing the differential attributes of the Uruguayan rice (rotating with pastures is the typical practice of the area).

We were pleased to host such a great number of youngsters, among them, students and teachers of 15 technical and secondary schools, as well as representatives of 2 important rural youngsters' unions of Uruguay.

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