In the middle of a heat wave, we travelled to the north of the country to interview Joaquín Martinicorena, Uruguayan grower from La Anita establishment. The establishment is about 7 hours away from Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. When we were on our way, the car was reading 31°C degrees but, as we advanced north, temperature started to gradually increase until it reached 44°C degrees. Although high temperatures are to be expected around this time of the year, such high values are not frequent. The country has been suffering from a terrible heat wave for months. Those who live and work in the city and specially those who work in the countryside / fields, are frustrated by the impossibility to do much more than waiting for rain.
However, it is not surprising that our planet is responding in this way to the environmental havoc we have wreaked on it. In this context, introducing Joaquín, a man who runs a family business, indulging in the passion inherited from his family's love of the countryside, makes perfect sense.
He points out: “ as we are passing through, it is important that we take care of the environment if we want to be able to leave this piece of land and these animals to the new generations, in the same way we inherited them.”
“ In our country, ” Joaquín says ,” approximately 65 % of the territory has natural pastures [...], mixed grazing between cattle and sheep is very important to maintain them for decades and is sustainable over time". This process together with forests and natural watering sources make up an exceptional natural habitat for animals to develop in a friendly environment. However, Joaquín is one of those people who take challenges one step further. He has joined the group of sheep growers who have decided to measure their carbon footprint and assess their real impact on our planet. As expected, the carbon footprint was negative, that is to say, La Anita establishment, with its 10,800 hectares and 25,500 sheep, sequesters carbon dioxide.
We believe Joaquin is right:
“Here in Uruguay, within the Basalt area, we have amazing conditions generated by natural water sources, which make this area of the country one of the best places for sheep growing on the planet.”
PS: As soon as we arrived, it finally started to rain, and we think the video turned out to be beautiful.