03125naa a2200373 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001902400430006010000170010324501430012026000090026350002210027252017840049365300230227765300380230065300190233865300180235765300110237565300110238665300100239765300320240765300190243970000140245870000170247270000230248970000180251270000200253070000160255070000150256670000170258170000160259870000210261477301160263510634322022-07-22 2022 bl uuuu u00u1 u #d7 a10.1016/j.smallrumres.2022.1067762DOI1 aFARIAS, G.D. aOpportunities and challenges for the integration of sheep and crops in the Rio de la Plata region of South America.h[electronic resource] c2022 aHistory article: Received date: 18 September 202; Revised date: 7 July 2022; Accepted date: 8 July 2022. Corresponding authors: gustavo.dfarias@hotmail.com (G. D. Farias), paulocfc@ufrgs.br (P. C. de Faccio Carvalho) aThe Rio de la Plata region (Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil) is currently characterized by a mosaic of intensively managed croplands and remaining areas of livestock production on native grasslands. The production of crops and animals in this scenario is usually spatially segregated as a result of mindset and structural constraints developed over decades of agricultural specialization. However, several studies have suggested that crop-livestock integration across various spatio-temporal scales can improve land-use efficiency and ecosystem services provisioning. In this context, the long-standing tradition of Rio de la Plata region‟s ranchers on sheep production summed to the easy-to-manage body size of these small ruminants make them fit into a wide range of farm sizes and integrated crop-livestock system (ICLS) designs. In addition, the large variety of crops produced in the region, including annual (e.g., soybean, maize, rice and wheat) and perennial (e.g., orchards, vineyards and woodlands), and the diversity of temperate and tropical forage species used in livestock systems, provide multiple ICLS possibilities. In this review, we explore these possibilities and highlight the opportunities and challenges for integration of crop and sheep production in the Rio de la Plata region of South America. Using mainly data from the region‟s ICLS, but also other parts of the world, we show that ICLS with sheep are able to improve nutrient cycling, land-use efficiency, and systems‟ resilience and profitability if sound grazing intensities are used. Finally, we build on the idea of ICLS farm design to present an interactive, hands-on methodology recently developed to support farmers‟ transition from specialized systems to ICLS. aGRAZING MANAGEMENT aINTEGRATED CROP-LIVESTOCK SYSTEMS aMANEJO A PASTO aMIXED SYSTEMS aOVEJAS aOVINOS aSHEEP aSUSTAINABLE INTENSIFICATION aSYSTEM DESIGNS1 aBREMM, C.1 aSAVIAN, J.V.1 aSOUZA FILHO, W. DE1 aLIMA, L.C. DE1 aNUNES, P.A.D.A.1 aALVES, L.A.1 aSACIDO, M.1 aMONTOSSI, F.1 aTIECHER, T.1 aCARVALHO, P.C.F. tSmall Ruminant Research, 2022gv. 215, no. 106776, 10 p. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2022.106776