Ghost pastures and ecological footprint: a model of livestock exports in Uruguay, 1870-1970

This work presents an estimation of the grassland area embodied in Uruguay’s beef and wool exports for the period 1870-1970 from an economic and environmental history perspective. The study builds upon Kenneth Pomeranz’s use of the ‘ghost acres’ concept, which refers to the land area embedded in agricultural production that exporting economies make available to importing ones through international trade. In this framework, the paper estimates the annual land area embodied in Uruguay’s livestock exports between 1870 and 1970, based on the pasture consumption of cattle and sheep. This estimate relies on a model of annual coefficients of pasture productivity and historical trends in livestock weight. Furthermore, the study offers an estimate of the greenhouse gas emissions and the extraction of soil minerals derived from these exports as a means of assessing the long-term ecological implications of livestock production—an issue of significant contemporary relevance in debates on global trade and international economic integration. The results show that the land embodied in exports averaged 36% of the total area dedicated to livestock farming during the period, with peaks of 50% in the early years of the 20th century and towards the end of the 1920s. Greenhouse gas emissions intensity exhibited a consistent decline until the 1910s, subsequently stabilizing, aligning with the progression of livestock production efficiency during this era. By adopting this approach, the research seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of the constraints imposed by international markets on sectoral dynamics and their connection to the environmental impacts of livestock-based export economies.