Livestock raising in Uruguay recovers and prospers…

Livestock raising in Uruguay recovers and prospers after the Great War.

Improvements in breeding techniques and fencing are introduced, and between 1860 and 1868 sheep breeding, stimulated by European demand, expands from three million head to seventeen million head.

A group of modernizing hacendados (landowners), a large number of whom are foreigners, is responsible for this change.

In 1871 they establish the Rural Association (Asociacion Rural) to improve livestock-raising techniques.

The association develops a reputation for defending rural traditions and exerting considerable influence on policy makers.