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This paper reports part of a methodology for a model-based exploration of land use motivated by the lack of sustainability of small farming systems in southern Uruguay. Explorative land use studies aim to gain insight into future possibilities for agricultural development. They support strategic thinking during the design of new farming systems. The crop rotation plays a central role in a farming system and represents a logical starting point in the design process. The combination and sequence of crop species determine characteristics of farming systems such as crop yields, soil erosion, occurrence of soil-borne pests, diseases and weeds, and dynamics of nitrogen and labour. Here, we present a software tool called rotat, designed for generating crop rotations based on agronomic criteria in a transparent manner. The program combines crops from a predefined list to generate all possible rotations. The full factorial …