Land Use Systems in Grassland Dominated Regions : Book of Abstracts

"Land Use Systems in Grassland Dominated Regions" was the stimulating theme of the 20th General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation. This topic was not solely tailored to Switzerland and the other countries in the Alpine zone, but also to all other European regions dominated by grassland. In such regions, grasslands are fundamental for agricultural production and landscape value, including the conservation of natural resources. Changes or losses of the basic functions of grassland can have dramatic impacts on regional developments in grassland areas. In adapting these functions, grassland farming faces tremendous challenges caused by economic, political and technical factors.The emphasis of the conference was on five aspects. The first topic dealt with the difficulty in combining ecological and economic goals on a farm scale and at a regional level under given ecological conditions and agro-environmental policy regimes. The second was dedicated to the fact that grassland meets human needs through the services that it provides to society. This was shown by highlighting the benefits and potential risks of grassland systems. The third aspect concerned the efficient use of plant nutrients in soil-plant-animal systems in order to optimise grass growth and minimise environmental impacts. The fourth session concentrated on the relevance of forage quality for the quality and safety of dairy and meat products, and the last session was dedicated to the transfer of knowledge into agricultural practise.This book contains all abstracts of the conference papers. Also available are the complete proceedings.Luescher, Andreas is the author of 'Land Use Systems in Grassland Dominated Regions : Book of Abstracts', published 2004 under ISBN 9783728129413 and ISBN 3728129410.