European Grassland Symposium 2025
EGF 2025 Symposium Themes
The three themes for the symposium are:
Theme 1 – Agronomic considerations of multi-species swards
Theme 2 – Animal production impacts of multi-species swards
Theme 3 – Impacts of multi-species swards on the environment
Topics included under the three themes are listed below.

Theme 1: Agronomic considerations of multi-species swards
This may include but is not restricted to:
- Extension of the growing season
- Morphological specificities, like rooting depth, to adapt to climatic changes
- Species mix complexity
- Productivity response to plant diversity
- Yield stability
- Grazing effects, e.g. effect of grazing rotation length and sward management on sward composition
- Conservation techniques for multi-species swards
- Designing mixtures for specific purposes and locations
Theme 2: Animal production impacts of multi-species swards
This may include but is not restricted to:
- Nutritive analysis – analytical techniques
- Nutritive value
- Digestive efficiency, e.g. degradability of components (protein, fibre)
- Animal health and welfare, e.g. benefits of tannins, anthelmintic properties
- Feeding behaviour, e.g. grazing selection
Theme 3: Impacts of multi-species swards on the environment
This may include but is not restricted to:
- Greenhouse gas emissions
- Methane emissions and rumen fermentation characteristics
- Resilience to environmental disturbance
- Water security
- Plant protection in crop rotations
- Carbon sequestration
- Soil structure and health
- Prevention of soil erosion
- Fauna diversity/biodiversity
- Nutrient cycling, e.g. fertiliser inputs, use of slurry and farmyard manure, legacy effects in arable rotations, denitrification inhibitors