Grasslands are important for sustainable milk and meat production as well as for providing other ecosystem services. One of the most productive components of short-term grasslands is Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum subsp. italicum Lam.), offering high yield, excellent feed value, and high palatability to animals but low tolerance to abiotic stress. Global climate warming opens new opportunities and could be beneficial in increasing the potential of biomass production. In this study, we aimed to assess an Italian ryegrass cultivar of Lithuanian origin, ‘Ugnė’, for productivity and yield stability, with special emphasis on their relationship with climatic factors over a period of 14 years. The average winter temperatures and total spring precipitation explained 51% of the first-cut dry matter yield (DMY) variance. Second- and third-cut DMYs were associated with average temperature only. Italian ryegrass cv. ‘Ugnė’ demonstrated the potential to produce high dry matter yields after warm winters and withstand summer drought spells under Lithuanian conditions. However, mid-to-late-summer heat waves might reduce productivity and should be taken into consideration when breeding new Italian ryegrass cultivars.

Elevating plant diversity and functional group composition amount in the swards may contribute to lower N fertiliser use. The excessive use of fertilisers in agriculture is one of the causes of environmental pollution issues. We investigated the effects of plant diversity, functional community composition, and fertilisation on the dry matter yield and its quality at the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Central Lithuania. The study aimed to determine the productivity potential of single-species and multi-species swards with three, four, six, and eight plant species in the mixtures including four grasses and four legumes. Two experimental backgrounds were used with N₀ and N₁₅₀ kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ for all treatments. In the two-year experiment manipulating species richness and functional group diversity had a positive effect on the dry matter yield and produced better quality of the forage when compared with single-species swards. Crude protein in the forage of grass–legume mixtures was significantly greater than for grass monocultures. Investigating fertilisation background was a concern; it had a positive effect on the single-species sward yield but decreased the yield of multi-species swards.

Grass–legume mixtures can improve forage productivity and quality, but their performance may vary between years. This study evaluated grass–legume mixture types differing in composition and intended use (forage, universal, and grazing) across two growing seasons, focusing on the first cut. Mixtures were assessed for dry matter yield, botanical composition, chemical composition, and plant height, and principal component analysis (PCA) was used to describe multivariate trait patterns. The year strongly affected mixture performance. Mean dry matter yield decreased from 6949 ± 212 kg ha⁻¹ in 2023 to 1588 ± 94 kg ha⁻¹ in 2024, corresponding to an approximately 76% reduction. In 2023, forage mixtures produced the highest yield, followed by universal and grazing mixtures, whereas in 2024, differences among mixture types were not significant. Botanical composition shifted toward a higher legume proportion in 2024, while mixture type differences in chemical composition largely converged, except for DMD. PCA showed clearer separation among mixture types in 2023, with PC1 and PC2 explaining 64.9% and 17.6% of variance, respectively, whereas separation weakened in 2024. These results indicate that mixture composition and intended use influenced productivity and quality mainly under more favorable growing conditions, while year-to-year variation strongly constrained first-cut mixture performance.

Agricultural reforms, land consolidation, and the abandonment of livestock farming effects grassland ecosystems worldwide. Utilising data from four medium-sized livestock farms across different regions in Lithuania, we assess floristic composition, productivity, and grass quality in both permanent grasslands and leys. Our findings reveal significant differences in flora diversity, with 120 species identified in permanent grasslands compared to only 20 in leys. Additionally, dry matter yield was notably higher in leys (13.97 t ha⁻¹) than in permanent grasslands (5.66 t ha⁻¹), underscoring the productivity potential of leys. The crude protein levels remained stable across both types, but leys demonstrated significantly lower neutral detergent fibre content, indicating better forage quality. However, the high biodiversity of permanent grasslands supports ecosystem services.

Interest in using warm-season grasses, including switchgrass (SG) (Panicum virgatum L.), as a bioenergy crop has increased in Europe. This study evaluated the effects of harvesting regimes with two cuts per year on productivity, chemical composition and methane potential of SG cultivars ‘Dacotah’, ‘Foresburg’ and ‘Cave in Rock’in environments with cool and moderate climates in Europe with minimal fertilizer application. The results of two harvest years suggest that biomass yield, chemical composition and energy potential depend on grass cultivars and harvesting time. Significant effects (P<0.05) of harvest date and cultivar were observed for most measured parameters for biomass and silage quality. All three SG cultivars harvested on August 8 produced the lowest (P<0.05) volume of methane per kg of biomass (181–202 normal litres (NL) per kg^-1 volatile solids (VS) compared to biomass of the respective cultivar harvested on July 14 (287–308 NL kg^-1 VS) or on October 3 as regrowth after the first cut made in mid-July (274–307 NL kg^-1 VS). Stands of all three SG cultivars, when the first harvest was done in mid-July, achieved a higher annual area-specific methane yield than those harvested first in August (1128–1900 Nm³ ha^-1 and 888–1332 Nm³ ha^-1, respectively). Depending on the harvest regime and cultivar, annual gross energy presented as lower heating value varied from 31.8 GJ ha^-1 to 68.0 GJ ha^-1. It is concluded that SG growing under the cool temperate climate of Northern Europe could be an interesting alternative crop for methane production. Our study proved that cultivar choice also plays an important role.