DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7701-093-1-0014

HOW CAN FORAGE MIXTURES HELP WITH FORAGE QUALITY MANAGEMENT?

Hakl, J.¹

¹ Department of Agroecology and Crops Production, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129 165 00 Praha-Suchdol, Czech Republic

Effective forage production from perennial fodder crops primarily depends on biomass yield and high forage quality. In this review, we highlighted the potential of multispecies mixtures to influence forage nutritive value, along with forage yield and environmental aspects of production. Multispecies mixtures have clear potential to increase forage yield without decreasing desirable nutrient concentrations. Besides, multispecies mixtures had higher concentrations of macro- and micronutrients. They could better balance protein and energy ratios, although this effect on N use efficiency may be unstable across seasons and years. Integrating bioactive-rich forage species into multispecies grassland systems is a promising strategy to enhance ruminant productivity and mitigate environmental impacts. Still, it is limited by lower content of desirable compounds in bioactive-rich species or their fluctuating proportions in the mixture, a lack of operative analytical methods, limited knowledge and control over appropriate agronomic management, and the functional doses required for consistent biological effects. Optimization of the contribution of mixtures to forage quality requires a deeper understanding of interactions among species, complementarity among functional groups, harvest timing, and environmental conditions, in close relation to transdisciplinary innovation in crop-livestock systems.

Klíčová slova: multispecies mixtures, perennial fodder crops, forage yield, nutrient composition, bioactive forage species, ruminant nutrition, nitrogen use efficiency, sustainable grassland systems, crop-livestock systems

stránky: 14-19, Publikováno: 2026, online: 2026