Read the latest news regarding Permanent Grasslands EU Grassland Watch launch event in Brussels | Hybrid An upcoming event organised by DG Environment of the European Commission in relation to grasslands will take place on 12 September in Brussels, with possibility of joining remotely. It is organised in the context of the EU Grassland Watch platform, which monitors natural and semi-natural grasslands in Natura 2000 sites. It uses Landsat, Sentinel 1 and Sentinel Read More Benefits and challenges of multi-species swards This farm demonstration event was held on 1st August 2023, with 26 farmer, advisers, and representatives from seed companies in attendance. The farmers in attendance were a mix of those already growing multi-species swards and those interested in establishing them in the future. The event began with an overview of the farming enterprise at Lemmington Read More Managing grassland swards for improved productivity, resilience and livestock performance This demonstration event attracted 46 farmers and advisers to Crediton where the ADAS SUPER-G team led discussions outlining the ways grassland swards can be managed to benefit the farming enterprise. The event began with an indoor discussion of results from two sites in Devon, both concerning the establishment of, and challenges and benefits of multi-species Read More European Summer School | Grass-based animal production in Europe On 4th and 5th of July 2023, the Summer School on Grass-based animal production in Europe took place. The Summer School started with a get together where participants got to know each other and where the guests informed the hosts on their respective working topics at home universities. There were participants from Slovenia, Spain and Read More 7th Forage day in Bohemian-Moravian Highland, Czech Republic On 18th May 2023 Mendel University in Brno (Stanislav Hejduk) and DLF Seed and Science Ltd. (Ivan Houdek) organised a seminar Permanent and Temporary Grasslands as a Source of Forage for Dairy Cows at co-operative farm Nové Město na Moravě. More than 85 attendants visited this event, mostly farmers, students, advisers, forage breeders and company Read More SUPER-G at the European Grassland Federation (EGF) Symposium 2023 On 11-24 June, the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry hosted the 22nd European Grassland Federation (EGF) Symposium at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania in Vilnius. The focus of the Symposium was on “The Future Role of Ley-Farming in Cropping Systems” and included comparisons between temporary and permanent grasslands in terms of Read More SUPER-G 2023 annual meeting | Budapest, Hungary The SUPER-G 2023 annual meeting was held in the Library at the Institute of Aquatic Ecology in Budapest, between 6th and 8th of June, and included a fascinating field excursion to the famous Kiskunság National Park in the Danube–Tisza interfluve region of Hungary. The Kiskunság includes minimally grazed semi-desert on wind-blown sand, with multiple rare endemic Read More Ready to launch new virtual fencing trials in Sweden! We are delighted to announce that SUPER-G project partners, RISE and SLU Ecology Centre, have received additional funding from a Swedish Board of Agriculture research and development grant (FOU) to continue working with virtual fencing technology in Sweden. The project “Flexible grazing with virtual fences for increased biodiversity” will start immediately. Matt Hiron at SLU Read More SUPER-G | Continental Region Webinar On 10 March, we had the Continental Region Webinar! This ‘Continental region’ webinar brought together 41 grassland practitioners and researchers from France, Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia. The big question asked was what are the key elements to put into a practical face-to-face workshop with farmers focusing on sustainable permanent grassland management (within Read More SUPER-G | Forage Conference | 7 & 8 February In Uppsala, on February 7th and 8th there was a forage conference with 300 registered participants over the two days. The conference was organised by SLU, in collaboration with Växa, The Swedish Rural Economy and Agricultural Society, LRF, and the Swedish Board of Agriculture. The English summary of the conference proceedings states that talks and posters Read More Grassland Management – Sustainability, Resilience & Opportunities | 31st January 2023 This event was hosted at Newcastle University’s Cockle Park Farm and was hosted by staff from ADAS and Newcastle University. The event was attended by 30 members of the local farming and agricultural advisory community, as well as representatives from the UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). The event focused on communicating the results Read More The SUPER-G H2020 project hosted on the 10th of January the ‘Atlantic Region’ webinar on permanent grassland You can now (re)watch the webinar on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/mwjr_5HYUeI In 2023, the SUPER-G project wants to discuss the results of the data collection and insights obtained on permanent grassland management in a series of workshops with farmers and test them for usability in practice. A total of 5 ‘stakeholder’ webinars will be held in Read More Winter School “Obstacles and opportunities for sustainable management of permanent grasslands (PG) in Sweden” On November 25th the third ‘school’ of the SUPER-G project, called “Winter School“, took place in Tammsalen, Ecology Centre, SLU, Ultuna. This edition had 20 participants, ranging from students, researchers, teachers, NGOs and farmers. The program was about “Obstacles and opportunities for sustainable management of permanent grasslands (PG) in Sweden” and contained 4 sessions. The 1st Read More SUPER-G – Alpine Region (Alpine Grassland) video just came out! A video about Alpine grassland, one of SUPER-G Biogeographic regions just came out! It was filmed in Slovenia in June, where advisors, farmers, professors and a Director of the Slovenian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food were interviewed. The subject of grasslands and their impact in the production systems was discussed, as well as the importance Read More PhD visiting exchange at the National Research Council of Italy in Perugia This month, Filippo Milazzo of the Universtiy of Cordoba, one of the SUPER-G partners, did a PhD visit exchange at the National Research Council of Italy in Perugia (CNR-IRPI) to develop a Satellite based NDVI forecasting model for Mediterranean permanent grassland. The exchange was under the supervision of Dott.Luca Brocca and Tom Vanwalleghem. The activity Read More Summer School “Ecosystem Services of Mediterranean permanent grasslands” The Summer School of the Super-G H2020 project entitled “Ecosystem services of Mediterranean permanent grasslands” took place between Thursday 12 May and Saturday 14 May, organized in 1 day of in-person classes and 2 days of field visits. This course aimed to train young technicians, researchers and PhD students in the most innovative techniques for Read More The Department of Ecology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) is recruiting a Professor of Ecology The Department of Ecology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) Uppsala, one of SUPER-G partners, is recruiting a Professor of Ecology with “a focus on the role and dynamics of plant communities in ecosystems undergoing change”. This department works with applied and basic ecological research, as well as the teaching of 60 courses from genetic to Read More Grassland activity SLU The 27th of September, 120 school pupils (about 11-12 years old) visited SLU´s campus in Uppsala to participate in SciFest activities. One activity was to find habitats for species (butterflies, birds and plants) in two landscapes. In one landscape there are still cattle in the pasture lands – in the other one the farmer has switched Read More ‘How do we feed grazing livestock in the future? A case for knowledge-driven grazing systems’ by Juliane Horn and Johannes Isselstein Autumn has arrived! And with it many uncertainties and doubts about the future. The article published in the grass and Forage Science Journal ‘How do we feed grazing livestock in the future? A case for knowledge-driven grazing systems‘ by Juliane Horn and Johannes Isselstein, our SUPER-G colleague from the University of Göttingen, aims to bring Read More The SUPER-G project was present at the 73rd EAAP Annual Meeting in Porto! The SUPER-G project was present at the 73rd EAAP Annual Meeting in Porto, where it was possible to communicate with different stakeholders the activities already undertaken. This conference had over 1400 participants from different areas of animal science, where the latest scientific developments in the sector were presented. Read More SUPER-G second European Summer School “Ecosystem services and disservices of Alpine grasslands” From September 26th to 28th, in Grugliasco & Travesella, Italy, the second SUPER-G European Summer School will be held under the topic “Ecosystem services and disservices of Alpine grasslands“. The first day will be focused on the Introduction to Alpine Permanent Grasslands (APG) and an Overview of APG soil features, while the second day will be about topics such as: APG plant diversity Read More Forage day at the Research Station in Vatin Last 1st of April, the Brno University, of the Czech Republic organized a workshop with 18 farmers, at the Research station in Vatín, district Žďár nad Sázavou. In this workshop several topics related with the Permanent Grasslands management were discussed, with presentations from different speakers: “War at Ukraine and its possible impacts on agrarian trade” presented by Read More SUPER-G awarded the Photo Competition winners! SUPER-G launched a Photo Competition in 2019, that lasted one year and ended with nearly 170 photos selected from 5 categories: biodiversity; farmlands; cultural values; landscape and recreation and threats. The Photo Competition ended in 2020, with 3 awarded overall winners – 1st Alan Hopps; 2nd Tobias Nilsson and 3rd Jantine van Middlekoop and a wonderful Photo Book that gathered photos from Read More SUPER-G Stakeholder Webinar – April 2022 The SUPER-G Stakeholder Webinar ocurred on the 26th of April, adressing the Permanent Grasslands in the Continental biogeographic region. This webinar presented the role and main tasks of Biebrza National Park in active protection of PG and the richness of its fauna, the ecosystems services and PG management as well as the agricultural production in Read More SUPER-G 4th Consortium Annual Meeting in Bled! In the last two and a half years the SUPER-G Consortium kept up the good work, with several online meetings, including the annual ones. But surely, we were missing to meet, to discuss in-person and to enjoy the networking that these meetings can provide. So, two weeks ago, from the 7th to the 9th of June, we were Read More EU Green Week Webinar: “Grasslands as carbon sinks” organised by GO-GRASS At the occasion of the EU Green Week 2022, which focuses on the European Green Deal, the GO-GRASS project organised a Partner Event focusing on the potential of grasslands for carbon sequestration and its benefits for biodiversity, climate neutrality, circular economy and water quality. In this event, it was presented practices and resources that can promote the Read More Permanent Grasslands in the Continental biogeographic region (Webinar) The first SUPER-G webinar for stakeholders in the Continental biogeographic region will be held online on 26th April 2022. Our discussions will focus on how permanent grasslands can be managed for biodiversity and for food production with specific reference to the Biebrza National Park – http://www.biebrza.org.pl/, one of the largest parks in Europe – 60,000 Read More SUPER-G news from Switzerland SUPER-G partners from ETH Zurich (Switzerland) made a special summary of their activities in 2021 within the framework of the project activities: “Our SUPER-G permanent grassland site where we measure the ecosystem exchange of three major greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O) experienced an indeed turbulent year: Lots of snow in the beginning of 2021 (Figure 1), Read More ETH Zurich is looking for a doctoral student with a passion for science to join their team The Grassland Sciences Group is a vibrant and international working group at the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zurich and they are looking for a “reliable, enthusiastic and highly motivated doctoral student with a passion for science” to join their team. The research will focus on “process- and system-understanding of the biosphere-atmosphere greenhouse Read More “Improving permanent grasslands for ecosystem services and biodiversity” - Super-G stakeholder webinar (update) On the 17th of January, the SUPER-G project organized a stakeholder webinar on the theme “Improving permanent grasslands for ecosystem services and biodiversity”. Well-managed permanent grasslands are of great importance for food production, nature conservation and other ecosystem services such as regulating water flow and mitigating climate change. “Covering about 40% of the terrestrial world Read More Improving Permanent Grasslands for ecosystem services and biodiversity – SUPER-G Stakeholder Webinar The SUPER-G project is organising a Stakeholder webinar on January 17th, 2022. The webinar will approach the topic of “Improving Permanent Grasslands for ecosystem services and biodiversity”. Well-managed permanent grasslands are of great importance for food production, nature conservation and other ecosystem services such as regulating water flow and mitigating climate change. However, several risk Read More Professor Stypiński | “Meadows and pastures in the protection of biodiversity” On November 17, 2021 Professor Stypiński presented the lecture “Meadows and pastures in the protection of biodiversity” in Wloclawek, Poland, during the first part of workshops “The role of modern agriculture in creating biodiversity – challenges for modern agriculture” for farmers, agricultural advisors and students. Additionally there were lectures, with different topics, such as: The role of Read More Co-Innovation workshop – French Farm Network On November 16, 2021 there was the Co-Innovation workshop – French Farm Network in Normandy, France. There were a total of 61 participants consisting of 23 farmers, 12 advisors/agricultural group leader from CRAN or LBM, 1 journalist, 25 high school agricultural students with their teacher. A brief presentation of the SUPER-G project was given at Read More SUPER-G has published two public deliverables recently SUPER-G has recently published two public reports that can now be viewed on our website and our social media channels. One of the reports (Deliverable 2.3) summarises the main Farming Systems (FS) on Permanent Grassland (PG) in Europe (linked to the grassland typology), resulting in conceptual models of the ‘typical’ FS on the main PG Read More SUPER-G will participate in the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2021 The H2020 SUPER-G project will participate in the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2021 with a presentation titled: ‘Creating sustainable rural spaces: understanding citizens’ perspectives of grassland landscapes and ‘ecosystem services’’. From the 31st of August to the 3rd of September 2021, 2200 delegates will join this virtual event for a programme of more than 475 Read More Investigating the potential of Sentinel-2 configuration to predict the quality of Mediterranean permanent grasslands in open woodlands Fernández-Habas et al. (2021) have published a paper on the assessment of pasture quality in permanent grasslands and how it’s essential for their conservation and management, as it can contribute to making real-time decisions for livestock management. In this study, they assessed the potential of Sentinel-2 configuration to predict forage quality in the diverse Mediterranean Read More The SUPER-G Photobook – LIFE on European Grasslands – a Photographic Look has been published! Covering 34% of the agricultural area in the European Union and around 60 million hectares in total, permanent grasslands are an important and integral part of European landscapes. Within SUPER-G we are trying to better understand how grassland systems are valued for recreation, landscape and culture. From that, the idea of a photographic competition and Read More SUPER-G Webinar – Pros & Cons of Multi-Species Swards Representatives from farm networks in Northern Ireland, northern England and Normandy got together on the evening of Wednesday 23rd June to discuss the pros and cons of using multi-species swards. The discussion confirmed that farmers in contrasting Atlantic regions are experiencing similar challenges and benefits from growing multi-species swards. You can watch the full discussion Read More New launch of Open Access Government July 2021 edition Open Access Government is a UK-based digital publication with a unique perspective, focusing on an interesting plethora of issues from physics to biology, economic development to agriculture, among many others. The bumper July 2021 edition of Open Access Government provides in-depth coverage of policy issues globally, such as COVID-19, health & social care, research & Read More SUPER-G participated in the 3rd ESP Europe Regional conference Sophie Tindale from the University of Newcastle, a SUPER-G partner, participated in the 3rd ESP Europe Regional conference organized by the Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP). This event took place in Tartu, Estonia from the 7-10 of June 2021, with the theme “Ecosystem Services Science, Policy and Practice in the face of Global Changes”. On the Read More 1st Joint Meeting of EAAP Mountain Livestock Farming Working Group & FAO-CIHEAM Mountain Pastures Sub-Network On the 7th of June, Paul Newell-Price, coordinator of the SUPER-G project, participated in a joint EEAP & FAO-CIHEAM conference themed “Mountains are agroecosystems for people“ where he presented the 1st Session: Farming systems and global change. On this session Paul introduced a paper on Grassland-based farming systems in Europe, written by Newell-Price P. (ADAS, Read More EGF2021 SYMPOSIUM | Sensing – New Insights into Grassland Science and Practice The EGF2021 Symposium, hosted by Universität Kassel, was held last week (17-19 May). With a special focus on sensing technologies, it addressed three main themes closely related to objectives of the SUPER-G project; “Biomass and quality characteristics”, “Biodiversity and other ecosystem services” and “Management and decision support”. The participants discussed results and provided insights on Read More Webinar series: Permanent Grasslands in Europe – Policies, Services and Management The SUPER-G project is hosting an open access Webinar series in June, to showcase some outputs from the project and contribute to discussions around policy making. Under the theme: Permanent Grasslands (PG) in Europe – policies, services, and management, it aims to engage policy makers, farmer representatives, researchers and students over a course of 3 Read More Decision Support Tools Report Work Package 5 (WP5) of the SUPER-G project will develop Decision Support Tools (DSTs) to assist farmers and policy makers to assess Ecosystem Service (ES) provision on Permanent Grassland (PG). Within WP5, as part of Task 5.1, we undertook a survey and review of existing DSTs used by farmers, advisors, policy makers and others to Read More Euromontana Booklet of Good Practices The European Association of mountain areas (EuroMontana) has published a booklet of good management practices in mountain grasslands, gathered across 18 European countries, through OREKA MENDIAN, a seven-year project funded by the European Union’s LIFE Programme, Grasslands cover 15.9 % of the EU-28 area and are Europe’s third most dominant ecosystem. As well as being central to Read More The effectiveness of policies promoting sustainable permanent grassland across five European countries (representing five biogeographic regions) The report on the topic “The effectiveness of policies promoting sustainable permanent grassland across five European countries (representing five biogeographic regions)” – developed under the Task 4.1c of the SUPER-G project – is now available on our website. The report investigates the maintenance and sustainable management of permanent grassland in Europe and sets out to Read More eBook of Abstracts of the 1 st Joint Conference | Virtual meeting In mid January 2021, there was a 1st Joint Conference of the EAAP Mountain Livestock Farming Group & FAO-CIHEAM Mountain Pastures Sub-Network on the topic “Mountains are agroecosystems for people“. On page 12 there is an article written by Newell Price J.P.,Ravetto Enri S., Lombardi G., Schils R. and Berge H. ten on “Pasture-based farming systems Read More Grazing season: top start! SUPER-G project partners from the Chambres d’agriculture de Normandie recently launched an article, related with the beginning of grazing season, in Normandy local press, about the project. After the heavy rainfall of the last few months, the grass has been slow to grow. However, tools are already available to farmers for a smooth grazing season. Read More Super-G article on AGROTEJO annual magazine The project was featured in an article in the annual magazine AGROTEJO. AGROTEJO – União Agrícola do Norte do Vale do Tejo is a non-profit Portuguese association of farmers, whose main area of focus is the North of the Tagus Valley: To promote regional agricultural development; To articulate the associative structures of the region; To Read More SUPER-G Northern England Farm Network Webinar Back in September, The SUPER-G Northern England farm network held a webinar with the UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) Beef and Lamb and ADAS. During the webinar we heard from James Drummond from Lemmington Hill Head farm in Northumberland, who has set up a grass-herb trial with ADAS to look at sward and Read More
EU Grassland Watch launch event in Brussels | Hybrid An upcoming event organised by DG Environment of the European Commission in relation to grasslands will take place on 12 September in Brussels, with possibility of joining remotely. It is organised in the context of the EU Grassland Watch platform, which monitors natural and semi-natural grasslands in Natura 2000 sites. It uses Landsat, Sentinel 1 and Sentinel Read More
Benefits and challenges of multi-species swards This farm demonstration event was held on 1st August 2023, with 26 farmer, advisers, and representatives from seed companies in attendance. The farmers in attendance were a mix of those already growing multi-species swards and those interested in establishing them in the future. The event began with an overview of the farming enterprise at Lemmington Read More
Managing grassland swards for improved productivity, resilience and livestock performance This demonstration event attracted 46 farmers and advisers to Crediton where the ADAS SUPER-G team led discussions outlining the ways grassland swards can be managed to benefit the farming enterprise. The event began with an indoor discussion of results from two sites in Devon, both concerning the establishment of, and challenges and benefits of multi-species Read More
European Summer School | Grass-based animal production in Europe On 4th and 5th of July 2023, the Summer School on Grass-based animal production in Europe took place. The Summer School started with a get together where participants got to know each other and where the guests informed the hosts on their respective working topics at home universities. There were participants from Slovenia, Spain and Read More
7th Forage day in Bohemian-Moravian Highland, Czech Republic On 18th May 2023 Mendel University in Brno (Stanislav Hejduk) and DLF Seed and Science Ltd. (Ivan Houdek) organised a seminar Permanent and Temporary Grasslands as a Source of Forage for Dairy Cows at co-operative farm Nové Město na Moravě. More than 85 attendants visited this event, mostly farmers, students, advisers, forage breeders and company Read More
SUPER-G at the European Grassland Federation (EGF) Symposium 2023 On 11-24 June, the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry hosted the 22nd European Grassland Federation (EGF) Symposium at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania in Vilnius. The focus of the Symposium was on “The Future Role of Ley-Farming in Cropping Systems” and included comparisons between temporary and permanent grasslands in terms of Read More
SUPER-G 2023 annual meeting | Budapest, Hungary The SUPER-G 2023 annual meeting was held in the Library at the Institute of Aquatic Ecology in Budapest, between 6th and 8th of June, and included a fascinating field excursion to the famous Kiskunság National Park in the Danube–Tisza interfluve region of Hungary. The Kiskunság includes minimally grazed semi-desert on wind-blown sand, with multiple rare endemic Read More
Ready to launch new virtual fencing trials in Sweden! We are delighted to announce that SUPER-G project partners, RISE and SLU Ecology Centre, have received additional funding from a Swedish Board of Agriculture research and development grant (FOU) to continue working with virtual fencing technology in Sweden. The project “Flexible grazing with virtual fences for increased biodiversity” will start immediately. Matt Hiron at SLU Read More
SUPER-G | Continental Region Webinar On 10 March, we had the Continental Region Webinar! This ‘Continental region’ webinar brought together 41 grassland practitioners and researchers from France, Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia. The big question asked was what are the key elements to put into a practical face-to-face workshop with farmers focusing on sustainable permanent grassland management (within Read More
SUPER-G | Forage Conference | 7 & 8 February In Uppsala, on February 7th and 8th there was a forage conference with 300 registered participants over the two days. The conference was organised by SLU, in collaboration with Växa, The Swedish Rural Economy and Agricultural Society, LRF, and the Swedish Board of Agriculture. The English summary of the conference proceedings states that talks and posters Read More
Grassland Management – Sustainability, Resilience & Opportunities | 31st January 2023 This event was hosted at Newcastle University’s Cockle Park Farm and was hosted by staff from ADAS and Newcastle University. The event was attended by 30 members of the local farming and agricultural advisory community, as well as representatives from the UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). The event focused on communicating the results Read More
The SUPER-G H2020 project hosted on the 10th of January the ‘Atlantic Region’ webinar on permanent grassland You can now (re)watch the webinar on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/mwjr_5HYUeI In 2023, the SUPER-G project wants to discuss the results of the data collection and insights obtained on permanent grassland management in a series of workshops with farmers and test them for usability in practice. A total of 5 ‘stakeholder’ webinars will be held in Read More
Winter School “Obstacles and opportunities for sustainable management of permanent grasslands (PG) in Sweden” On November 25th the third ‘school’ of the SUPER-G project, called “Winter School“, took place in Tammsalen, Ecology Centre, SLU, Ultuna. This edition had 20 participants, ranging from students, researchers, teachers, NGOs and farmers. The program was about “Obstacles and opportunities for sustainable management of permanent grasslands (PG) in Sweden” and contained 4 sessions. The 1st Read More
SUPER-G – Alpine Region (Alpine Grassland) video just came out! A video about Alpine grassland, one of SUPER-G Biogeographic regions just came out! It was filmed in Slovenia in June, where advisors, farmers, professors and a Director of the Slovenian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food were interviewed. The subject of grasslands and their impact in the production systems was discussed, as well as the importance Read More
PhD visiting exchange at the National Research Council of Italy in Perugia This month, Filippo Milazzo of the Universtiy of Cordoba, one of the SUPER-G partners, did a PhD visit exchange at the National Research Council of Italy in Perugia (CNR-IRPI) to develop a Satellite based NDVI forecasting model for Mediterranean permanent grassland. The exchange was under the supervision of Dott.Luca Brocca and Tom Vanwalleghem. The activity Read More
Summer School “Ecosystem Services of Mediterranean permanent grasslands” The Summer School of the Super-G H2020 project entitled “Ecosystem services of Mediterranean permanent grasslands” took place between Thursday 12 May and Saturday 14 May, organized in 1 day of in-person classes and 2 days of field visits. This course aimed to train young technicians, researchers and PhD students in the most innovative techniques for Read More
The Department of Ecology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) is recruiting a Professor of Ecology The Department of Ecology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) Uppsala, one of SUPER-G partners, is recruiting a Professor of Ecology with “a focus on the role and dynamics of plant communities in ecosystems undergoing change”. This department works with applied and basic ecological research, as well as the teaching of 60 courses from genetic to Read More
Grassland activity SLU The 27th of September, 120 school pupils (about 11-12 years old) visited SLU´s campus in Uppsala to participate in SciFest activities. One activity was to find habitats for species (butterflies, birds and plants) in two landscapes. In one landscape there are still cattle in the pasture lands – in the other one the farmer has switched Read More
‘How do we feed grazing livestock in the future? A case for knowledge-driven grazing systems’ by Juliane Horn and Johannes Isselstein Autumn has arrived! And with it many uncertainties and doubts about the future. The article published in the grass and Forage Science Journal ‘How do we feed grazing livestock in the future? A case for knowledge-driven grazing systems‘ by Juliane Horn and Johannes Isselstein, our SUPER-G colleague from the University of Göttingen, aims to bring Read More
The SUPER-G project was present at the 73rd EAAP Annual Meeting in Porto! The SUPER-G project was present at the 73rd EAAP Annual Meeting in Porto, where it was possible to communicate with different stakeholders the activities already undertaken. This conference had over 1400 participants from different areas of animal science, where the latest scientific developments in the sector were presented. Read More
SUPER-G second European Summer School “Ecosystem services and disservices of Alpine grasslands” From September 26th to 28th, in Grugliasco & Travesella, Italy, the second SUPER-G European Summer School will be held under the topic “Ecosystem services and disservices of Alpine grasslands“. The first day will be focused on the Introduction to Alpine Permanent Grasslands (APG) and an Overview of APG soil features, while the second day will be about topics such as: APG plant diversity Read More
Forage day at the Research Station in Vatin Last 1st of April, the Brno University, of the Czech Republic organized a workshop with 18 farmers, at the Research station in Vatín, district Žďár nad Sázavou. In this workshop several topics related with the Permanent Grasslands management were discussed, with presentations from different speakers: “War at Ukraine and its possible impacts on agrarian trade” presented by Read More
SUPER-G awarded the Photo Competition winners! SUPER-G launched a Photo Competition in 2019, that lasted one year and ended with nearly 170 photos selected from 5 categories: biodiversity; farmlands; cultural values; landscape and recreation and threats. The Photo Competition ended in 2020, with 3 awarded overall winners – 1st Alan Hopps; 2nd Tobias Nilsson and 3rd Jantine van Middlekoop and a wonderful Photo Book that gathered photos from Read More
SUPER-G Stakeholder Webinar – April 2022 The SUPER-G Stakeholder Webinar ocurred on the 26th of April, adressing the Permanent Grasslands in the Continental biogeographic region. This webinar presented the role and main tasks of Biebrza National Park in active protection of PG and the richness of its fauna, the ecosystems services and PG management as well as the agricultural production in Read More
SUPER-G 4th Consortium Annual Meeting in Bled! In the last two and a half years the SUPER-G Consortium kept up the good work, with several online meetings, including the annual ones. But surely, we were missing to meet, to discuss in-person and to enjoy the networking that these meetings can provide. So, two weeks ago, from the 7th to the 9th of June, we were Read More
EU Green Week Webinar: “Grasslands as carbon sinks” organised by GO-GRASS At the occasion of the EU Green Week 2022, which focuses on the European Green Deal, the GO-GRASS project organised a Partner Event focusing on the potential of grasslands for carbon sequestration and its benefits for biodiversity, climate neutrality, circular economy and water quality. In this event, it was presented practices and resources that can promote the Read More
Permanent Grasslands in the Continental biogeographic region (Webinar) The first SUPER-G webinar for stakeholders in the Continental biogeographic region will be held online on 26th April 2022. Our discussions will focus on how permanent grasslands can be managed for biodiversity and for food production with specific reference to the Biebrza National Park – http://www.biebrza.org.pl/, one of the largest parks in Europe – 60,000 Read More
SUPER-G news from Switzerland SUPER-G partners from ETH Zurich (Switzerland) made a special summary of their activities in 2021 within the framework of the project activities: “Our SUPER-G permanent grassland site where we measure the ecosystem exchange of three major greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O) experienced an indeed turbulent year: Lots of snow in the beginning of 2021 (Figure 1), Read More
ETH Zurich is looking for a doctoral student with a passion for science to join their team The Grassland Sciences Group is a vibrant and international working group at the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zurich and they are looking for a “reliable, enthusiastic and highly motivated doctoral student with a passion for science” to join their team. The research will focus on “process- and system-understanding of the biosphere-atmosphere greenhouse Read More
“Improving permanent grasslands for ecosystem services and biodiversity” - Super-G stakeholder webinar (update) On the 17th of January, the SUPER-G project organized a stakeholder webinar on the theme “Improving permanent grasslands for ecosystem services and biodiversity”. Well-managed permanent grasslands are of great importance for food production, nature conservation and other ecosystem services such as regulating water flow and mitigating climate change. “Covering about 40% of the terrestrial world Read More
Improving Permanent Grasslands for ecosystem services and biodiversity – SUPER-G Stakeholder Webinar The SUPER-G project is organising a Stakeholder webinar on January 17th, 2022. The webinar will approach the topic of “Improving Permanent Grasslands for ecosystem services and biodiversity”. Well-managed permanent grasslands are of great importance for food production, nature conservation and other ecosystem services such as regulating water flow and mitigating climate change. However, several risk Read More
Professor Stypiński | “Meadows and pastures in the protection of biodiversity” On November 17, 2021 Professor Stypiński presented the lecture “Meadows and pastures in the protection of biodiversity” in Wloclawek, Poland, during the first part of workshops “The role of modern agriculture in creating biodiversity – challenges for modern agriculture” for farmers, agricultural advisors and students. Additionally there were lectures, with different topics, such as: The role of Read More
Co-Innovation workshop – French Farm Network On November 16, 2021 there was the Co-Innovation workshop – French Farm Network in Normandy, France. There were a total of 61 participants consisting of 23 farmers, 12 advisors/agricultural group leader from CRAN or LBM, 1 journalist, 25 high school agricultural students with their teacher. A brief presentation of the SUPER-G project was given at Read More
SUPER-G has published two public deliverables recently SUPER-G has recently published two public reports that can now be viewed on our website and our social media channels. One of the reports (Deliverable 2.3) summarises the main Farming Systems (FS) on Permanent Grassland (PG) in Europe (linked to the grassland typology), resulting in conceptual models of the ‘typical’ FS on the main PG Read More
SUPER-G will participate in the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2021 The H2020 SUPER-G project will participate in the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2021 with a presentation titled: ‘Creating sustainable rural spaces: understanding citizens’ perspectives of grassland landscapes and ‘ecosystem services’’. From the 31st of August to the 3rd of September 2021, 2200 delegates will join this virtual event for a programme of more than 475 Read More
Investigating the potential of Sentinel-2 configuration to predict the quality of Mediterranean permanent grasslands in open woodlands Fernández-Habas et al. (2021) have published a paper on the assessment of pasture quality in permanent grasslands and how it’s essential for their conservation and management, as it can contribute to making real-time decisions for livestock management. In this study, they assessed the potential of Sentinel-2 configuration to predict forage quality in the diverse Mediterranean Read More
The SUPER-G Photobook – LIFE on European Grasslands – a Photographic Look has been published! Covering 34% of the agricultural area in the European Union and around 60 million hectares in total, permanent grasslands are an important and integral part of European landscapes. Within SUPER-G we are trying to better understand how grassland systems are valued for recreation, landscape and culture. From that, the idea of a photographic competition and Read More
SUPER-G Webinar – Pros & Cons of Multi-Species Swards Representatives from farm networks in Northern Ireland, northern England and Normandy got together on the evening of Wednesday 23rd June to discuss the pros and cons of using multi-species swards. The discussion confirmed that farmers in contrasting Atlantic regions are experiencing similar challenges and benefits from growing multi-species swards. You can watch the full discussion Read More
New launch of Open Access Government July 2021 edition Open Access Government is a UK-based digital publication with a unique perspective, focusing on an interesting plethora of issues from physics to biology, economic development to agriculture, among many others. The bumper July 2021 edition of Open Access Government provides in-depth coverage of policy issues globally, such as COVID-19, health & social care, research & Read More
SUPER-G participated in the 3rd ESP Europe Regional conference Sophie Tindale from the University of Newcastle, a SUPER-G partner, participated in the 3rd ESP Europe Regional conference organized by the Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP). This event took place in Tartu, Estonia from the 7-10 of June 2021, with the theme “Ecosystem Services Science, Policy and Practice in the face of Global Changes”. On the Read More
1st Joint Meeting of EAAP Mountain Livestock Farming Working Group & FAO-CIHEAM Mountain Pastures Sub-Network On the 7th of June, Paul Newell-Price, coordinator of the SUPER-G project, participated in a joint EEAP & FAO-CIHEAM conference themed “Mountains are agroecosystems for people“ where he presented the 1st Session: Farming systems and global change. On this session Paul introduced a paper on Grassland-based farming systems in Europe, written by Newell-Price P. (ADAS, Read More
EGF2021 SYMPOSIUM | Sensing – New Insights into Grassland Science and Practice The EGF2021 Symposium, hosted by Universität Kassel, was held last week (17-19 May). With a special focus on sensing technologies, it addressed three main themes closely related to objectives of the SUPER-G project; “Biomass and quality characteristics”, “Biodiversity and other ecosystem services” and “Management and decision support”. The participants discussed results and provided insights on Read More
Webinar series: Permanent Grasslands in Europe – Policies, Services and Management The SUPER-G project is hosting an open access Webinar series in June, to showcase some outputs from the project and contribute to discussions around policy making. Under the theme: Permanent Grasslands (PG) in Europe – policies, services, and management, it aims to engage policy makers, farmer representatives, researchers and students over a course of 3 Read More
Decision Support Tools Report Work Package 5 (WP5) of the SUPER-G project will develop Decision Support Tools (DSTs) to assist farmers and policy makers to assess Ecosystem Service (ES) provision on Permanent Grassland (PG). Within WP5, as part of Task 5.1, we undertook a survey and review of existing DSTs used by farmers, advisors, policy makers and others to Read More
Euromontana Booklet of Good Practices The European Association of mountain areas (EuroMontana) has published a booklet of good management practices in mountain grasslands, gathered across 18 European countries, through OREKA MENDIAN, a seven-year project funded by the European Union’s LIFE Programme, Grasslands cover 15.9 % of the EU-28 area and are Europe’s third most dominant ecosystem. As well as being central to Read More
The effectiveness of policies promoting sustainable permanent grassland across five European countries (representing five biogeographic regions) The report on the topic “The effectiveness of policies promoting sustainable permanent grassland across five European countries (representing five biogeographic regions)” – developed under the Task 4.1c of the SUPER-G project – is now available on our website. The report investigates the maintenance and sustainable management of permanent grassland in Europe and sets out to Read More
eBook of Abstracts of the 1 st Joint Conference | Virtual meeting In mid January 2021, there was a 1st Joint Conference of the EAAP Mountain Livestock Farming Group & FAO-CIHEAM Mountain Pastures Sub-Network on the topic “Mountains are agroecosystems for people“. On page 12 there is an article written by Newell Price J.P.,Ravetto Enri S., Lombardi G., Schils R. and Berge H. ten on “Pasture-based farming systems Read More
Grazing season: top start! SUPER-G project partners from the Chambres d’agriculture de Normandie recently launched an article, related with the beginning of grazing season, in Normandy local press, about the project. After the heavy rainfall of the last few months, the grass has been slow to grow. However, tools are already available to farmers for a smooth grazing season. Read More
Super-G article on AGROTEJO annual magazine The project was featured in an article in the annual magazine AGROTEJO. AGROTEJO – União Agrícola do Norte do Vale do Tejo is a non-profit Portuguese association of farmers, whose main area of focus is the North of the Tagus Valley: To promote regional agricultural development; To articulate the associative structures of the region; To Read More
SUPER-G Northern England Farm Network Webinar Back in September, The SUPER-G Northern England farm network held a webinar with the UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) Beef and Lamb and ADAS. During the webinar we heard from James Drummond from Lemmington Hill Head farm in Northumberland, who has set up a grass-herb trial with ADAS to look at sward and Read More
