Description
A group of scientists and practitioners discussed the possible roles of grasslands in closing nutrient cycles. Strengths of grasslands are the beneficial role in crop rotations (like less disease pressure and build-up of organic material in arable rotations), production of cheap animal feed in summer (grazing) and winter (silage), the protein produced on-farm and the opportunity to efficiently use the nutrients of animal manure. A major weakness is that there are a lot of uncertainties on how to close nutrient cycles. Further weaknesses are water status (sometimes too wet or too dry) and foraging of birds leading to less forage available for cattle. Current Dutch grasslands often contain only grass species and do not have much biodiversity. Some grasslands are not managed optimally which leads to nutrient losses. Threats for grasslands are that there is no clear societal definition of closing nutrient cycles. Furthermore, regional initiatives may suffer since the market is mainly a national market. And the land use is changing since there is a lot of land needed for nature, houses, industry, infrastructure and arable farming. Opportunities for grasslands are that a holistic approach with a central role for grasslands can lead to new and improved business models, local marketing, better use of local resources, less nutrient losses and a higher diversity in flora and fauna. It may also be possible to valorise grass in the bio-economy or as a provider of ecosystem services like biodiversity and C sequestration. Further research in management of robust grasslands in the short and long term is needed. Interaction with society is also essential to understand and meet the societal needs. Incentives for optimal management need to be developed. These incentives can be monetary or otherwise (e.g. technical advisory, transferring knowledge).
