European permanent grasslands (PGs) provide a unique habitat for thousands of species, and targeted PG management can boost biodiversity at various trophic levels: soil microbes to plants, invertebrates (various pollinators, e.g. butterflies) and higher-order vertebrates (amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals). The decline of PG biodiversity started in the 1970's due to management intensification (i.e. earlier cuts for silage, increased use of manufactured fertilisers and herbicides, higher stocking densities, higher frequency of sward renewal and conversion of some PG to arable land). In the 1990's many arable lands were abandoned and converted to grassland, but the previous biodiversity was not entirely regenerated. The remaining arable lands need biodiverse PGs nearby, to provide pollinators and biological pest control. To meet global biodiversity goals, there is a need to reverse the decline in biodiversity on PGs.Case study example: In the Hungarian Kiskunság region, with sandy, nutrient-poor soils, fallow land has developed on abandoned arable fields that lack native legumes and other species to ‘naturally’ generate diverse PGs. To raise biodiversity and grassland productivity, overseeding a seed mixture of native, drought tolerant and productive plant species is being trialled. After 3 years, plant biomass grew (2.7 times on average in 2022) as did the number of plant species and flower visiting insects such as wild bees, honeybees, hoverflies, and butterflies. The overseeding success rate is dependent on weather and soil type and trials need to be repeated. Based on the results, native and diverse species can be used to enhance the productivity and multifunctionality provided by these PGs.

Global Positioning System (GPS) collars automatically record the location and all the movements of an equipped animal, sending the collected data to a cloud. Then, a digital platform processes and stores the information, notifying the owner about relevant events.GPS collars can be effectively used for animal tracking with advantages for farmers, consumers, and public authorities. If properly implemented, GPS collars can monitor the position of each animal in a herd, which is useful when animals graze in remote areas. Some systems send a notification when an animal leaves an area, although unlike virtual fencing, the animals are not discouraged from leaving with an audio cue. Locating the livestock is useful to plan veterinary checks for sanitary treatments or to weigh animals. Consumers can track the position of the milk or meat they buy, which is important to support feed origin when premium pasture-fed products are sold. The work of payment agencies for calculating stocking-rates and to check compliance with CAP requirements, and of veterinary services to follow herd movements is easier when animal position is known. Commercial GPS collars are expensive, but location is accurate.Case study example: In the Alpine region, the number of farms using GPS collars on livestock is limited, but farmers using the system are very satisfied with it. Knowing the precise location of animals while grazing in heterogeneous mountain pastures and having site frequentation maps at the end of the grazing season helped farmers in their decision making, and in the set-up of grazing paddocks. They were able to adjust paddock dimensions and duration to optimise fine-scale stocking densities, with the aim to increase the evenness of pasture exploitation.

Oversowing and slot seeding are two methods of sward improvement, introducing seeds of species that are partially present or entirely missing. The seed can be oversown on the soil surface or in slots created by a slot seeder machine. Cultivated grasses and legumes produce higher yields and higher quality forage (higher crude protein, palatability, digestibility) than most wild species. In intensively used grasslands, the proportion of legumes (e.g. white clover, Trifolium repens, red clover, Trifolium pratense) and cultivated grasses decreases over time. Legumes fix nitrogen (N) from the air (150 – 300 kg N/ha/year) and transfer some to other grasses. Unlike synthetic N fertilisers, this does not involve the burning of fossil fuels, resulting in lower CO2-equivalent GHG emissions/unit of fixed N. Deep rooting forbs and legumes can extract water and nutrients from deeper soil layers, unreachable for fibrous grass roots. These species in swards can stabilise forage production in dry years. For example, in Czech Republic, grasslands oversowing is used by many farms in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands. Seed mixtures are dominated by red clover, a productive species for silage production. A high risk of dry spells makes slot seeding the preferred option, with seeds at an optimal depth of 1-2 cm, ensuring good seed-to-soil contact. Additional species are Festulolium spp., meadow fescue, timothy and perennial ryegrass, while a mixture of bird's-foot trefoil, perennial ryegrass and others is ideal for grazed areas. After successful seeding, forage yield can increase by up to 40% for 3-4 years, without N fertilisation, and forage quality can also rise. Seeding is repeated every 4-5 harvest years due to the limited persistence of red clover varieties.

Virtual Fencing technology allows farmers to contain or exclude livestock without the presence of a physical fence, using an invisible GPS boundary. It has the potential to significantly change how grazing animals are managed, both in Europe and across the world, and to be beneficial to farmers in different ways.Considering sustainability, it can:- Enable enhanced grazing management, which in turn could lead to improved sustainability outcomes, particularly in ecologically important areas such as upland and mountainous regions;- Be placed in almost any kind of terrain (provided there is a mobile network and GPS access). This could potentially enable managed grazing in open and remote areas of land. Practices such as rotational grazing become a possibility whereby animals are virtually fenced within a given area and moved at regular intervals. This may reduce issues with under grazing and overgrazing and provide important rest periods for natural vegetation to recover.- Be tailored to suit a given environment to maintain animals within desired areas, and excluding them from sensitive habitats and landscape features at risk of damage from grazing livestock such as streams, lakes, bogs etc. Exclusion from these types of areas can protect water quality in freshwater rivers, streams, and lakes, and help safeguard animals from dangers such as drowning, falls, and accidental entrapment.

Virtual Fencing technology allows farmers to contain or exclude livestock without the presence of a physical fence, using an invisible GPS boundary. It has the potential to significantly change how grazing animals are managed, both in Europe and across the world, and to be beneficial to farmers in different ways.Considering farm productivity and supporting biodiversity, it can:- Reduce time and cost associated with the installation, maintenance and movement of conventional fencing;- Replace existing physical fencing and/or introduce fencing in areas where physical fencing is not possible or financially viable e.g., short-term rented land.Improve pasture management and feed utilisation through methods such as rotational grazing, strip grazing, manageemnt of youngstock and more regular movements;- Enhance monitoring of individual animals within a herd/flock. Animal movements and real-time positioning can be viewed on a mobile app.- Improve flexible grazing management – virtual fencing can be easily set up and altered at any time. Examples where this may be useful include the setting up of rotational grazing in large fields primarily used for purposes other than grazing (e.g., hay or silage production, or cover crops), excluding grazing livestock from sensitive habitats and holding them in an area where targeted conservation grazing is needed;- Be beneficial when managing grazing during difficult weather conditions, moving animals more regularly and excluding animals from specific areas that are susceptible to soil damage e.g., low-lying parts of fields that accumulate water during heavy rainfall or snow thaw.

The effectiveness of future policies linked to landscape and agricultural practices, must integrate citizen perceptions of, and priorities for, benefits (e.g. ecosystem services) and perceived environmental threats associated with farming practices. SUPER-G research aimed to expand understanding of citizens’ socio-cultural valuation of grassland landscapes, ecosystem service provision and grassland management across Europe. Research was conducted with residents of rural and urban areas, in Spain, Sweden, UK, Switzerland and the Czech Republic between 2020 and 2022. Participants perceived grassland landscapes positively, describing connection through experience, emotions, environmental characteristics, activity, access, and cultural identity. However, prioritisation of ecosystem services from grassland varied between countries, influenced by grassland system diversity and complex socio-cultural and socio-economic differences. Rural dwellers perceived more benefits from grasslands than urban dwellers. Perceptions of problems related to reduction, degradation, and abandonment of grassland. While citizen education about the value of grasslands was perceived as important in ensuring sustainable landscape management and use, it is also important to increase connectivity between citizens, the rural environment, and the ecosystem services which the latter provides. Citizens across different countries shared farming ideals relating to farming for biodiversity. These findings can help ensure that policies surrounding landscape and agricultural practices align with societal perspectives and priorities to effectively deliver multifunctional, valued, sustainable grassland systems.

European and regional CAP reform, and the transition to greening policies, has potential to result in rural transitions in terms of PG farming practices and economic impacts. The role of economic drivers in shaping the management of EU grassland systems, tipping points in land use, the role of public policy in relation to PG management was considered across different European farming systems, countries, biogeographic zones and over time. Desk research suggests that farmers have been economically dependent on both Basic Payments and Rural Development Programmes, and survey work with farmers has indicated that changes to agri-environmental schemes and subsidy programmes are needed to deliver more ES from PG. In order to optimise Ecosystem Service delivery from PG, financial incentives and technical guidance are required to trigger positive tipping points. This can be achieved by making changes to agri-environmental schemes and subsidy programmes which at the same time align with farming values. It is important to ensure there is flexibility in (e.g.) payments, including stacking and assessment metrics to avoid land abandonment and optimise stocking density. However, other decision drivers include personal values, (perceived) agronomic barriers, (e.g., in relation to geographic features of land) and consumer demand. Many PGs are associated with valued landscapes, and this can provide opportunities for diversified income streams, e.g., tourism associated with cultural ecosystem services, food processing and environmental management, supported by market premiums (e.g., organic or pasture-based). 

Ecosystem services (ES) are vital for human well-being and a functioning society. Permanent Grasslands (PG) are important for supporting biodiversity and providing a range of services like regulating climate, mitigating risks of erosion and flooding, and providing clean water, animal feed, and recreational and aesthetic values. Most people take them for granted and do not realize that without PG, ensuring biodiversity, clean water, healthy soil and attractive landscapes would be challenging, costly and in some cases impossible. The value of non-provisioning services have much higher values for society than the provision of food, wool or hides, but farmers have no or limited income opportunities for providing them. The delivery of non-provisioning ES is now the main reason for the payment of subsidies to farmers. Multiple ES are most effectively delivered through a moderate intensity of grassland management. Either extreme of management, i.e. abandonment at the lower end and overgrazing, overfertilizing or frequent cutting at the higher end, leads to reduced multifunctionality. When PG is compared between biogeographic regions in Europe, it is clear that different ES are not given the same priority in all regions, and specific agricultural practices in terms of their action and timing do not necessarily have the same effect on ES in different environments. This makes it challenging and, in some cases, inappropriate to provide general management recommendations. However, in general, a moderate intensity of grassland management (fertilising, cutting frequency, stocking rate) that matches the natural productivity potential and carrying capacity of the land tends to provide the greatest range of ES, including biodiversity.

Permanent grasslands (PG) occupy around 32% of the utilized agricultural area in the European Union. They are important for supporting biodiversity and providing a range of ecosystem services (ES) such as: regulating climate, mitigating risks of erosion and flooding, and providing clean water, animal feed, and recreational and aesthetic values. The level of ES provision varies significantly between different PG types across Europe, which can be an obstacle for effective knowledge transfer and policy making. Identifying PG types across Europe that are similar in terms of ES delivery would improve communication between stakeholders and contribute to effective policy making. Therefore, we have developed a two-level PG typology consisting of 18 PG types based on its management, i.e. defoliation, fertilization and renewal, as well as other factors like climatic limitations, the presence of management or the presence of woody plants. It is applicable at field and regional scales and is cross-referenced with existing classification schemes such as the EUNIS and Natura 2000 habitats classes. The typology is the backbone of a PG Atlas which comprises maps, portraits and illustrative cases for each of the 18 PG types. The typology will be made available as an atlas including an online classification tool that can link to PG type portraits and existing cases.

Ruminant livestock farmers in Northern Ireland (NI) are facing economic challenges due to rising input costs, as well as ever increasing environmental challenges to lower their greenhouse gas emissions and improve soil health and water quality. Due to these challenges, there is a growing interest into the potential benefits of increasing plant diversity in swards (multi-species swards (MSS)). The suggested benefits from incorporating a mix of grass, legume and herb species into grazing platforms includes improved soil health, reduced need for manufactured nitrogen fertiliser and improved drought tolerance. AgriSearch and AFBI recruited 8 commercial farms in NI to trial MSS through the SUPER-G project. Initial results from 2020-2022 have suggested that MSS can produce comparable or slightly higher dry matter yields to conventional perennial ryegrass (PRG) and white clover swards, with lower nitrogen fertiliser inputs. Furthermore, when comparing the nutritional quality of MSS to PRG/white clover swards, the MSS had slightly lower dry matter levels and lower levels of water-soluble carbohydrate and crude protein. However, the MSS contained higher mineral levels compared to the PRG/white clover swards. While this project has highlighted some of the potential benefits of MSS in NI, there is still considerable information needed about this type of sward, particularly around grazing management and herb persistency.

Biodiversity decline threatens ecosystem functioning and human well-being. Agricultural landscapes create a barrier between natural habitats, and can often be exposed to crop diseases and a lack of pollinating species. A wildflower experiment in Hungary has helped to elaborate a model for future agri-environment schemes, where wildflower parcels established within an arable lansdcape with diverse local seed mixtures may help maintain crop yields while improving landscape-scale biodiversity. Flowering grassland patches within a mixed grassland-arable landscape may serve as 'stepping stones' for pollinators inside a pollination 'desert', while also supporting cooperation and communication between farmers and researchers.The main research questions were: 1. How does vegetation develop on the newly established wildflower patches? 2. What is the effect of the configuration and shape of the wildflower patches on different pollinators and pest control agents (e.g. spiders, carabids)? 3. How do biodiversity and ecosystem services change within flower patches and at the landscape scale at various distances from flower parcels? 4. What is the effect of succession on ecosystem function?The main findings were that, for a few years after establishment, both flowering plant and wild bee abundance and diversity increased significantly and continuously on the flower parcels. However, in the surrounding arable landscape there was no increase in biodiversity or crop yield, possibly due to the continued use of pesticides.Finally, a new species for Hungary, a wedge-shaped beetle called Ripiphorus subdipterus, Bosc d'Antic 1792, was found in the wildflower patches.

Mediterranean permanent grasslands are the main source of animal feed in extensive livestock farming systems, which are commonly associated with High Nature Value farmlands. These grasslands are affected by high inter- and intra- annual variations in rainfall and temperature. This, together with their high diversity and heterogeneity lead to strong spatio-temporal variations in biomass production and forage quality. In this task, we explored the use of Sentinel-2 satellites and the high-priority mission candidate of the European Space Agency, Copernicus Hyperspectral Imaging Mission for the Environment (CHIME) to assess forage quality in Mediterranean grasslands. Results showed that data provided by Sentinel-2 could be used to assess crude protein content (CP) as a proxy of forage quality at moderate predictive ability, allowing the differentiation of zones of high, medium, and low CP and their changes in space and time at farm level. Future hyperspectral satellites such as CHIME could increase the accuracy in the assessment of CP. Satellite remote sensing for forage quality could contribute to more informed and effective decision-making on farm management on issues such as carrying capacity, pasture improvement, or livestock feeding. Although it is still far from being directly implemented by farmers, private companies or public institutions could potentially make use of satellite remote sensing to provide useful and interpretable information on grass quality across large areas that farmers could use in farm management.

At the outset of SUPER-G, the partners produced an inventory of 23 farm networks across five biogeographic regions. These networks were assessed to provide a baseline picture of farms that are dominated by or include permanent grassland (PG); and to investigate current trends in PG management within these farms. Sixteen of the 23 farm networks were specific to one region and seven had farms spread across two or more regions. The farm networks included 7 that were conventional only farms and 16 that have a mixture of conventional and organic farms within them. The farm networks have investigated a range of ecosystems services, including food production (n=22 networks), biodiversity (n=19), carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas mitigation (n=17), water quality (n=13), flood control (n=3) and erosion control (n=8). The farm networks covered a range of livestock types including dairy (n=17), beef (n=16), sheep (n=12), horses (n=3), pigs (n=2) and goats (n=2). The majority of the farm networks (n=18) had more than one livestock type. Within the 23 farm networks, over 300 farmers participated in a large farm survey at the start of the project. This survey collected data documenting the farm management systems in place and provided information on the level of productivity and profitability being achieved on the farms. A follow up survey will identify changes in management practices over the course of the project. The initial survey also identified new PG management options and emerging technologies that the farmers were interested in testing, such as multi species swards and virtual fencing. These innovative practices are being investigated through experiments and demonstrations within the project.

SUPER-G deliverable report 3.2 provides an overview of datasets that provide information on current and historical management of PG in Europe. The report provides information on EU-wide datasets such as the Farm Structural Survey; the Survey on Agricultural Production Methods; Eurostat crop and land use statistics; the “Land Use and Cover Area frame Survey” (LUCAS); and the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) survey; the only source of EU harmonised microeconomic (farm level) data. In addition, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Annex I countries (including EU member states) provide an annual greenhouse gas emission inventory submission, including a record of emissions from land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF). There are also land cover datasets such as the European Space Agency GlobCover Land Cover Map and the CORINE (CO-oRdination of INformation on the Environment) Land Cover inventory. These and other datasets enable monitoring of trends in PG area and use. For example, according to Eurostat data for 2013, PG covered around 50 million hectares across the EU-27 and accounts for 34% of the total Utilised Agricultural Area (UAA) (Eurostat 2021). Across Europe there has been a general decrease in PG area between 1970 and 2021, although there are large differences between countries in terms of proportion of UAA, spatial fragmentation, distribution and trends. This results in contrasting priorities in terms of the specific roles played by PG in different regions. The top four countries in terms of total hectares are France (8.2 million ha), Spain (8.0 million ha), Germany (4.6 million ha) and Romania (4.4 million ha); together they make up 48% of the total permanent grassland area in the EU.

SUPER-G task 2.2 provided a farming system (FS) typology that considers the role of permanent grasslands (PG) within farms, and which can be related to ecosystem service (ES) provisioning, at EU level. A PG-based typology of FS across Europe can help clarify how FS relate to environmental conditions, historic factors, policy, and grassland management. The FS typology was developed by analysing technical and administrative data acquired from EU census and farm-level information (database and maps) concerning PG management and vegetation traits. Livestock species, stocking density, PG share, exploitation regime, and PG forage value at farm scale were selected as discriminating factors (data for the two last levels are not yet available). The FS typology proposed in SUPER-G characterises different farm types in terms of different levels of management intensity, which directly affect PG and the delivery of associated ES. Additionally, it could be considered as a starting point to assess how farms should be managed to improve productivity, create resilience, optimise farm profitability, and deliver ES for society. Thus, the FS typology could also be of considerable importance for training farmers and farm extension services. The FS typology will also be useful for other tasks and actions in SUPER-G, such as grading FS on their ES delivery, defining the main threats for the different FS, adapting policies to specific FS, adapting management practices to FS, and defining agri-environment payments to improve the sustainability of FS.

Permanent grasslands cover 34% of the European Union’s agricultural area and are vital for a wide variety of ecosystem services. Today, farmers mainly value managed permanent grasslands for their provision of cheap high‐quality feed for cows, sheep and goats. But, in addition to the provision of feed, permanent grasslands contribute to biodiversity and sustain a broad range of additional ecosystem services, including climate regulation through carbon sequestration, protection against erosion and flooding, providing fresh water, recreation and aesthetics.We performed a systematic literature review on the multifunctionality of permanent grasslands in Europe. We found that preventing conversion of permanent grasslands to croplands secured the delivery of multiple ecosystem services. On existing permanents grasslands, a lower management intensity was associated with benefits for biodiversity, climate regulation and water purification, but impacted the provision of high-quality animal feed. Increasing the number of species enhanced multifunctionality of permanent grassland without significant trade-offs such as losses in production.Although there is no simple set of measures for all farmers across Europe, minimal ploughing of permanent grasslands and substituting fertilizer nitrogen by legumes are appealing measures for increased provision of ecosystem services and reduced costs.

In the frame of SUPER-G Task 3.2 “Co-innovation Farm Workshops” farm network leaders worked with farmers and advisers to identify existing and innovative approaches and technologies for testing. Each SUPER-G farm network ran a co-innovation farm workshop at which farmers and advisers discussed the main local issues for permanent grassland (PG) management and the potential to investigate the use of new PG management options or emerging technologies by experimentation and demonstration. We received feedback from 23 farm networks across the five biogeographic regions. The SUPER-G project uses existing farm networks and experimental platforms to benchmark and test permanent grassland for profitability, sustainability and ecosystem delivery. Using the outputs from the co-innovation farm workshops, and an overview of available databases with information on PG in Europe, we identified: 
• The main challenges for managing, maintaining and improving PG
• Recent changes to PG management
• PG contribution to local economics, environment and society 
• Which ecosystem services (ES) are the most important for farmers and society now and in the future
• The main issues that farmers and advisers would like to investigate regarding
i. Productivity & efficiency
ii. Grass for livestock, biomass (bioenergy) and other products
iii. Diverse swards
iv. Water quality
v. Biodiversity & pollination
vi. Carbon storage and greenhouse gas emisssions
vii. Flood and erosion control
viii. Landscape and recreation, including cultural values
• The innovative approaches and technologies that farmers and advisers would like to test

Existing policies that inform agricultural practices across Europe contribute to sustainable land management decisions. However, they have often also been criticised for their complexity, or failure to deliver expected changes. The SUPER-G project aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the policy in place across Europe, and their impacts on permanent grassland (PG) management and ecosystem services (ES).
A ‘cascade framework’ was applied to assess over 50 policy instruments across five European countries (UK, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden, and Spain) representing five biogeographic regions. Consultation and interviews with key stakeholders representing government, academia, farmers, and special interests identified a complex policy landscape, with the EU CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) Pillar I and II playing a central role, together with national policies (including within Switzerland). Other relevant EU policies included the Habitats Directive, Nitrates Directive and Climate Change policies. Stakeholders generally perceived grassland policies to be effective but reduced complexity and administrative burden and improved stakeholder involvement in policy development and assessment were regarded as important. In addition, policies which explicitly targeted the interaction between landscape structures and provision of ES, and that balanced regulation, subsidies, and consumer demand for ES (such as direct payments for regulating and cultural services) were thought to be important. Integrating policies across different areas (e.g., those focused on agriculture and on the environment) was seen as being needed.

To help us better understand how grasslands are valued by society, the EU Horizon 2020 SUPER-G project is running a ‘Photo Competition’. As part of SUPER-G, we are studying the cultural services provided by permanent grasslands, such as those connected to biodiversity, aesthetic value, cultural heritage and recreational use. We are also interested in people’s perception of the economic activities that are carried out on grasslands, as well as the perception of the threats to which permanent grasslands are exposed. A relatively new and very promising method for gathering information is photo series analysis, a non-participatory and spatial explicit method involving contributors without their active participation (e.g. Richards and Friess, 2015; Casalegno et al., 2013). As this method requires many photos well distributed across Europe, we launched the “SUPER-G Photo Competition” on European permanent grasslands. We are looking for photos connected to permanent grasslands such as meadows, pastures or any other grassland types that contain information on the following topics: 1. Wildlife and biodiversity; 2. Cultural values of the grasslands; 3. Farmlands, outdoor farming activities; 4. Outdoor recreation in grasslands; 5. Risks and threats on grasslands. The authors of the three winning photographs will be invited to a place where wonderful grasslands can be found: the city of Bled, in Slovenia in June 2020, and the wonderful Triglav National Park! To participate in our photo competition, please, go to
www.super-g.eu/2019-photo-competition
For more information write to Eszter Lellei-Kovács: lke.photos.super-g@okologia.mta.hu
Project website: www.super-g.eu
Deadline: 31. January 2020

SUPER-G is divided into six Work Packages (WP). WP 1 is related to project management, to ensure not only a multi-actor functioning across WPs but also a transdisciplinary approach. WP2 aims to identify the important functions that PGs provide and to define what needs to be done to ensure optimal delivery of ES; key outputs include a typology to help users clearly identify PG types in discussion with farmers, advisers and policy makers using a common approach, and a systematic literature review. We will also produce an inventory of management approaches and emerging technologies for improving the ES function of PG. WP3 will focus on data gathering and benchmarking within 22 farm networks spread over five European biogeographic regions. WP4 will investigate policies to secure PG performance, and will be informed by outputs from WPs 2, 3 and 5. WP5 will develop farm-level tools to help farmers and advisers ‘measure to manage’ productivity, profitability and the delivery of other ES. WP6 will implement a detailed communication, dissemination and data management plan. A network of contacts will be established to facilitate the dissemination of the project aims, outcomes and results. WP7 sets out the 'ethics requirements' that the project must comply with and will regularly monitor ethical issues including compliance with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and any animal welfare concerns.