Forage production

To study forage production and production systems under different environmental conditions we combine experimental and theoretical modeling research. Field and greenhouse experiments allow us to study how climate, weather and soil conditions, and cultivation practices, such as fertilization and cutting regimes, influence the growth, development, yield and nutritive value of forage plants.

The Basic Grassland Model (BASGRA) simulates the carbon and nitrogen dynamics of forage grasses, and hereby their growth, yield, nutritive value and nitrogen losses from their production as a function of weather, soil and cultivation practices. This model has been developed by researchers at NIBIO together with international collaborators and applied to increase the knowledge about forage grass production and its role in farming systems under various environmental conditions, climate change projections, and farming practices in Northern.

The Roughage Nutrition Model

In silage production it is important to time harvests according to aimed yield quality and quantity. For decision support for farmers, NIBIO has developed a model that predicts phenological development, growth rate and energy content of timothy according to recorded weather data and weather forecasts for stations distributed all over the country. It works interactively on NIBIO’s web-site, and can be locally calibrated for farmers’ own fields.