32ND EGF GENERAL MEETING

Multifunctional grasslands for the future

Advancing resilience, productivity and biodiversity. Four days bringing together grassland science across Europe and beyond.

12–15 June 2028  ·  Lakeside Auditoriums, Aarhus University, Denmark
Two pre-conference sessions · 11 June

Why attend

For four days in June 2028, Aarhus becomes the meeting point for grassland science in Europe and beyond. Researchers, farmers, advisors, industry and policymakers come together to tackle the challenges facing grassland systems — and to share the integrated, forward-looking solutions that will shape their future.

Hosted by Aarhus University and SEGES Innovation, the 32nd General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation brings together the people turning grassland research into practice — with leading keynotes, five scientific sessions, hands-on field tours, and the conversations that move a whole field forward.

The theme

Grasslands are being asked to do more than ever: produce high-quality forage, store carbon, support biodiversity, stabilise yields under a changing climate, and feed into new bio-based value chains — often all at once.

This meeting explores how. Across five sessions we look at smarter nutrient and soil management, biodiversity and climate resilience, forage quality and animal systems, grassland innovation and breeding, and the data-driven tools that make adaptive management possible. The through-line is multifunctionality — getting more from grasslands across scales and farming contexts, without trading one benefit for another.

Sessions

01

Smart Nutrient Management and Soil Functions in Grasslands

Optimising nutrient cycles to lift productivity while cutting leaching and emissions — slurry additives, nitrification inhibitors, precision fertilisation, legacy effects, and modelling that supports real management decisions.

02

From Traditional to Intensive Systems: Biodiversity and Climate-Resilient Grasslands

How greater plant diversity delivers across every system — permanent, restored, semi-natural and intensive. Above- and below-ground traits as drivers of carbon storage, drought tolerance and resilient production.

03

Forage Quality, Animal Systems, Nutritional Impacts and Environmental Performance

Linking plant traits to animal intake, performance, health and product quality — grazing, conservation, feed chemistry, and strategies to mitigate methane and nitrogen losses.

04

Grassland Innovation and Breeding for Diversified Systems

New value from grassland biomass — biorefining, biogas, fibre, bio-based materials and agri-photovoltaics — plus the breeding and species development that make these uses possible.

05

Innovative Tools and Data-Driven Approaches for Grassland Monitoring and Management

Sensing, remote sensing, modelling, machine learning and digital integration that turn grassland data into scalable, practical insight for managers, advisors and industry.

Field tours

Get out of the auditorium and into the field. Choose one of five mid-conference tours showcasing Danish grassland science and farming in practice:

  • Forage production & manure machinery — Aarhus University’s long-term trials and biorefinery, plus the SAMSON machinery factory.
  • Intensive dairy production — research barns, respiration chambers and grazing trials, plus a farm running batch milking with 14 robots and 800 cows.
  • Innovative dairy production & grass breeding — Arla’s innovation farm and climate-mitigation strategies, with a stop at DLF’s grass demonstration centre.
  • Restored wetlands — establishment, management and utilisation of wetlands and mini-wetlands for cleaner water, more biodiversity and resilient landscapes.
  • Organic farming — Tjele Gods (dairy, beef, vegetables and field robots) and an organic grass-fed dairy farm.

A post-conference tour then runs from Aarhus across Funen and Zealand, taking in cultural highlights tied to the conference themes, and finishes in Copenhagen on 17 June.

What's included

Standard registration covers admission to all scientific sessions, a mid-conference tour, the welcome reception, the conference dinner, lunches and coffee breaks, the participant bag, and online proceedings. (Fees to be confirmed.)

Be part of the conversation shaping Europe's grasslands

Join us in Aarhus, 12–15 June 2028.

Venue & practicalities

Lakeside Auditoriums, Aarhus University · Bartholins Allé 3, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
English is the official language of the meeting. Proceedings will be made available to participants as a PDF and via the conference website.

Hosted by Aarhus University, Department of Agroecology, and SEGES Innovation.