European Grassland Federation EGF

15^th EGF Symposium on Alternative Functions of Grassland successful

At the congress lasting from 7 to 9 September 2009 in Brno (Czech Republic) a wide range of issues concerning changes in the role of grassland especially with regard to the specific features of countries with a high proportion of arable land and a low proportion of grassland and with respect to the impact on some social and economic conditions of new member countries of the European Union (decrease in the number of ruminants and the level of animal production as a whole) were discussed. The discussion also included ideas about how to retain, maintain and utilise grassland in areas where its use for animal production will not be a top priority.

Czech Republic is one of the countries with a high share of arable land and low proportion of permanent grassland. But grassland is decreasingly used in animal production. This raises new questions and offers new alternatives in land use and utilisation of grassland biomass. The main goal of the Symposium therefore was to discuss several alternative functions of grassland: the importance of grassland as aesthetic landscape element and attractive space for recreation and sports activities, and the value of grasslands as source of bio energy. Also the methods  for preserving different permanent grassland types were given attention.

The Symposium was organised by OSEVA PRO Ltd., Grassland Research Station Rožnov-Zubří ( www.oseva.cz), Research Institute for Fodder Crops, Ltd., Troubsko ( www.vupt.cz) under the auspices of the Minister of agriculture and in co-operation with the Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Please find a description of the outcome of the 15^th EGF Symposium 2009 here  

EGF Business Meeting held in Uppsala, Sweden, during the 22^nd EGF General Meeting

• Thanks were expressed to Göran Dalin, Nilla Nilsdotter-Linde and the whole Swedish team for hosting and organising this 22^nd EGF General Meeting in Uppsala, Sweden.
• 15^th EGF Symposium 2009: Bohumir Cagas, chairman of the forthcoming symposium on 'Alternative functions of grasslands' invited to the next EGF Symposium in Brno, Czech Republic, 7-9 September 2009 [EGF2009].
• 23^rd EGF General Meeting 2010: The Business Meeting accepted the invitation from Germany to host the 23^rd General Meeting to be held from 30 August to 2 September 2010 in Kiel, Germany, on “Grasslands in a changing World” [EGF2010]
• Elections to the Executive Committee:
  • President 2008-2010:                          
    Johannes Isselstein, Germany
  • Regional representatives
    • Northern Europe - Iceland
    • North Eastern Europe - Poland
    • Eastern Europe - Ukraine
    • South Eastern Europe - Serbia
  • Federation Secretary 2008-2010:        
    Willy Kessler, Switzerland

The complete minutes of the EGF Business Meeting are available here: [Minutes_BM2008]