| Summary: | International audience Herbage production is often the only possible agricultural activity in less-favoured areas of cooler regions, including mountainous areas. Growing conditions in those areas are characterized by low temperatures, short growing seasons, harsh winters, and challenging soil conditions. We will address challenges and opportunities for herbage nutritive value in lessfavoured areas mostly limited by temperature either because of latitude (Canada, Scan dina via) or altitude (mountainous regions of Europe). The limited choice of species for sown swards, the rapid plant development under long days at high latitude, the autumn harvest and grazing management in areas with severe winters, and the management of species-rich permanent pastures in mountainous areas to optimize yield and nutritive value represent sorne of the significant challenges for producing herbage of high nutritive value in less-favoured areas. On the other hand, opportunities include improved digestibility under low temperatures at high latitudes and altitudes, and better functional properties (e.g. fatty acid concentration) of sorne of the species grown in less-favoured areas. The projected climate change for less-favoured areas of cool regions will offer both opportunities (e.g. new herbage species with greater digestibility and an additional harvest due to a longer growing season) and challenges (e.g. decreased digestibility of existing species).
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