Grasslands as a source of forage

The paper presents the types of grassland on which forage is produced for feeding domestic animals and their potentials in terms of quantity and quality of forage. Grass forage production can be divided into forage produced on permanent grasslands and on arable land (sown grasslands). Croatia's permanent grasslands are rich in plant species, they were formed mainly by self-seeding after deforestation or burning of forests, or they are areas on which a grassland was once sawn. They have extremely different floristic composition which is conditioned by the development in different habitats and the influence of man who shapes them by his actions (mowing, grazing and different types and levels of reclamation and agrotechnical measures). Yields and forage quality vary considerably, depending on whether they are developed on wetland, lowland / valley, hilly and mountain grasslands. The best quality forage is on lowland grasslands. On the other hand, sown grasslands are based on sowing a small number of quality and productive plant species that are suitable for a particular habitat with the application of appropriate agrotechnical measures and methods of use, and thus have the potential to create higher yields of quality plant mass. In conclusion, it can be said that perennial grasslands in Croatia have different floristic composition, and thus productivity and quality of forage, often with poor quality and even some harmful plant species, but some of them develop different medicinal and aromatic plant species that can give specificity to livestock products. Sown grasslands have the potential to achieve high yields of quality forage, poor in biodiversity.