Knowledge Transfer
In February 2026, Irish research groups were invited to a Multi4More workshop on multispecies swards, with the intention to share ongoing and recent research.
The three keynote presentations are available here:
Brendan Horan ‘MultiMilk: multiyear farm system evaluation of the impacts of sward species diversity on the performance of grazing dairy systems’
James O’Malley ‘Plant diversity consistently increased yield in the multisite LegacyNet experiment’
Helen Sheridan & Tommy Boland ‘Multispecies swards as a tool to enhance the sustainability of livestock production systems’
January 2026, LegacyNet
Following the LegacyNet publication of diversity effects on yield across 26 international sites (O’Malley et al., 2026, Science), the main results are presented in a 13-minute video available at https://legacynet.scss.tcd.ie/publications.php. An Open Access link to the paper is also available at this link.
January 2026, Innovative Farmers (Soil Association, UK)
Multiple speakers present over a 1 hr 40 min webinar and share their experience with herbal leys in a participatory project on dairy farms. Followed by Q&A and discussion. (topics include farm KPIs, forage yield and quality, milk yield and quality, soil health, animal health, and lesson learned about practical management).
20th November 2024, Agroecology Partnership
John Finn gave a presentation entitled: ‘Multi-species swards deliver more agricultural performance with less N fertiliser‘. This covered the high yields of mixtures with low nitrogen application, drought resilience, and yield stability.
30th April 2024, Agroecology Transect project
Prof. Andi Luescher has worked on multi-species grasslands for many years, and shared his group’s research experience that ranges from basic research to on-farm assessments. As part of the Agroecology Transect project (website: agroecology-transect.net) Andi’s webinar is available on YouTube: From research to practice: multi-species mixtures as a pillar for agroecology.
1st March 2022 AgriSearch/AFBI/CAFRE
With multiple contributors, this webinar is titled ‘Multi Species Swards A View from the Farm’ (Webinar)
16 April 2021, Signpost Series Webinar
Prof. Helen Sheridan, and Prof. Tommy Boland share results from their research on multi-species swards Webinar
19 March 2021, Signpost Series Webinar
John Finn talks about ‘Multi-species mixtures increase yields and drought resilience, with lower nitrogen inputs‘
