In Wallonia, increasing drought frequency is disrupting forage systems. Drought has a severe impact on perennial ryegrass, the main grass used in grassland mixtures. In contrast, maize tends to continue providing decent yields and, in colder regions such as the Ardennes, the generally higher temperatures that occur in dry years can even have a positive effect. The benefits of classic grassland species such as orchard grass, tall fescue, and lucerne become apparent during dry periods. In the Ardennes region, red clover also has strong yields. Little-used species like festulolium (annual ryegrass x tall fescue), hybrid ryegrasses, bromegrasses, and fromental (in the Ardennes) could be included in mixtures to ensure that, in dry-years, production is greater than that obtained with perennial ryegrass. Annual crops such as multi-cut varieties of sorghum (Sudan grass and hybrid sorghum), pearl millet, berseem clover, and Persian clover can also be integrated into rotations. Sowing nitrate-fixing intermediate crops is also an opportunity to boost the forage supply in certain agricultural regions of Wallonia. However, in colder regions, the likelihood of obtaining adequate production levels is low. In these regions, immature grain crops could serve as a useful source of forage.
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