The analysis of different data sets from grassland experiments from Austria and South Tyrol confirmed that, besides the choice of the cutting time, also the botanical composition plays an important role in determining the forage quality of permanent meadows at first cut. Assigning the plant stand to one of the categories ‘rich in grasses’, ‘balanced’, ‘rich in forbs’ or ‘rich in legumes’ on the basis of the yield share of grasses, forbs and legumes, following the Swiss forage value tables, leads to an improvement of the prediction accuracy for all investigated quality parameters. A more detailed botanical survey and the subsequent assignment of the plant stand to a meadow type further improve the prediction accuracy, but has a less relevant and less consistent role. In the Austrian data set, the altitude affected significantly the constituents and the digestibility. The changes over time of several forage quality parameters were found to be species-specific. Forage legumes as white clover (Trifolium repens), red clover (Trifolium pratense), but also forbs like dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) had better crude protein content, mineral contents and digestibility of organic matter than grasses. First experiments showed that mineral fertilisation (NPK) did not affect the crude protein content and its fractions (CNCPS) of grasses, forbs and legumes. The genetic variability of 16 cultivars of cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata) concerning forage quality was clearly shown over an Investigation time of 8 weeks. A targeted breeding of relevant forage species and an official cultivar testing system with adequate evaluation criteria are important in order to obtain grassland with high forage quality. Expertise and variety trials conducted by impartial research institutions are necessary for combining valuable cultivars into well suited seed mixtures. An optimal grassland Management aimed at obtaining high forage quality requires active and interactive knowledge transfer from research and extension services.