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New hybrid grasses have been introduced in Latvia recently. Hybrid ryegrass (Loliumxboucheanum Kunth.), considered an ideal grass for European agriculture, is not sufficiently robust to meet many of environmental challenges that face extensive agriculture in less favoured areas. New opportunities for forage production using intergeneric hybrids between more distantly related ryegrass and fescue species have been identified. Diversity of factors controlling festulolium (xFestulolium Asch. & Graebn.) productivity is discussed in many researches. Using intergeneric hybrids, the identification of major factors controlling productivity and feeding value is complicated because of the numerous traits characteristic of their progenitor species. Parental species traits and potential of intergeneric hybrids have been investigated to determine the main factors that influence grass growth and quality, such as nitrogen fertilization, grazing and cutting management, climatic factors and sward age. The importance and potential of new grass species have been analysed. The main target for introgression has been the introduction of biotic and abiotic stress tolerance from Festuca spp. into Lolium spp. Festulolium can show completely novel characteristics, but mostly they are expressed intermediarily. Some varieties are more like ryegrass and some more like fescue, depending on the breeding effort following the cross. Cultivars of festulolium are promising species of fodder grasses in Latvia. Due to its competitive productivity festulolium may be equally ranked with the main forage grasses such as meadow fescue grown in the climatic zone of Latvia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]