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European grassland-based livestock production systems\ud face the challenge of producing more meat and\ud milk to meet increasing world demands and to achieve\ud this using fewer resources. Legumes offer great potential\ud for achieving these objectives. They have numerous\ud features that can act together at different stages in\ud the soil–plant–animal–atmosphere system, and these\ud are most effective in mixed swards with a legume proportion\ud of 30–50%. The resulting benefits include\ud reduced dependence on fossil energy and industrial\ud N-fertilizer, lower quantities of harmful emissions to\ud the environment (greenhouse gases and nitrate), lower\ud production costs, higher productivity and increased\ud protein self-sufficiency. Some legume species offer\ud opportunities for improving animal health with less\ud medication, due to the presence of bioactive secondary\ud metabolites. In addition, legumes may offer an adaptation\ud option to rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations\ud and climate change. Legumes generate these benefits\ud at the level of the managed land-area unit and also at\ud the level of the final product unit. However, legumes\ud suffer from some limitations, and suggestions are made\ud for future research to exploit more fully the opportunities\ud that legumes can offer. In conclusion, the development\ud of legume-based grassland–livestock systems\ud undoubtedly constitutes one of the pillars for more\ud sustainable and competitive ruminant production systems,\ud and it can be expected that forage legumes will\ud become more important in the future.