The Thailand Research Fund project, ‘Dairy cattle feeding systems using perennial pastures for farmers in Northeast Thailand,’ was conducted at the Faculty of Agriculture, Ubon Ratchathani University from November 2002 to October 2005. In a series of milk production grazing trials, the project demonstrated that it is possible to successfully graze dairy cows on pastures day and night in Thailand, without additional feeding of concentrate supplements. Signal grass and Ubon paspalum were found to be both suitable grass species for dairy production. Ubon paspalum does have low quality forage but makes up for this by producing high dry matter yields and a high leaf:stem ratio which is very digestible. Signal grass maintains good quality and produces high crude protein yields all year round. The project also found that Ubon stylo pasture and silage can replace concentrate feeds without any significant effect on milk production. Research by the project on different Brachiaria species showed that in the dry season, without irrigation, new Brachiaria species, Toledo, Marandu, Mulato II and Mulato, produce significantly more dry matter than ruzi on upland soils. Ruzi is the most commonly grown grass in Thailand, but the project showed that the above species are better than ruzi on upland soils, particularly in the dry season. In the 2004- 5 dry season, many ruzi plants died, whereas both Mulato and Mulato II remained green and productive. Studies on stylo legumes showed that Ubon and Tha Phra have superior dry matter production compared to Hamata, particularly in the dry season. This is because Ubon and Tha Phra are perennials and stay green and productive throughout the year, whereas Hamata is a biennial and dries off and dies in the dry season. The forage quality of Hamata was generally better in the wet season because it had new fresh growth from new seedlings. However, in the dry season, the quality of Hamata decreased rapidly as it dried and died in contrast to the quality of Ubon and Tha Phra which remained fresh and green. In the dry season, Ubon and Tha Phra stylos produced 2-3 times more dry matter than grasses. Both these cultivars should be grown more in Thailand for dry season forage. The project showed that good quality silage production can be made from Ubon paspalum and Ubon stylo in plastic drums. Additives do not have to applied and the grass does not have to be chopped if the drum is well-sealed and air-tight. The method of placing nylon bags over the seed heads to collect seed produced the highest seed yields of Mulato and Mulato II. However, seed yields of Mulato and Mulato II were much lower than ruzi. Mulato and Mulato II grew good quality forage before closing the fields for seed production. Cutting monthly until July in first year crops and August in second year crops produced high dry matter yields of high quality leaf content for feeding to animals. Farmers can therefore feed Mulato and Mulato II to their animals, 7-8 months of the year and, close for seed for 4-5 months (July or August to December). Planting with tillers as early as possible in the wet season will enable farmers to get both forage and seed in the same year. Studies on seed storage found that Mulato seed can be safely stored in ordinary rooms for short periods (up to 8 months) but for long-term storage, cool storage is recommended. For long-term storage, plastic and nylon bags maintain seed germinations better than paper bags. Ubon stylo was found to be a very prolific seeder, producing up to 150 kg/rai, which was nearly 3 times the seed yields produced by Tha Phra stylo. Cutting stylo seed crops at the beginning of September produced more seed than not cutting or cutting later. The project’s village seed production programme was very successful with high quality seed produced of Ubon paspalum and Ubon stylo. Ubon paspalum and Ubon stylo were found to be lucrative cash crops and relatively easy crops to harvest seed. The farmers now average over 100 kgs/rai, with some farmers producing 150 kgs/rai. Demand for Ubon paspalum seed in Thailand is currently very high, as it is the best grass for wet soils. The project has started to develop a market for Ubon paspalum and Ubon stylo seed in South America. 3000 kgs of seed of both species have been ordered for export to Central and South America in 2006. The project undertook a joint venture with a Mexican Seed company to produce Mulato II seed by village farmers. Over 2000 kgs of seed were produced in the first year and 1500 kgs exported to USA. However, in 2005 only 1292 kgs of seed were produced by village farmers. This project has been difficult for the farmers because of low seed yields. The project supported 1 researcher to undertake field research for her Masters thesis on ‘The effect on silage quality from different methods of ensiling’. Twelve papers were written and published during the 3 year phase of the project. The project maintained a high scientific output, both nationally and internationally.