High-resolution assessment of French grassland dry matter and nitrogen yields

•Grassland DM, water and N fluxes were simulated at the scale of France.•Simulations used an improved version of the process-based crop model STICS.•Soil, climate, vegetation and management conditions were defined on a high-resolution grid.•Results allowed mapping grassland DM and N yield potentials and developing metamodels.•Implications of the results for stakeholders and assumptions are discussed.