Abstract This position paper summarizes the current understanding of biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) to identify research needs for accelerating the development of BNI as a N 2 O mitigation strategy for grazed livestock systems. We propose that the initial research focus should be on the systematic screening of agronomically desirable plants for their BNI potency and N 2 O reduction potential. This requires the development of in situ screening methods that can be combined with reliable N 2 O emission measurements and microbial and metabolomic analyses to confirm the selective inhibition of nitrification. As BNI-induced reductions in N 2 O emissions can occur by directly inhibiting nitrification, or via indirect effects on other N transformations, it is also important to measure gross N transformation rates to disentangle these direct and indirect effects. However, an equally important challenge will be to discern the apparent influence of soil N fertility status on the release of BNIs, particularly for more intensively managed grazing systems.