<p>Livestock-based farming systems in the Himalayan mid-hills rely heavily on agroforestry and natural fodder resources. However, declining fodder quantity and quality, along with high labour requirements limits the productivity and sustainability of livestock systems. This study integrates farmers’ fodder preferences with laboratory-based nutritional evaluation to inform context-specific fodder development and livestock feeding strategies in Himachal Pradesh, India. Participatory preference ranking of fodder species was conducted with 100 dairy farmers in the Solan and Bilaspur districts through farmer surveys. Dominant fodder trees, shrubs, herbs, grasses and cultivated fodders were analysed for nutritional quality during summer-monsoon and winter seasons. <i>Leucaena leucocephala</i>, <i>Morus alba</i>, <i>Celtis australis</i> obtained the highest ranking during the summer-monsoon season, while <i>Grewia optiva</i> and <i>Bauhinia variegata</i> dominated winter feeding. Substantial interspecific variation was observed in nutritional composition, with dry matter content ranging from 15.81–40.02%, crude protein from 7.89–21.27%, and crude fibre from 18.01–33.79%. Farmer-preferred species consistently exhibited significantly higher crude protein, metabolizable energy values and lower fibre fractions. Rank correlation analysis confirmed strong alignment between farmers’ feed-value perceptions and laboratory indicators, with positive correlations with crude protein (<i>ρ</i> = 0.75) and negative correlations with fibre fractions (<i>ρ</i> = − 0.60 to − 0.83). Fodder collection required 1040–1551 labour hours household⁻¹&#xa0;year⁻¹, corresponding to energy expenditures of 544–811&#xa0;MJ&#xa0;year⁻¹, largely borne by women. The findings demonstrate that nutritionally validated, farmer-preferred fodder species provide a robust basis for agroforestry-based interventions to enhance feed security, reduce labour demand and improve the resilience of smallholder livestock systems in Himalayan agroecosystems.</p>