The objective of the study was farmers perception, forage species composition, yield and chemical composition of area enclosures and free grazing lands at Farta district. Three kebeles were selected purposively based on availability of area enclosure and their altitudes (mid (1920-2500), high (2500-3000) and very high (above 3000m.a.s.l)). Within each kebele, one free grazing land and three area enclosures). The study was conducted from the beginning to end of September 2018 when all pasture plants were expected to be fully-grown, and reached over 50% flowering stage. Assessment of the species composition, richness, diversity, evenness, dry matter yield and chemical composition of forages were conducted in 60 quadrants having 1mx1m quadrant size 20 from each three altitudes. Each species were identified in the field by asking purposively selected knowledgeable local farmers and following nomenclature of Honeybee Flora of Ethiopia. Farmers’ perception was assessed using semi-structured questionnaires and group discussions. 150 households were randomly selected and interviewed. Data obtained from the vegetation variables were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the general linear model (GLM) procedure of (SAS, 2002) version 9.0. Duncan’s Multiple Range Test was used for mean comparison for means showed significant difference. The survey data was analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS, version 23). The result indicated that a total of 18 (28.6%), 10(15.9%), 29(46%) and 6 (9.5%) grass, legumes, forbs, sedge species, respectively and 15 woody species were identified in the study area. Of the total herbaceous species, 22.2, 19.0, 39.7 and 19.0% were classed as highly palatable, palatable, less palatable and unpalatable, respectively. The highest species richness (22.75) in very high altitude and diversity (2.26) and evenness (0.82) in mid altitude were recorded in the area enclosures. The altitudinal variation had a significant (P<0.05) effect on the forage dry matter yield (DMY) of the area enclosures. The highest DMY (8.9t ha-1) recorded in high altitude area. The DMY was influenced by grazing land use type (p<0.05) where enclosed area had higher DMY (7.53t ha1) as compared to free grazing land (1.18±0.23 t ha-1).