Most of us learned to hate tall fescue. We do admire its ability to survive and provide feed when everything else is brown on the non-irrigated farm. One outstanding feature has been the ability to provide standing hay, stockpiled feed of excellent quality for late fall and winter feeding. Plant breeders at Barenbrug in Holland realized for years that tall fescue has a place. It is persistent, high yielding, can tolerate a wide range of horrible conditions, including wet and flood prone ground, alkali and cold winters.
Older varieties of tall fescue, including Kentucky-31 (KY-31) and Alta, grow wild in many areas. They have a course, rough leaf and grow into a heavy sod. Livestock will eat it if it is short and green, but would rather eat dirt when it gets tall. KY-31 has a further downside as it contains an endophyte fungus which is plant friendly but animal toxic leading to major health problems and loss of profitability. Even so, it is tolerated, as until recently there was no alternative. Without this plant friendly endophyte protection, KY-31 common in the hot and humid climates of the Midwest transition zone and the South would have a difficult time surviving. Recognizing that plant friendly endophyte is beneficial to the plant as it helps the plant overcome the ravages of weather, drought, diseases and low fertility, breeders worldwide have attempted to develop an endophyte which is plant friendly but animal benign. After many years of research and trials, the breeders at Barenbrug developed such a beneficial endophye and named it E34. This product was then introduced into a modern genetics, soft leaf and very edible tall fescue, BarOptima, thus creating the perfect replacement for KY-31. In 2009 this revolutionary new product joined the Barenbrug inventory as “BarOptima PLUS E34” and has since become a hallmark.
Previously, Barenbrug’s breeders bred modern genetic varieties with narrower, softer leaves which give exceptional yields, all without the plant friendly but animal toxic endophyte fungus found in KY-31. These modern genetic varieties are ideal for farmers outside the traditional KY-31 zone having the cool season grass weather of the North, upper Midwest and the West. These new Barenbrug fescues are truly wonderful. They have the staying power and versatility of the fescue species but are much more readily eaten by livestock. Tall fescue is a good choice for farms that want a grass that is persistent and will yield well even in droughty conditions. It is a good grass for the full range of soils. It will do well on a well-drained sand and thrive on clays that are both excessively wet and excessively dry, depending on the season. Fescue is excellent for those who wish to get high yields and fill in low forage growth periods such as the summer or late fall and during winter through the use of stockpiling. Farms cutting for silage will find the new fescues are very high quality and will be very palatable when fermented in the silo. The new fescues will supply dairy quality feed even for the highest producing herds. One farmer in New York reports that his dairy cattle prefer fescue to other grasses and that their production dramatically increases when they graze fields containing it. Care must be taken to select genetically improved, endophyte free varieties, as there are still many less palatable and less digestible varieties available.
Because the fescues are slower to establish, many farmers like to seed in the late summer or early fall at the rate of 35-40 lbs./acre. There are upright hay/silage types of fescue and softer leaf types for grazing. Perennial ryegrass makes a valuable addition to a tall fescue stand. The ryegrass has exceptionally high quality and yields well during cooler periods with adequate moisture. The tall fescue will dominate during hotter, drier periods. Perennial ryegrass may best be no-till seeded in the fall into spring seeded fescue or the next spring if the fescue is fall sown. Another option is to add 5 - 6 pounds of ryegrass per acre to the initial tall fescue seeding. Use a tetraploid type perennial ryegrass for mechanically harvested systems and diploids for grazing systems. For best grazing results plant white clover with fescues. Dairymaster, a tall fescue/meadow fescue/white clover mixture from Barenbrug has a perennial ryegrass component. This mixture has proved very successful.
Suggested Barenbrug tall fescue varieties: Bariane, Barolex, BarElite, “BarOptima PLUS E34”
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