cattletom
Active member
how do i know if the fesue i planteed this fall is the bad fescue. it is kentucky tall 31. if it is what can i do. tommy
fescue
- Thread starter cattletom
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Unless it is specified as one of the cultivars of endophyte free or novel endophyte, it's the normal endophyte enfected fescue. Some seed sources have hotter endophyte levels then others. When the seed is harvested they don't seperate/sort it by toxicity level. When we combined ours it all went into the same truck. Some was very hot the rest was less hot but still endophyte enfected.
If you keep it vegetive and don;t let it go to seed, that will decrease the effects of the endophyte. The easiest and most cost effective is to interseed a legume, either red or white clover. Just diluting the endophyte with clover is very effective at decreasing the fall slump or other effects of the endophyte. When we interseeded red clover at around 40% our weaning weights went up in the neighborhood of 50# per calve, and that was on drought pasture.
Your local university extension office or USDA NRCS office can also be a big help in the selection of your legume component.
dun
If you keep it vegetive and don;t let it go to seed, that will decrease the effects of the endophyte. The easiest and most cost effective is to interseed a legume, either red or white clover. Just diluting the endophyte with clover is very effective at decreasing the fall slump or other effects of the endophyte. When we interseeded red clover at around 40% our weaning weights went up in the neighborhood of 50# per calve, and that was on drought pasture.
Your local university extension office or USDA NRCS office can also be a big help in the selection of your legume component.
dun
cattletom
Active member
thanks dun
i just planted it this fall so should i add the red clover to it now or wait till frost. i am going to use it for winter grazing so that should help since i wont let it head out. am i right tommy
i just planted it this fall so should i add the red clover to it now or wait till frost. i am going to use it for winter grazing so that should help since i wont let it head out. am i right tommy
Somthing I just remembered is that in MO there is a herbicide that's approved for fescue that will prevent it from going into the reproductive stage. Don't recall what it is, but it's a standard herbicide but applied at a reduced rate. You might want to check with your local NRCS or university extension office to see if it's approved for use where you are and what it's name is
dun
dun
