Max Q Fescue

[gertman]

I have a few acres where my KY 31 is thinning and needs to be replanted this fall, and I was considering using Max Q. I am mostly interested in how long the stands last and how it yields for hay compared to KY 31. Anybody with experience with Max Q let me hear from ya!

 

[Proverbs 12:10]

I've got about 30 acres of MaxQ planted 2 years ago. Every summer it looks like it's gonna die off and then comes roaring back. Cut hay the first time this spring and got about 2 and half 5x5 bales per acre. You must eliminate the K-31 before planting MaxQ because the endophyte from the K-31 will infect the MaxQ and you will loose the benefit of the good endophyte.

 

[dun]

I've got about 30 acres of MaxQ planted 2 years ago. Every summer it looks like it's gonna die off and then comes roaring back. Cut hay the first time this spring and got about 2 and half 5x5 bales per acre. You must eliminate the K-31 before planting MaxQ because the endophyte from the K-31 will infect the MaxQ and you will loose the benefit of the good endophyte.

The endophyte doesn;t migrate/comtaminate the MaxQ. What ends up happening is the KY31 out competes the MaxQ. If you graze the Max Q the theory is that yo uhave to wait 3 days from the last time KY31 was feed or grazed. The KY31 seed will also blow in from adjacent fields.
I had a 27 acre field that had been double cropped for 8 years and decided that MaxQ might be a good thing. Even after all that time the KY31 that had been in the field before the cropping started showed back up. The estimate of 100 bucks an acre (5 years ago) to eradicate the KY31 and get the Max Q going prevented me from doing it.

 

[MrBilly]

The Univ. of GA. economists figured it would take 10 years to get the investment back on Max Q when the planting is done properly. I'm too old for that.

Billy :hat:

 

[MikeC]

With the heat and humidity we have down here, it's a bargain at any cost to get rid of the infected KY31.

Have seen cows stay in the pond from sunup to sunset..........

The only place I see that it really persists is in the "Black Belt". Low lying areas, with clay type soils.

 

[Nowland Farms]

I'm sold on the MaxQ.

But I guess everbody already knows that based on my previous posting about the MaxQ.

 

[MrBilly]

You can always plant clover to dilute the toxicity of the Ky31. We did and our cows are slick with great fertility, etc. It isn't perfect but a lot cheaper than MaxQ plus it gives back N. As I said above, I'm too old to get a pay back from Q, but if I were young, I would go with MaxQ.

Billy