Steve, so let me just clarify for myself, especially with you being located up here in my neck of the woods... you have used both tall fescue, and meadow fescue, and you very much prefer the meadow fescue because,
1. It doesn't suffer as much from "cold damage" as tall fescue, if managed correctly (not grazed too short)?
2. It has better palatability, a. through the winter after a hard freeze??? Or,
b. when grazing in the summertime???
3. You also feel that tall fescue WILL out yield meadow fescue, but not on # of gain per acre?
I put meadow fescue into my mix this past year, on the recommendation of Margaret at Albert Lea Seed (knowledgeable gal). But this being the establishment year, I'm not really able to tell how good it will be, because of the competition that I had out there with the nurse crop of cereal rye and oats. Everything came wonderfully, just not all settled out yet. Had excellent grazing though for a "spring frost seeded, establishment year".
WC??? A clover I assume?
Well aware of the circulation issues associated with endophyte infected tall fescue that Simme mentioned above, and it's the reason that I avoided it last spring, and opted for the endophyte free meadow fescue. However, I'm under the impression that tall fescue will potentially yield quite a bit better (tonnage), and, if grazed after a hard frost, the endophyte problem is no longer a concern????? And, that it maintains its green color VERY well, into and through the winter, and it's "tough", meaning that it has more lignin... more course (not good for palatability of course)... and as such, it will stand upright better than other grasses.... so cattle would be able to get to it through more snow than with conventional grasses (perhaps including meadow fescue????). I'm thinking of the tall fescue primarily for its winter stockpile benefits then.
I've also heard that the cattle don't like the tall fescue much in summer, and will avoid it if they have any choice.... but after a hard freeze, they suddenly seem to LOVE it. Have you found this to be the case too? Is that similar with the meadow fescue, or is that more palatable all year long, including into and through the winter? I assume it is, with the reference you gave on ADG... if they didn't like it in summer, the ADG would have fallen off on it obviously.
Simme, as I understand it, the "problem" with the endophyte tall fescue (KY31) is mostly concentrated low in the plant... not out at the tips of the leaves. So grazing tight will exacerbate the problem. The other important thing is to maintain diversity in your pasture, instead of having an endophyte fescue dominated one. Dilution is the solution to pollution.