Track 1-12: Managing Seasonality in Grassland Quality and Quantity
Description
Summer-dormant, Mediterranean-type tall fescue (Festuca arundiancea Schreb.) has potential to replace summer-active, Continental-type tall fescue and trad-itional, annual small grain graze-out systems in the Southern Great Plains region of the USA. This region is characterized by severe water deficits accompanied by extreme heat in summer, and by relatively mild, rainy winters (Malinowski et al. 2009). Although the climate of the southern Great Plains is different from the Mediterranean climate, the temperature and precipitation patterns during summer are historically similar. However, in the past decade, the bimodal precipitation pattern with peaks in May and September has become highly unpredictable, resulting in delayed planting of small grains in autumn and lack of winter forage for grazing livestock (Malinowski et al. 2009). As a perennial forage crop, summer-dormant tall fescue provides a source of forage during the winter months when warm-season grasses are dormant, reducing pasture establishment costs, soil erosion, and the time and labor associated with annual forage systems (Kindiger and Conley 2002; Beck et al. 2008; Islam et al. 2011).
Replacing summer-active with summer-dormant cool-season grasses can provide some resilience in the forage systems to extreme seasonal precipitation and temperature patterns (Clark and Harris 2009; Malinowski et al. 2005). These conditions, combined with relatively mild winters, allow summer-dormant tall fescue to be better adapted and more persistent in the southern Great Plains than traditional, summer-active types of tall fescue and other cool-season perennial grasses (Hopkins and Bhamidimarri, 2009; Malinowski et al. 2009). However there are no best-management practices that address the timing of grazing cessation as it relates to summer-dormant tall fescue stand persistence and animal production. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of four grazing termination dates on endophyte-free ‘Flecha’ summer-dormant tall fescue forage production, animal production (average daily gain [ADG], gain, and grazing days), and tall fescue persistence (% stand and root mass).
Citation
Interrante, Sindy M. and Butler, Twain J., "Grazing Termination Dates of Summer-Dormant Flecha Tall Fescue" (2020). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 10.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/22/1-12/10
Included in
Grazing Termination Dates of Summer-Dormant Flecha Tall Fescue
Summer-dormant, Mediterranean-type tall fescue (Festuca arundiancea Schreb.) has potential to replace summer-active, Continental-type tall fescue and trad-itional, annual small grain graze-out systems in the Southern Great Plains region of the USA. This region is characterized by severe water deficits accompanied by extreme heat in summer, and by relatively mild, rainy winters (Malinowski et al. 2009). Although the climate of the southern Great Plains is different from the Mediterranean climate, the temperature and precipitation patterns during summer are historically similar. However, in the past decade, the bimodal precipitation pattern with peaks in May and September has become highly unpredictable, resulting in delayed planting of small grains in autumn and lack of winter forage for grazing livestock (Malinowski et al. 2009). As a perennial forage crop, summer-dormant tall fescue provides a source of forage during the winter months when warm-season grasses are dormant, reducing pasture establishment costs, soil erosion, and the time and labor associated with annual forage systems (Kindiger and Conley 2002; Beck et al. 2008; Islam et al. 2011).
Replacing summer-active with summer-dormant cool-season grasses can provide some resilience in the forage systems to extreme seasonal precipitation and temperature patterns (Clark and Harris 2009; Malinowski et al. 2005). These conditions, combined with relatively mild winters, allow summer-dormant tall fescue to be better adapted and more persistent in the southern Great Plains than traditional, summer-active types of tall fescue and other cool-season perennial grasses (Hopkins and Bhamidimarri, 2009; Malinowski et al. 2009). However there are no best-management practices that address the timing of grazing cessation as it relates to summer-dormant tall fescue stand persistence and animal production. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of four grazing termination dates on endophyte-free ‘Flecha’ summer-dormant tall fescue forage production, animal production (average daily gain [ADG], gain, and grazing days), and tall fescue persistence (% stand and root mass).
