Using Orchardgrass and Endophyte-Free Fescue Versus Endophyte-Infected Fescue Overseeded on Bermudagrass for Cow Herds: I. Four-Year Summary of Forage Characteristics

• Published in: Crop science 2006-09, Vol.46 (5), p.1919-1928
• Main Authors: Coblentz, W.K, Coffey, K.P, Smith, T.F, Hubbell, D.S. III, Scarbrough, D.A, Humphry, J.B, McGinley, B.C, Turner, J.E, Jennings, J.A, West, C.P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; botanical composition; Cattle; Competition; crude protein; Cynodon dactylon; Dactylis glomerata; Dry matter; dry matter accumulation; endophytes; ergot alkaloids; Festuca arundinacea; Forage; forage crops; forage grasses; frequency; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Grasses; grazing; grazing management; in vitro digestibility; mixed cropping; Pasture; Pastures; plant communities; protein content; toxicity
• ISSN: 0011-183X; 1435-0653
• DOI: 10.2135/cropsci2005.11-0442

A systems trial was designed to evaluate forage characteristics within mixed-species pastures consisting of (i) endophyte-infected tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.; E+) mixed with common bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] and other forages; (ii) endophyte-free tall fescue (E-) overseeded into dormant common bermudagrass; and (iii) orchardgrass (OG; Dactylis glomerata L.) established under the same conditions as E-. The E- and OG pastures were grazed with either twice weekly (2W) or twice monthly (2M) rotation schedules, but E+ was grazed only as 2M. Across 41 sampling dates (2000 through 2003) the mean forage mass across all forage systems was 3809 kg ha⁻¹, and there was an interaction of forage system and sampling date (P = 0.001). In vitro dry matter disappearance (IVDMD) and crude protein (CP) varied (P < 0.0001) with sampling date in seasonal patterns that were generally predictable. Frequencies of tall fescue in E- and E+ pastures increased (P < 0.10) over years, reaching numerical maxima (61 to 72%) at the end of the trial. For OG, frequencies reached numerical maxima of 52 and 42% in 2W and 2M pastures, respectively, but then declined (P < 0.10) over time, ending at 39 and 24%, respectively. At the end of the trial, reinfection of OG pastures by rogue E+ plants reached a numerical maximum frequency of only 10%, and concentrations of total ergot alkaloids in tall fescue plants from E- pastures were only about 25% of those for E+ pastures, thereby suggesting that pasture toxicity can be reduced substantially for at least 5 yr using these alternative forage systems.