Summer-dormant tall fescue grass shows promise for pasture im... (provement option is using annual legumes...)

Summer-dormant tall fescue grass shows promise for pasture improvements

Date:11/26/2007

provement option is using annual legumes mixed with the summer-dormant tall fescue grasses. The legumes are used to access nitrogen in the air and may reduce the need for high rates of fertilizer.

Reducing nitrogen fertilization in grasslands is a challenge, Malinowski said. In traditional grass-legume mixtures, the perennial grasses and legumes compete for the limited moisture, and in this region the result is one or the other dying off.

In cooperation with Dr. Keith Widdup of AgResearch Grasslands and Dr. Twain Butler of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation at Ardmore, Okla., the Vernon forage team began screening annual legumes for compatibility with Flecha MaxQ in 2004.

We have evaluated a range of species, including annual clovers, annual medics, peas and vetches, Malinowski said. Annual legumes have a similar pattern of winter-spring growth to that of Flecha MaxQ, and they die in early summer after they reseed. Thus, they will not compete with Flecha MaxQ for water during summer months.

Preliminary results show the annual Medicago species of legumes, commonly known as annual medics, are the best companion species for Flecha MaxQ, he said. Seed increases from the best suited medics will result in new cultivars for release in the U.S. and other markets in the next few years.

With the new combination of summer-dormant, tall fescue grasses and annual medics, producers should be able to put cattle on pastures for grazing in October, depending on moisture, and keep them there until summer, Malinowski said.

This is a very secure crop that wont die out no matter how dry it gets here in the summer, he said.

Malinowski said he believes the optimum area for use of this combination is between Dallas and Amarillo and east into Oklahoma.

If you can graze wheat in the winter, these grasses will also work, he said. They are perfectly suited ... to California and other states where summer and winter condit
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Contact: Dariusz Malinowski
dmalinow@ag.tamu.edu
940-552-9941
Texas A&M University - Agricultural Communications
Source:Eurekalert

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Summer-dormant tall fescue grass shows promise for pasture im...(provement option is using annual legumes...)