The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Pasture Grasses

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Pasture Grasses

• Michael Casler
• University of Wisconsin

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Pasture
Grasses (your name here)

• The Good - Meadow fescue (summer growth)
• The Bad - Reed canarygrass (invasive)
• The Ugly - Orchardgrass (heading)

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Pasture
Grasses

• The Good - You have lots of choices that can be
  used to custom-design your pasture system.
• The Bad - There is no perfect grass, no
  supergrass, and no single best choice of grasses.
• The Ugly - Each grass has its own management
  requirements. Mess this up and and you will have
  some very ugly pastures.

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Species choices

• Cool-season grasses - sod formers
• Bromegrasses, Reed canarygrass, Tall fescue,
  Meadow fescue, Redtop, Quackgrass, Bluegrasses,
  Perennial foxtails
• Cool-season grasses - bunchgrasses
• Orchardgrass, Timothy, Ryegrasses
• Warm-season grasses
• Switchgrass, Bluestems, Indiangrass, Gramas,
  Sudangrass, Sorghum x sudan hybrids

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Sources of Information

• Your surroundings - what grasses grow well in
  your pastures, roadsides, and neighbors fields?
• The internet/State extension service - IA, MN, WI
  all practice routine evaluation of perennial
  grasses under grazing.
• Trial and error - dont be afraid of trying
  something on a small scale before scaling up to
  larger pastures or the entire farm.
• Pasture walks and meetings - new ideas.

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Grass Seed Sources

• Common seed (Variety Not Stated)
• This seed comes from a named variety, but is
  downgraded to a lower price because it could not
  meet certification standards.
• It can (and will) vary among suppliers and years.
• Certified or Varietal Seed
• This seed carries the reputation of the supplier,
  seed producer, and breeder.
• It will generally be associated with relevant
  test data.

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Grass Varieties

• Whats relevant to you? Geographical, biological,
  and cultural adaptation of a variety.
• What species is it?
• Where was the variety developed?
• Where has the variety been evaluated?
• Under what environmental conditions and
  management systems has the variety been evaluated
  (tested)?

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Choosing Grass Varieties

• Ask lots of questions (force your dealer to be
  knowledgeable)
• Ask for documentation (look for data from
  objective evaluations)
• Dont purchase Common or Variety Not Stated
  seed
• Check blends or mixtures for variety names
• Be wary of wildly optimistic claims

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Choosing Orchardgrass Varieties

• Medium to late maturity
• Disease resistance
• Drechslera leaf spot
• Stem and leaf rust
• Reasonable yield and adaptation to region
• Performance expectations
• Longevity/persistence

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Choosing Reed Canarygrass Varieties

• Low gramine alkaloids, absence of
  tryptamine/b-carboline alkaloids.
• Establishment capacity.
• Adaptation and productivity.
• Bellevue, Palaton, Rival, Venture, Vantage

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Reed Canarygrass Breeding

• Problem Poor and/or slow establishment from
  seed.
• Objective To improve establishment capacity by
  breeding and selection.
• Method Plants are subjected to intense
  competition by annual weeds that occur during the
  establishment year. Occasional clipping is the
  only weed control method used.

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Reed Canarygrass Breeding
Tillers per square foot - 1 year after seeding
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Choosing Fescue Varieties

• Common types of Tall fescue
• Tall plant, very aggressive
• Typically unpalatable and refused
• Coarse leaves
• Fungal endophyte infection
• Improved Tall fescues
• Endophyte-free Softerleaves
• Look for animal data

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Meadow vs. Tall Fescue

• Meadow fescue is lower in yield and slightly less
  drought tolerant.
• Meadow fescue has softer leaves and higher
  palatability.
• Meadow fescue gives similar animal intake despite
  lower forage availability.
• 1.45 vs. 1.65 T/A forage available
• 0.55 vs. 0.56 T/A forage intake (38 vs. 34)

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Meadow Fescue Breeding
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Spring Green Festulolium

• Meadow fescue x Perennial ryegrass hybrid.
• Quality establishment similar to ryegrass.
• Drought tolerance similar to fescue.
• Selected for winter survival on-farm.
• Tested from Minnesota and Iowa to New York and
  Virginia.
• 3.98 vs. 3.91 T/A (2 increase)
• 65 vs. 58 survival (12 increase)

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Credits

• Clint Eastwood (Blondie)
• Lee Van Cleef (Angel Eyes)
• Eli Wallach (Tuco)
• Sergio Leone (Director)
• Hugo Montenegro (Musical score)
• John Cockrell (Title)
• Judy Casler (Focus and concept)