Summer dormant forage will offer U.S. livestock producers a winter grazing alternative

Oklahoma

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc., Grasslanz Technology, a member of the AgResearch Group in New Zealand, and Gentos, a leading pasture seed company in Argentina, have announced a collaboration to develop summer-dormant tall fescue cultivars for the benefit of farmers and other agricultural producers in the United States, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and other regions worldwide.

"Our summers are hot and very dry. So, a tall fescue capable of going dormant during these summer conditions--much like bermudagrass goes dormant during the winter--will prolong the life expectancy of the stands," said Joe Bouton, Ph.D., director of the Forage Improvement Division of the Noble Foundation. "Further, our ability to place the summer-dormant trait into other Noble forage varieties, which contain other important agronomic traits, will increase their value to farmers and ranchers."

Some tall fescues possess a unique trait where they naturally go dormant to avoid the harsh conditions of summer and "awaken" to the cooler temperatures and shorter days of autumn. The benefits of this summer dormancy are improved persistence in dry summer environments, high quality winter feed and reduced cost to the livestock producer. Noble, Grasslanz and Gentos will jointly breed and evaluate such tall fescues.

Gentos developed and released the summer dormant tall fescue cultivar "Flecha" in Argentina and, with the assistance of Grasslanz, has commercialized the cultivar in several markets, including the U.S. The Noble Foundation believes that Flecha-type products may provide a high-quality winter forage to farmers in at least the southern Great Plains of the U.S., lengthen the grazing season in fall and spring and reduce the need to plant annual winter forages such as ryegrass and wheat. These benefits will translate into lower annual costs for agricultural producers.

Gentos is a world leader in the area of summer-dormant tall fescues. Their plant breeding operation is based at Pergamino in Argentina and will provide innovative new germplasm and plant breeding expertise to the joint program.

AgResearch and its subsidiary, Grasslanz, have been working with Gentos in developing pasture cultivars since 1988. Grasslanz will contribute plant germplasm and an international marketing and distribution network, but more importantly, Grasslanz will make available its novel tall fescue endophytes to further enhance drought tolerance, insect resistance, pasture productivity and stand persistence.

Noble will evaluate Flecha and other jointly developed tall fescues for agronomic and animal performance for at least the southern Great Plains, which includes Oklahoma and Texas; develop management systems for farmers and agricultural producers to assist in successful establishment and livestock grazing management; and develop genomics tools for tall fescue breeders to be used in marker-assisted selection.