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

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.