Testing for Variation in Animal Preference for Jesup Tall Fescue Hays with Wild‐Type, Novel, or No Fungal Endophyte

Tall fescue [Schedonorus phoenix (Scop.) Holub.] is an important source of forage but often contains a fungal endophyte [Neotyphodium coenophialum (Morgan‐Jones and Gams) Glenn, Bacon, and Hanlin] that can produce alkaloids and decrease animal performance. Removing the endophyte can reduce agronomic performance and persistence. An improved cultivar (‘Jesup’) with a novel (nontoxic) endophyte (trademark “MaxQ”) has improved agronomic performance. Persistence may be related to agronomic traits and animal feeding preferences. We tested for variation in animal preference among two harvests by testing each of three hays made from Jesup tall fescue that varied in endophyte status (no endophyte, containing the novel endophyte, or containing a wild‐type endophyte that produces alkaloids associated with toxicosis). We tested for preference using goats (Capra hircus), sheep (Ovis aries), and cattle (Bos taurus). All possible pairs were tested using traditional analysis of variance as well as multidimensional scaling. Multidimensional scaling of the animal preferences indicated that two dimensions were being used to rank the hays. The first dimension for all three animal species was related to variation in forage nutritive value. The second dimension was not correlated with any of the measured variables. Endophyte status was not a factor in the preferences expressed by the three animal species. It appears that no effective feedback mechanism exists related to endophyte status.