Schedonorus arundinaceus

Inflorescence of tall fescue
Symbol: 
SCAR7
Group: 
Monocot
Family: 
Poaceae
Description: 

Perennial, cool-season bunchgrass grown for pasture, hay, and silage. Also used for reducing oil erosion, recycling nutrients from manure and biosolids, and for turf, with good wear characteristics. Adapted to a wide range of climatic and soil conditions. Tolerates high temperatures and is drought tolerant due to its extensive root system. Grows best on deep, moist soils that are heavy to medium in texture and high in organic matter. Provides good winter growth in mild winter zones. It is important in forage-livestock systems and forms the forage base for beef cow-calf production in the east-central and southeastern United States.

Uses: 
Pasture
Hay
Silage
Mixture
Soil Improvement (Green manure)
Soil Protection (Cover Crop)

Species Selection Characteristics

Annual Precipitation (inches): 
20 to 24
24 to 28
28 to 32
32 to 36
36 to 40
40 to 50
50 to 60
60 to 70
70 to 80
80 to 100
100 to 120
120 to 140
140 to 160
> 160
Plant Hardiness Zones (cold tolerance): 
5a
5b
6a
6b
7a
7b
8a
8b
9a
Soil pH Tolerance: 
Strongly acid, 5.1–7.3
Moderately acid, 5.6–7.3
Moderately acid to moderately alkaline, 5.6–8.4
Slightly acid to moderately alkaline, 6.1–8.4
Near neutral, 6.1–7.3
Alkaline, 6.7–9.0
Soil Drainage Tolerance: 
poorly drained
somewhat poorly drained
moderately well drained
well drained
somewhat excessively drained
excessively drained
Flooding Tolerance: 
7-30 days
Soil Salinity Tolerance: 
Moderately tolerant, 3–6 dS/m

Identification Characteristics

Type: 
Grass
Growth Season: 
Cool

Growth Habit and Stand Life

Semi-erect, graminoid growth habit. Foliage is green under ideal conditions, with yellowing during high temperatures. Perennial grass with long stand life.  

Life Cycle: 
Long-lived perennial

Climate and Soil Suitability Zones

Climate Tolerances: 

Tolerant of drought, heat, and cold. 

USDA Plant Hardiness zones 5a – 9a. Jan mean minimum of -20 °F, -28.9 °C and American Horticultural Society Heat Zones 4-9 (<150 days above 86 ˚F (30 °C)]. 

Capable of growing in temperatures between -15.5 to 95 °F (4-35 °C), with an ideal range of  68-77 °F (20-25 °C). Able to survive at extreme temperatures outside of tolerance levels with proper hardening.  

Has high ability to thrive in water-limited areas. Requires a minimum of 300 mm (11.81 inches) of precipitation or irrigation. For best production, requires 25-40 inches (635-1000 mm) of precipitation or irrigation. 

 

 

Soil Tolerances: 

Tolerates very strongly acid to strongly alkaline soils (pH 4.5-9.0). Able to survive in excessively drained to poorly drained soils (SPD-WD classification). Moderately tolerant of saline conditions (3-6 dS/m). However, can tolerate soil salinity up to 13 dS/m. Somewhat tolerant of water-soluble aluminum (persisted at 1-2 ppm Al3+). 

Quantitative Tolerances: 

Climate suitability characteristics in the following table are based on field experiments and forage agronomist experience. Soil factor data are based on values provided in Chapter 3 of the NRCS Range and Pasture Handbook.

  July Max Temp (°C) Jan Min Temp (°C) Annual Precipitation (mm) Soil pH Drainage Class Salinity (dS/m)
Well-suited 31 -12 625 5.38 7.98 SPD-WD 5.99
Moderately-suited 33 -15 525 4.78 8.85 PD-ED 9.89
Marginally-suited 35 -18 425 4.06 9.30 VPD-ED 13.15

 

Soil drainage class abbreviations: SPD: somewhat poorly drained, WD: Well drained, PD: poorly drained, ED: Excessively drained, VPD: Very poorly drained.

Suitability Maps

Yield Potential and Production Profile

Performs best in temperate, humid climates. Very well suited as a stockpiled forage. High yields (6-7 tons dm/a) is achievable with high level of management and under suitable climatic conditions. More than 25% of the cow-calf herds graze tall fescue pastures (Forages, 7th ed.).

 

Cultivars

The date of tall fescue introduction into the United States is unknown. Meadow fescue [Lolium pratense (Huds.) Darbysh. = Schedonorus pratensis (Huds.) Beauv., formerly Festuca pratensis Huds.] commonly was planted in pastures of humid temperate areas of North America, having been introduced from England before 1800 (Kennedy, 1900). It is likely that tall fescue was a contaminant in meadow fescue seed, nearly all of which was imported from England before 1880 (Vinall, 1909). However, by the late 19th century tall fescue was described as being "an exceedingly valuable grass for mowing or pasture" (Lamson-Scribner, 1896). Reports of grass trials in Kentucky (Garman, 1900) and Virginia (Kennedy, 1900) mention the superior growth, height, competitive ability, and drought tolerance of tall fescue as compared to meadow fescue.

 

Although testing of tall fescue continued in the United States, it was not planted to any extent until the release in the early 1940s of two cultivars, Alta and Kentucky 31 (KY-31). Alta is an ecotype selected over a number of years beginning in 1918 and released cooperatively by the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station and the USDA (Cowan, 1956). It was selected on the basis of winter hardiness, persistence, and ability to remain green during the dry summers of western Oregon. Alta was rapidly and widely planted in the Pacific Northwest and in the intermountain regions of the western United States.

 

Kentucky 31 is an ecotype found growing in a steep mountain pasture of eastern Kentucky and was known to have been there before 1890. Dr. E.N. Fergus, a professor at the University of Kentucky, saw this pasture in 1931 and was impressed that the grass remained green all winter, so he obtained seed for trials. After lengthy testing, KY-31 was released as a cultivar in 1943 (Fergus, 1952; Fergus and Buckner, 1972). The advantages noted were dependability, adaptability to a wide range of soils, and providing grazing over much of the year. Tall fescue soon became popular across the southern United States where no other cool season perennial grass was adapted and persisted in pastures. There was a remarkable ecological change during the 1940s and 1950s as tall fescue transformed the landscape, which previously was mostly barren and brown during the winter season. In addition to widespread planting of tall fescue for forage use, it also became popular for roadside cover and turf.

 

‘Fawn’ was developed in Oregon in 1954. ‘Kenhy’, released by Kentucky in 1977, was the first tall fescue cultivar resulting from a cross of annual ryegrass and tall fescue. There are now many improved tall fescue cultivars. They are grouped into three maturity categories: early, intermediate, and late, with substantial overlap among the groups. 

 

The above paragraphs taken from the Tall Fescue Monograph (Chapter 1: Origin and History): 

Fribourg, H. A., D. B. Hannaway, and C. P. West (ed.) 2009. Tall Fescue for the Twenty-first Century. Agron. Monog. 53. ASA, CSSA, SSSA. Madison, WI. 540 pp. Also (http://forages.oregonstate.edu/tallfescuemonograph).

 

Management Level Required

Suitable Management Level: 
Medium
Low

Quality and Antiquality Factors

Quality Factors: 

Forage quality depends mostly on maturity stage at harvest and fertility. When harvested in the early vegetative  stage, CP can exceed 22% crude protein (CP) and 73% total digestible nutrients (TDN). Quality decreases to 16.4% CP and 60% TDN at mid-bloom stage.

 

Anti-quality Factors: 

Tall fescue can be infected with the endophytic fungus Neotyphodium coenophialum Morgan-Jones and Gams. This endophyte produces an ergot alkaloid (ergovaline) that results in a complex of symptoms that includes poor weight gain and milk production, rough hair coat, excess salivation, and elevated body temperature. For forage, use a non-endophyte (E-) cultivar or cultivars with <5% endophyte or with novel endophytes that have been developed for forage use. For established stands with endophyte, interseeding with a legume will dilute the toxin. 

Tall fescue does not cause bloat.

 

Image Gallery

Resources

Publications: 

Tall Fescue. 1956. J. Ritchie Cowan. Advances in Agronomy Vol. 8: 283-320. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2113(08)60692-6

Tall Fescue. G.D. Lacefield, J.C. Henning, and T.D. Phillips. 1977. University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. Pub. AGR-59. https://www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/agr/agr59/AGR59.PDF

Toxic Factors in Tall Fescue. 1984. R.W. Hemken, J.A. Jackson, Jr., J.A. Boling. J. Animal Science, Vol.  58 (4): 1011–1016, https://doi.org/10.2527/jas1984.5841011x

Importance and Problems of Tall Fescue. 1990. Robert F. Barnes. Biotechnology in Tall Fescue Improvement. CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781351070317

Tall Fescue. 1996. D.A. Sleper, C.P. West. Cool‐Season Forage Grasses. Advances in Agronomy.     https://doi.org/10.2134/agronmonogr34.c15

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