Nutrition
times during the growing
season,” said Schnakenberg.
Some have also had bad
experiences with these
same grasses according
to Schnakenberg.
“Most of the time the complaint
is that they have spent a lot
of money establishing them
and the stand did not develop
quickly, or at all. Some have
either had failures in the
establishment or have had
the stands die out after a few
years,” said Schnakenberg.
Challenge with Fescue
Missouri has an outstanding
cow-calf industry as a result
of tall fescue because of its
palatability, durability, ease
of establishment and fall and
52 | APRIL 2019
winter grazing capability that
can offset the expense of
feeding hay. However, farms
are missing some benefits by
depending solely on fescue.
The fescue endophyte that
comes with Kentucky 31
fescue is a concern. This one
issue causes Missouri beef
producers to lose $160 million
every year in production.
“Unfortunately, many producers
deny it is a serious problem on
their farms because they have
nothing else to compare their
beef production numbers to,”
said Schnakenberg. “If they
had a side-by-side comparison
of raising the same cattle
on Kentucky 31 fescue and
also on a novel endophyte-
friendly fescue and a native
grass, the production numbers
might surprise them.”
The other downside to fescue
is its predominant use as a
hay source in Missouri. It has
potential to make outstanding
quality hay at key times of the
year but harvesting fescue
hay rarely matches up with
the climate of Missouri and
too often results in a low
return on investment.
“Most years, we cannot
physically harvest all the
fescue hay acres on time to
ensure that we reach the
adequate energy and protein
requirements that our cow
herds need,” said Schnakenberg.
“The weather and the natural
speed of maturity works
against us year after year.”