Grazing termination dates of summer-dormant Flecha tall fescue

摘要

Summer-dormant, Mediterranean-type tall fescue (Festuca arundiancea Schreb.) has potential to replace summer-active, Continental-type tall fescue and traditional, annual small grain graze-out systems in the Southern Great Plains region of the USA. This region is characterized by severe water deficits accompanied by extreme heat in summer, and by relatively mild, rainy winters (Malinowski et al. 2009). Although the climate of the southern Great Plains is different from the Mediterranean climate, the temperature and precipitation patterns during summer are historically similar. However, in the past decade, the bimodal precipitation pattern with peaks in May and September has become highly unpredictable, resulting in delayed planting of small grains inautumn and lack of winter forage for grazing livestock (Malinowski et al. 2009). As a perennial forage crop, summer-dormant tall fescue provides a source of forage during the winter months when warm-season grasses arc dormant, reducing pasture establishment costs, soil erosion, and the time and labor associated with annual forage systems (Kindiger and Conley 2002; Beck et al. 2008; Islam et al. 2011).