# Meadow Fescue II



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Hay and Forage Grower....earlier this month we read a article on Meadow Fescue by PFG....this one from H&FG has some interesting history on Meadow Fescue and might answer a few question that some of our members asked about how far South it can be grown.

http://hayandforage.com/article-247-A-good-story-about-a-good-grass.html

Regards, Mike


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

It looks like it will grow in the south and does not have the harmful ergot endophyte.

I believe our fescue has died during this drought. I spent a lot of money getting the Max Q established.

From reading the article it seems it may be a while before seeds will be readily available. Many of us will be replanting or over seeding our cool season grasses next year.

On a good note it looks like we have a good chance of rain early next week.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I asked the author to forward my name to the seed grower in the article and told him that I would be interested in seed production here in the SE. The author immediately sent me a copy of the forwarded email. Maybe I will hear from him.

Regards, Mike


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Interesting article.....I had heard of meadow fescue before but never gave it much thought as all the varieties currently available are European varieties and my past experiences with planting euro varieties of orchard and Timothy were dismal at best.....just not adapted to our hot and at times droughty climate.

This meadow fescue from Wisconsin sounds very intriguing though......no harmful endophytes and sounds like it could possibly survive here in the south.

I would love to find an alternative cool season grass to tall fescue that will do well in the mid to upper south. I have only grown orchard grass a couple years and so far I'm not convinced it's a viable alternative but I'm excited to see how 'Paiute' orchard performs. I also was planning on trying some smooth and meadow brome but it has been too dry this fall to get it planted. I would be very interested in giving this meadow fescue a try when the seed becomes available.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Found a couple more articles on the Hidden Valley meadow fescue.http://www.midwestforage.org/pdf/857.pdf.pdf
http://hayandforage.com/article-478-hidden-valley-meadow-fescue-the-grass-that-won%E2%80%99t-be-forgotten.html


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Vol said:


> I asked the author to forward my name to the seed grower in the article and told him that I would be interested in seed production here in the SE. The author immediately sent me a copy of the forwarded email. Maybe I will hear from him.
> 
> Regards, Mike


 Mike, did you ever hear anything back from them?

In one of the articles I previously posted it said seed may be available by 2017. It said that Allied and Byron Seeds were supposed to be possibly marketing the seed. I looked on their websites but I didn't see that it was available yet. I was hoping it might come available in time to plant this fall as I would like to give it a try.....sounds interesting.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

No I did not Hayden. I too, would love to plant some of this variety...especially with the drought resistance and a endophyte trait to make it more of a survivor......but not to the point of affecting livestock.

Regards, Mike


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Vol said:


> No I did not Hayden. I too, would love to plant some of this variety...especially with the drought resistance and a endophyte trait to make it more of a survivor......but not to the point of affecting livestock.
> 
> Regards, Mike


 I'm going to email Micheal Casler with the USDA who helped develope the variety. Maybe he will respond and be able to tell me who to contact about getting some seed or give me an idea when to expect to see it on the market.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Finally got a response back from Micheal Casler. I was told that seed Is expected to be available for sale in 2019. Byron seeds, Allied seeds, and Grassworks were the companies listed that would be marketing the seed. I thanked him for the reply and said I was looking forward for the seed to be available.

Guess I will have to wait a couple years to try meadow fescue. I thought about trying a patch of a meadow fescue variety that is currently on the market but to my knowledge they are European developed varieties and I'm not sure if they would be adapted to here. I did find some information saying that most all meadow fescue varieties have a friendly endophyte that has no detrimental effects to stock.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Well they keep pushing back the date so I am not so sure if it will be available in two years. But I am glad to hear that Allied will be a carrier if or when it comes out.

Regards, Mike


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

I saw some listed on a site when last week when I was reading about different grasses for my area, I don't know where it was developed for but it had the meadow fescue II name...


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