# Fescue Horse Hay - Did Something Change?



## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

I've had requests and seen ISO ads on the internet for straight fescue hay. Not necessarily endophite free fescue, just 100% fescue hay.

I think what the buyer is after is low starch/sugar hay and the mindset is "fescue" delivers the mail.

Heck - if I thought fescue was a hot seller, that would save a lot of aggravation in the hay fields...

Did something change and I slept through it???

Fescue horse hay - really???

Oh boy...


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

VA Haymaker said:


> I've had requests and seen ISO ads on the internet for straight fescue hay. Not necessarily endophite free fescue, just 100% fescue hay.
> 
> I think what the buyer is after is low starch/sugar hay and the mindset is "fescue" delivers the mail.
> 
> ...


Well, I have had people (buyers) insist on buying the "green hay over there" that I had saved for our use. Of course, it was good fescue hay and I had offered orchard grass. Just sayin, sell what they are buyin. On the other hand, what their horses are eating in their paddocks is dominantly Ky 31, especially on the paddocks that are overgrazed so it can't be too bad. I also remember being in class at Virginia Tech when ky 31 had a completely bad rep (yeah, a long time ago).. Then fall stockpiling and rotation became the rage and KY 31 stock shot up.


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Fescue is all my cows & horses eat, I don't have anything else to cut for hay, never had any trouble and they have access to a roll of it all the time....


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Fescue is fine for horses with the exception of pregnant broodmares. High endophyte fescue pastures are tough on grazing cattle during late spring/early summer. Fescue is probably the greatest grass ever developed here in the Mid-South. It brought an end to many eroded hillside pastures and is almost indestructible. The number one selling hay in East Tennessee is what is locally called "mixed grass"...which is fescue basically.

I am now in the process of converting much of my land back to fescue with the exception of a small amount of Orchard grass and a even smaller amount of Timothy....for those whom cannot work with fescue.

Once established, seldom is there a need to re-sow fescue. If given reasonable care, fescue grass lands can last for decades.

Regards, Mike


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Mike nailed it with the ""high endophyte" for cattle. I believe it has to do with the cattle having a rumen and horses not.
I planted 14 acres of expensive endophyte friendly fescue a few years ago. Drought killed it out. It is just not as hardy as the K31.
I have also seen horse folks seeking Fescue hay lately. Fescue has been a dirty word to horse people for many years in the past. 
Some K31 fescue pastures and hay fields do not have much harmful endophyte and thrive. Spring fescue is said to test higher that later cuttings.
I tested a leased hay field because my cows were going down hill. It tested 90% endophyte. I let it go.


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## Edd in KY (Jul 16, 2009)

I am mainly a horse farm, that bales its own hay.

This is a quote directly from "HORSE" magazine....10 years ago...still up on it's website.

"Tall fescue itself is not dangerous, but ergovaline produced by the endophyte that often infects tall fescue can cause health concerns in breeding mares and stallions grazing infected tall fescue pastures. Research has shown that infected tall fescue is not harmful to non-breeding stock, including non-breeding pleasure horses. "

Since most horses are not breeding stock, most pleasure horse owners have figured out that fescue hay is not a problem; is widely available, is cheaper, and has less calories for "too fat" horses. There are many too-fat horses, and weight control is a real challenge for the horse owners.

Although I have brood mares, I have not had problems even with the residual amount of fescue in my hay and pastures. I never seed fescue, but it has some natural residual reseeding in my orchard grass pastures and OG/timothy hay fields. It also helps control erosion in my paddocks.

The big scare about mare abortions due to fescue was almost 20 years ago, and the publicity has mainly subsided. So, many farm managers no longer bring it up. At that same time we also had a scare that cherry trees attracted tent caterpillars which were the main source of abortions. Many farms cut their cherry trees at that time, but that trend has also faded away. Time tends to lessen the "panic" of the moment.

I tell my hay customers that my hay has some fescue in it (and most local hay will also, regardless of what the seller says), because it is almost impossible to completely irradicate, and keep it out.


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## Onthayman (Jun 13, 2019)

This got me thinking and interested because I grow mostly horse hay. We have broodmares ,sometimeS feeding almost 40-50 pregnant mares . I got a local dairy guy telling me to add some to my mix.
Found this , sorry it's a bit long:

Tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum) is one of the most widely grown perennial grasses in the world and covers approximately 37 million acres in the United States alone. It can be infected with an endophytic fungus (Epichloë coenophiala), which in a symbiotic relationship with the plant produces chemicals called alkaloids that confer benefits to the plant.

This tall fescue, native to Europe, was introduced into the United States in the 1800s. In 1931, E.N. Fergus, a University of Kentucky (UK) agronomist, collected tall fescue seed from the Suiter farm in Menifee County, Kentucky, on the basis of winter hardiness, persistence in high-traffic areas, and drought resistance, giving rise to the cultivar of fescue known as Kentucky 31 (KY31). However, some of the alkaloids, primarily the ergot alkaloids produced by infected plants, are detrimental to grazing animals, including horses.

Historically, the endocrine hallmark of fescue toxicosis in several animal species is a decrease in the circulating concentration of the hormone prolactin. Prolactin is secreted by the pituitary gland, and control of its secretion is complex and not completely understood. Prolactin exerts effects on a variety of systems including milk production, steroidogenesis (estrogens, progesterone, and testosterone), hair growth and shedding, libido, and synthesis of surfactant by the fetal lungs. Importantly, prolactin may also exert an effect on the fetoplacental unit by altering steroid synthesis and/or metabolism and maturation of the fetal adrenal-pituitary axis, which is necessary for parturition. One major regulator of prolactin secretion is dopamine, a hormone produced by the hypothalamus. Dopamine interacts with receptors in the pituitary gland and inhibits the secretion of prolactin.

Ergovaline is the most abundant ergot alkaloid in tall fescue. Ergovaline, and several other alkaloids from fescue, have similar chemical structures to dopamine and can bind to dopamine receptors, thereby causing a decrease in prolactin secretion, resulting in partial or complete agalactia (the inability to produce milk) in foaling mares. Additional problems associated with KY31 fescue consumption in foaling mares include altered hormone concentrations, extended gestation, thickened placenta, placental retention, dystocia (difficult birth), birth of dysmature foals, and increased foal and placental weights.

Dopamine receptors have been found in tissues other than the pituitary, including ovarian tissues and the corpus luteum, but the roles of those receptors in fescue toxicosis, if any, have not been fully elucidated. The drug domperidone is frequently used in broodmares that are exposed to KY31 fescue and prevents or reverses the adverse reactions of ergovaline. Domperidone functions by binding to dopamine receptors, but rather than suppressing prolactin production, it competes with dopamine and allows for normal prolactin secretion.

Because of the adverse health effects of common endophyte infected fescue in grazing animals, varieties of tall fescue which do not contain the fungal endophyte have been identified. Even though these endophyte-free varieties do not produce ergot alkaloids, animal performance is excellent. However, the plants do not persist well in pastures or compete well with other pasture grasses. More recently, endophyte strains that do not produce the alkaloids that are harmful to animals but still confer vigor and persistence to the plant, have been identified and inserted into tall fescue. These are called novel-endophyte varieties of fescue, and some of these are commercially marketed as "Jesup Max Q," "Texoma Max QII," and "Baroptima Plus E34." More recently, "Lacefield Max QII" was released by Tim Phillips, PhD, in the UK Department of Plant and Soil Sciences.

The Alliance for Grassland Renewal is an association of seed companies, universities, and government agencies that regulate themselves by establishing certain quality control standards for novel endophyte tall fescues. For example, all seeds sold under the alliance tag must be 95% pure, have 70% live (viable) endophyte, and have independent confirmation that the fescue variety does not cause fescue toxicosis in animals and will persist well under conventional grazing conditions.

Although this article emphasizes the effects of ergot alkaloids on a dopaminergic receptor, it is important to remember that some of the alkaloids also bind to other receptor types, including adrenergic and serotonergic receptors, and thus may affect additional body systems.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I have had broodmares that grazed certain fescue pastures of mine and had little to no trouble foaling and then I have had broodmares graze other pastures of mine and have an abundance of birthing problems from "thickened" placentas to detached placentas and some would not let down their milk and could not give the newborn the needed colostrum.

I always felt like the key was to have a true mixed grass pasture for the broodmares to graze upon instead of a fescue monoculture.

Regards, Mike


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

Vol said:


> Fescue is fine for horses with the exception of pregnant broodmares. High endophyte fescue pastures are tough on grazing cattle during late spring/early summer. Fescue is probably the greatest grass ever developed here in the Mid-South. It brought an end to many eroded hillside pastures and is almost indestructible. The number one selling hay in East Tennessee is what is locally called "mixed grass"...which is fescue basically.
> 
> I am now in the process of converting much of my land back to fescue with the exception of a small amount of Orchard grass and a even smaller amount of Timothy....for those whom cannot work with fescue.
> 
> ...


You know Mike, that's starting to make a lot of sense for those of us south of PA. I bust my butt overseeding OG frequently at significant cost with marginal results. Looks pretty good this fall but still, it's not guaranteed. Now I throw ky31 on the ground and 10 days later there's green fuzz. The only negative is that you do remove cimmaron from the tool kit for weed control.

one thing I have heard is that the endophyte disappears when the seed sits for a while. I know the "good" endophyte seed comes in sealed bags and you need to seed promptly after opening. I regularly have ky31 sitting for long periods of time and see no loss of vigor


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

I planted the MaxQ. It did well at first, just did not last and died out. Did not seem to tolerate the heat and dry well. K31 is like Bahia, both are "street wise hardy" and find a way to survive. Here in the deep south a Bahia/Fescue pasture is about ideal.

I asked a seed rep about low endophyte (ergot) fescue. He said the seed was stored for a couple of years and the ergot fungus died. My concern with that is the fungus is what makes the K31 so hardy.
I almost drilled K31 in with the ryegrass on pastures this year. May pull the trigger and do so next year.


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

actually, adding a reasonably small amount of inoculated red clover to your fescue stand really improves many things, the fescue seems to stay greener later for first cutting, it's really cheap protein and it seriously adds to your total tonnage. I stopped doing this because horse women don't like the slobbers that the horses can get from red clover but I really think that is more of a problem from grazing than eating dry hay. Also gets wiped out with most herbicides. What I have noticed is that a good stand of mixed OG and KY31 with 5-6# of frost seeded red clover does not have the gaps that lead to a weed problem. This summer, I lost a bunch of patches of og in a good field stand to signal grass in Aug due to the excessive rain we had. Then at frost, no grass but luckily, I had over seeded and it is coming back to og. I doubt that there would have been any loss to signal grass if there had been KY 31 instead of OG.

If you frost seed red clover, be patient. if not this year then it will come eventually, just need a wet spring. If you get impatient and frost seed 3 or so years in a row and then have a wet spring, you may well lose your fescue. Happened to me once. Every dang clover seed broadcast over 5 years came up that spring and I had 100% heavy red clover second cutting. Beautiful hay, just not for sale to horse people.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

This is a very good topic that is not discussed much due to the reputation of fescue. One of our female posters said earlier this year that she sells mixed grass for $5 and profits just as much on it as her more expensive other grasses because they don't have to "tend" fescue like Orchard and Timothy and others. I wish I could remember her name.....she doesn't post very often. I don't know what it is about Orchard grass, but it seems like it is getting almost as bad as Timothy in having a shortened life span. When I was a kid, we didn't plant Orchard near as often as I do now.

Regards, Mike


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## Troy Farmer (Jul 31, 2011)

Vol said:


> This is a very good topic that is not discussed much due to the reputation of fescue. One of our female posters said earlier this year that she sells mixed grass for $5 and profits just as much on it as her more expensive other grasses because they don't have to "tend" fescue like Orchard and Timothy and others. I wish I could remember her name.....she doesn't post very often. I don't know what it is about Orchard grass, but it seems like it is getting almost as bad as Timothy in having a shortened life span. When I was a kid, we didn't plant Orchard near as often as I do now.
> 
> Regards, Mike


I agree Mike. I sell a good bit of cow hay. Every pasture around has K 31 fescue, yet I have been told time and time again not to plant it for hay. I have my hands full in the dead of summer with bermuda and bahai. I wanted something other than rye to harvest in the spring before the other summer grasses take off. I know rye is cheap and makes high quality hay, but it is a pain to make dry hay. I have had fescue on my mind lately wondering if it is the "boogie man" it is made out to be.


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

I have read somewhere that the fungus goes away in dried hay after a year of storage ? Not sure and never bothered to have any of mine tested, not many around here think Fescue is bad, most everyone feeds it to what ever they have to feed...


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## Farmineer95 (Aug 11, 2014)

I've noted similar things with orchard that it doesn't seem to last as long. I've been chalking it up to harvesting technique- cut it too short. But if others experience the same thing, maybe not. I have a field that was cut way late due to weather a couple years ago and it reseeded itself. The following year was wet, 40+inches of rainfall. The field could have been cut as a lawn so thick. Then we went to selling first cut off the field to a dairy that uses a triple mower. Cutting height was lower than we usually cut. Seems the field has thinned out. It gets liquid manure 2x a year and some dry fertilizer. 
Maybe I'm just getting too picky...


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## Edd in KY (Jul 16, 2009)

Farmineer95 said:


> I've noted similar things with orchard that it doesn't seem to last as long. I've been chalking it up to harvesting technique- cut it too short. But if others experience the same thing, maybe not. I have a field that was cut way late due to weather a couple years ago and it reseeded itself. The following year was wet, 40+inches of rainfall. The field could have been cut as a lawn so thick. Then we went to selling first cut off the field to a dairy that uses a triple mower. Cutting height was lower than we usually cut. Seems the field has thinned out. It gets liquid manure 2x a year and some dry fertilizer.
> Maybe I'm just getting too picky...


I make mainly horse hay for use here on my own farm. I do not want to chance losing the whole crop to a freak rain storm, and I am also short on labor, so I only cut about 5 acres at a time. As I rotate cuttings through the fields, I try to change the sequence every year, so most years a small part of the field has gone to seed by the time i get to it. It is obvious the next year which part of the field was left to reseed. Orchard grass and especially timothy show a strong recovery and thickness the following year after the late cutting.


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## Uphayman (Oct 31, 2014)

I'll add my 2 cents worth regarding my experience planting fescue straight, and as a companion with alfalfa. Recalled started planting with our Brillion seeder in 2009. Tried an alfalfa/ fescue(Byron Seeds endophyte free) mix. Also planted our first straight fescue fields. The persistence of fescue in our area, is incredible. With some manure regularly, it should last forever. It was planted on rocky fields, machine picked, never to be tilled again in my years left on this planet. Like Farmineer 95 noted.....we had reseeding also that wet year. .....unbelievable crop.......this after hitting it with Roundup.

We've departed from using it as a companion , as it chokes out alfalfa too fast for our 
liking. With the customer base we've established, we are able to fit whatever ratio mix of hay, to the right persons need. A challenge, but doable.

For the immediate future, we're going with a late maturing OG/alfalfa, and or Hakari brome/ alfalfa mix. This will be our "premium offering". There will be an attempt at planting some lower land with "wet alfalfa/ Timothy/ smooth brome, almost as an experiment. Also new for 2021, about half of new seeding will be Dairyland Seeds 4400 hybrid alfalfa. I'm not a seed salesman..........but after running a plot alongside the other "big guns".........I was impressed.

Being located above the 45th, our results may be different than most folks.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

In November's issue of 'Hay & Forage' there's an article about fescue hay, that you folks maybe interested in. IDK if it's on the online version or not. If you can't find it, let me know and I might take the time to get the magazine back (I pass them on) and scan into a pdf file.

Larry


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## Red Bank (Apr 28, 2019)

As a former hay customer we were buying OG bales to feed our horse boarding facility. The hay was great but expensive. We fed OG for five years and after trying to analyze expenses I made the decision to switch to fescue to help our bottom line. Later on I decided to make my own hay-fescue of course. What changed me over to fescue was taking a long look at the grain we were feeding the horses. We did not skimp on quality or quantity of our grain. So we were feeding top notch grain wasn’t much need to feed top notch grass. That doesn’t mean I fed junk it just means I didn’t see the value in feeding OG. My goal when I started my own haying was to raise the best fescue possible and that’s what I try to do. I fertilize, lime and spray my fields and probably fret over them more than some people do with alfalfa. We have since quit boarding horses but I managed to land a contract with another horse boarding facility to supply their hay needs for the year. I have picked up another field this year that we had to completely rip up and start new so I planted OG to try it and see if I can sell it like the fescue.


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## Randy Litton (Jan 21, 2018)

Hayman1 said:


> actually, adding a reasonably small amount of inoculated red clover to your fescue stand really improves many things, the fescue seems to stay greener later for first cutting, it's really cheap protein and it seriously adds to your total tonnage. I stopped doing this because horse women don't like the slobbers that the horses can get from red clover but I really think that is more of a problem from grazing than eating dry hay. Also gets wiped out with most herbicides. What I have noticed is that a good stand of mixed OG and KY31 with 5-6# of frost seeded red clover does not have the gaps that lead to a weed problem. This summer, I lost a bunch of patches of og in a good field stand to signal grass in Aug due to the excessive rain we had. Then at frost, no grass but luckily, I had over seeded and it is coming back to og. I doubt that there would have been any loss to signal grass if there had been KY 31 instead of OG.
> 
> If you frost seed red clover, be patient. if not this year then it will come eventually, just need a wet spring. If you get impatient and frost seed 3 or so years in a row and then have a wet spring, you may well lose your fescue. Happened to me once. Every dang clover seed broadcast over 5 years came up that spring and I had 100% heavy red clover second cutting. Beautiful hay, just not for sale to horse people.


I agree with patience in dealing with frost seeded ladino and Red clover. Use the clovers for nitrogen fixation to reduce the need for more. fertilizer.

FG Grass_Clover mix.jpg photo. FG is the name of the field, Grass_Clover mix is the hay shown consisting of fescue grass_ladino and hop clover and weeds. The weeds are tolerated because weed suppression will affect the clovers.


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