Tall Fescue Toxicosis in Meat Goats

Tall fescue (Schedonorus phoenix (Scop.) Holub) is a cool-season bunchgrass that grows throughout the eastern half of the United States and in the Pacific northwestern region of the country. It is estimated that over 90% of tall fescue pastures are infected with the fungal endophyte Neotyphodium coenophialum (Bacon and Siegel, 1988; Glenn et al., 1996). Tall fescue is native to Europe and was first brought to the United States in the 1800s. Two varieties of tall fescue were commercially released in the 1940s after years of study in Kentucky (Kentucky-31) and Oregon (Alta). The broad distribution of tall fescue across the country is a result of its early popularity for planting as both an erosion control agent and as pasture forage. Tall fescue was soon referred to as a ‘Wonder Grass’ because of its growth potential under adverse soil and management conditions. Tall fescue has a bimodal growth pattern typical of cool-season grasses with peak production in the spring and a secondary growth period in the fall. It is the predominant common grasses fed to livestock in the form of standing pasture or stored hay. Two-thirds of pastures used to graze goats were classified as tall fescue in a survey of Tennessee goat producers (Leite-Browning et al., 2002).