Tall fescue is widely used in temperate regions throughout the world as a dominant forage grass as well as a turfgrass, in pastoral and turf industry. However, the utilization of tall fescue was limited because of its leaf roughness, poor regeneration ability and poor stress resistance. New cultivars were desirable in modern pastoral industries exceed the potential of existing cultivars. Theref...

Tall fescue [Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh; Schedonorus phoenix (Scop.) Holub] is the primary cool season perennial grass in the eastern U.S. Most tall fescue contains an endophyte (Neotyphodium coenophialum), which produces ergot alkaloids that cause vasoconstriction and could restrict blood flow to the fetus in pregnant animals. The objective of this study was to examine fetal growth ...

To address the problem of fescue toxicosis in grazing cattle, non-toxic endophytes from New Zealand have been used to infect tall fescue varieties grown in Georgia. The objectives of the present study were to determine animal performance and evaluate toxicosis in stocker steers and heifers grazing non-toxic endophyte-infected (AR542), endophyte-free (EF), or wild-type endophyte-infected (EI) Je...

ANGUSJournal ■ August 2008 I is hard enough breeding heifers under the best of conditions, so when heat stress and endophyte-infected fescue are added to the mix, reproductive systems, pregnancy rates and the long-term bottom line are all bound to suffer. Dave Patterson, University of Missouri Extension researcher and reproductive specialist, notes that reproductive performance is the most impo...

Consumption of ergot alkaloid-containing tall fescue grass impairs several metabolic, vascular, growth, and reproductive processes in cattle, collectively producing a clinical condition known as "fescue toxicosis." Despite the apparent association between pituitary function and these physiological parameters, including depressed serum prolactin; no reports describe the effect of fescue toxicosi...

Phytoremediation is a biological method to improve soils contaminated with heavy metals. The objective of the present research was to study the capability of Vetiver grass and Tall Fescue in refining and reducing pollution of Cd, Cu and Zn from contaminated soils. The research was implemented in greenhouse during two separate tests (Vetiver grass and Tall Fescue) in a completely randomized desi...

Reduced pregnancy rates often occur in ruminants grazing endophyte-infected (EI) tall fescue. The objectives were to characterize basal and oxytocin-induced PGF2a concentrations in serum and reproductive function in ewes fed tall fescue seed and to determine whether addition of fish meal (FM) to a diet of EI fescue would alter PGF2a production. Ewes were fed a diet with novel or non-toxic endop...

Water-soluble carbohydrate composition of mature (ceased expanding) leaf blades and the elongation zone of developing leaf blades was characterized in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), and timothy (Phleum pratense L.). These species were chosen because they differ in mean degree of polymerization (DP) of fructan in the mature leaf blade. Our objective was ...