Description:

• Festulolium (Festulolium braunii) is a cool-season, perennial, hybrid grass that is the result of crossing fescue and a ryegrass (either perennial or annual - diploid or tetraploid).
• It combines the quick establishment, high feed value, production, and palatability of ryegrass with the extra persistence and summer productivity of fescue.
• Festulolium has a high sugar content that is easily digestible, allowing animals to gain a high-energy ratio for milk/meat conversion.
• One reason that festulolium is gaining in popularity is that it is more winter hardy than annual ryegrass, and often more winter hardy than perennial ryegrass.
• Also the "summer slump" associated with ryegrass is not as severe with festulolium. Season-long production can be gained for multiple years when festulolium is planted.
• Approximately 227,000 seeds per pound

Best Uses:

• Festulolium can be used in a variety of ways. It will work well mixed with a perennial ryegrass (like BG24T) and our Italian ryegrass for a grass pasture. Festulolium will help make the pasture viable for season long grazing. This pasture would "crank out the milk" for a dairy farmer! Add some Ladino Clover or some Cinnamon Plus Red Clover and you will increase your tonnage and have very high quality forage.
• Festulolium will also work well with alfalfa. If added into alfalfa at the time of seeding, add 1-3 lbs/acre along with 18-20 lbs/acre of one of our high-quality alfalfas. This combination will provide high yields and very high quality forage that can be harvested for dry hay, haylage, or green chop, or it can be grazed.

Adaptation:

• Festulolium is adapted to cool humid climates as well as less humid climates with supplemental irrigation.
• Festulolium does well on fertile soils with a pH of 5.5 to 7.0 but is not recommended for poorly drained soils or soils with poor fertility.

Management considerations:

• If grazing, graze festulolium down to about 3-4" after the plant reaches 10-12" in height.
• Performs best under rotational grazing with shorter stature grasses or legumes.

Planting Dates:

• Early to late spring, late summer.
• In southern MN: March 15 – May 15, August 1st - August 15th

Seeding Rate:

• 20 - 45 lbs/acre alone. 8-20 lbs/acre in a mix.
• Drill ¼ - ½ inch deep in a well-prepared seedbed. Can be drilled (best method), broadcast or bulk-spread and lightly dragged in.
• About 14 days to emergence.

Fertility requirements:

• In general, 150 pounds of nitrogen per acre per year will be adequate to maintain a good stand of festulolium.
• The rule of thumb is to apply 1/3 of the nitrogen in the spring with the balance evenly applied after each harvest or grazing period.

Pasture and Hay Management

• Festulolium performs best under a rotational grazing system and should be grazed down to 3 to 4 inches when plants reach a height of 10 to 12 inches.
• For silage or green chop, festulolium needs to be cut before seed heads emerge for optimum forage quality.
• Difficult to cut with a sickle bar mower due to high moisture content.

Cattle Feast on Festulolium
http://hayandforage.com/mag/farming_cattle_feast_festulolium/