Description:

• Organic Meadow Fescue (Festuca pratensis) is a winter hardy, highly productive, perennial bunchgrass growing 1 ½ - 4 feet in height.
  
• Leaves are long and slender, bright green and succulent.
  
• It is softer-leafed and more palatable than Organic Tall Fescue.
  
• Approximately 227,000 seeds per pound

Adaptation:

• It grows best in full to partial sunlight.
  
• It grows under cool, moist conditions, and tolerates wet and occasionally flooded soils.
  
• Once established, it also performs well under drier conditions. On good soils, Organic Meadow Fescue surpasses Organic Perennial Ryegrass in summer production.
  
• A great choice as a companion to alfalfa or use straight/mixed for pasture or hay.
  
• Excellent choice for multi-year grazing paddocks.
  
• Organic Meadow Fescue is also a good companion to grow with alfalfa.
  
• It tolerates considerable trampling and hot dry weather during the summer to a greater extent than Kentucky Bluegrass and many other cool-season grasses.

Management considerations:

• Organic Meadow Fescue and Organic Tall Fescue cultivars were grazed for 2 years under a free-choice system. Organic Meadow Fescue was 3.0% lower in net tonnage, but 14.7% higher in apparent intake and 15.1% higher in apparent preference compared with Organic Tall Fescue.
  
• Organic Meadow Fescue seed is endophyte-free and can't become infected from Organic Tall Fescue. Endophytes reduce forage palatability and animal performance.

Planting Dates:

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

Seeding Rate:

• 20-25 lbs/acre alone. 6-12 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:

• Organic Meadow Fescue requires moderate fertility levels for good production.
• Fertilization should be based on a soil test.
  
• Organic Meadow Fescue is very responsive to nitrogen (N) fertilization. For each pound of N added, per-acre yields of dry matter increase by 20 to 30 lb.
• Economical levels of N fertilizer are in the range of 160 lb N/acre/year.
  
• Applications of total N should be split as evenly as possible throughout the growing season. Make the first application at the beginning of the season and the others after each harvest except the last. This greater annual yield and better quality forage than does a single, early spring application.

Pasture management

• Proper grazing management ensures large quantities of high-quality forage, rapid regrowth, and long-lived stands.
  
• Good management involves allowing plants to grow to 6 to 8 inches, grazing to 2 inches, and providing a regrowth of 6 to 8 inches. Longer regrowth gets very fibrous, decreasing livestock intake.
  
• Fertilize with nitrogen at 50 lb/acre following each grazing or mechanical harvest cycle.

Management for hay

• Organic Meadow Fescue routinely is conserved as hay or silage for late fall and winter feed. Harvesting excess spring growth for storage as hay or silage is typical.
  
• High yields of high-quality forage are obtained through the use of timely mechanical harvest techniques and nutrient management. Yields of 2 to 4.75 tons of dry matter per acre (dm/a) are possible with a high level of management.
  
• As with all forage species, the quality of Organic Meadow Fescue is influenced greatly by maturity stage at harvest.
  
• For dairy or sheep, cut forage grasses in the early boot stage.
  
• For beef cows, harvest can be delayed until heading stage. Yields are higher than in the boot stage, and forage is of acceptable quality for non-lactating livestock.
  
• Ensiling allows harvesting at an earlier stage than typical hay harvest, resulting in higher nutritive value.
  
• Utilize a 3-cut system for maximum forage yield

Organic Meadow Fescue: Great for Intensive Grazing
http://hayandforage.com/hay/grasses/0301-grass-provides-pasture/

Organic Meadow Fescue Has Haylage and Pasture Potential in Minnesota
http://www.extension.umn.edu/