Grants and Contracts Details
Description
Protection of sloping land dictates that forages be used on large areas within the transition
zone. Research is needed to improve the quality and the availability of forages for these livestock.
Information is needed on adaptation of cool-season and warm-season species to assist producers
in developing more productive forage utilization systems. Forage systems involving multiple
species are needed to minimize the negative impact of the large acreages of endophyte-infected
tall fescue that remain in this region. Native and introduced warm season perennial grasses may
provide needed forage during mid- and late summer when cool season species productivity may
be low and when tall fescue toxicosis is worst. Research is also needed to reduce storage losses
and improve forage quality of forages stored for winter feeding. Efforts toward development and
thorough evaluation of endophyte-free tall fescue varieties are also needed.
Objectives of this work include characterization of impacts of plant species, environment and
management on forage quality of warm and cool season perennial and annual forages for use in
grazing systems designed to optimize forage quality and utilization. We will also develop improved
systems that improve quality and minimize DM losses in harvested, stored forage. This research
will compare continuous and rotational grazing of endophyte-infected fescue at multiple stocking
rates. In addition, we will evaluate nutritional and reproductive consequences of grass-associated
mycotoxins and strategies to alleviate these effects. Breeding related objectives are to increase
variability for forage quality and agronomic traits in tall fescue by intergeneric hybridization in the
Festuca-Lolium complex and to develop techniques to measure leaf tensile strength in tall fescue
for use in breeding for improved forage quality. A final objective will be to evaluate establishment
and management methods and to determine forage quality of native warm season grasses in
Kentucky.
Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 6/1/02 → 5/31/05 |
Funding
- US Department of Agriculture: $343,278.00
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