Mystery grass headed for seed production

In 1990, Charles Opitz of Mineral Point, Wis., discovered an unknown, highly palatable grass growing in a remnant of the ancient oak savanna on his farm. He realized the grass was different from others on his farm and contacted University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers and those from USDA-ARS. After some investigation, they concluded the mystery grass was meadow fescue. Additional research identified hundreds of stands of meadow fescue on other farms in southwestern Wisconsin, northwestern Illinois, northeastern Iowa, and southeastern Minnesota.

Meadow fescue originates from northern Europe and mountainous regions of southern Europe. It was introduced to the U.S. and Canada in the early 1800s but fell out of favor by the mid 1940s. From that point forward, surviving meadow fescues evolved with the surviving stands acclimating to local climate conditions.

Meadow fescue is cold- and drought-tolerant. It has excellent forage quality and palatability. Like most fescues, it has a naturally occurring fungus or endophyte that grows on it. Unlike tall fescue, which has an endophyte that causes disease in livestock, this recently discovered meadow fescue has an endophyte that causes no harm to livestock. In fact, its endophyte protects the plant from drought, heat, and predation by insects.

From those early samples from the Opitz farm, researchers have developed a variety of meadow fescue known as "Hidden Valley." That variety is in the seed-production phase and should be available to graziers in two to three years, reports Michael Casler with the USDA Forage Research Center.

To download a copy of the entire publication details meadow fescue go to: fescuefinalweb.pdf