Animals gain just as well on tall fescue infected with toxin-free endophytes as on endophyte-free varieties – and stand persistence may be better.
That’s according to University of Arkansas researchers. They grazed beef steers in three groups. One group consumed fescue containing toxin-free, also called novel, endophytes. Another group grazed endophyte-free fescue, and the third group was on fescue with toxin-producing endophytes.
Average daily weight gains from novel endophytes were the same as those of endophyte-free fescue and nearly double those of toxic fescue. Early results also show that novel endophytes tended to improve stand persistence over endophyte-free fescue.
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Research in Brief
The following items report on forage-related research recently presented by University experts at meetings across the country.
