I am a new member and have really enjoyed browsing through all the forums. I have a question regarding Fescue pasture grass.
My husband and I just bought a beautiful little 10 acre place in Missouri. It has a wonderful small run in shed, is fenced and cross fenced and has two ponds. We have two horses, both mares and one is due to foal in April.
I have just discovered we have a major problem - all the pasture grass is Fescue. Fescue grass has a fungus that grows inside of it that is harmful to horses, especially mares in foal. I have to get my mares off of the pasture at least 3 months before they foal. I have no place to put them unless I lock them in the run in shed and feed hay.
Is there anyway to get rid of the Fescue? We are not rich people... in fact it just about broke us buying this place and making the move with all our animals... dogs, cats, goats and the horses. We have no tractor or anyway to plow the fields.
Is there anything we can do to make our pastures safe for our horses? It is such a beautiful place in the foothills of the Ozarks with gently rolling fields with woods scattered about.
I am at a lost as to what to do with our horses. Here we were so happy to finally own our own place where we could have our horses in our back yards. We have several pastures so we can rotate... but they are all fescue.
Perhaps consider roundup or it's generic version for one of the smaller paddocks. After the present grass is dead over seed with the grass of your choice.
If the paddock is not too large you may be able to do this without using equipment but it will take time and a strong back. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
You may even want to consider doing some fencing to make a smaller paddock. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
My understanding is that the fescue is only a real danger if it stays wet. WHich it probably does where you live. You could try this. Fence off a small area 1/2 ac or so, turn the horses on it everyday and in very short time it will be eaten/trampled down to almost nothing. Spray with herbicide and replant. Repeat as necessary.
You should have the grass tested for the endophyte first. It may not be infected. In time, if it isn't an endophyte resistant strain, you'll more than likely end up with it at some point though. Keep in mind though, that it is really only a concern for your foal.
If you have the endophyte in your grass, you could cut the grass as low as your mower will allow, contain the horses to a small paddock area and lay straw over the entire thing. They'll trample it down in no time, and the straw will help to keep the area a little cleaner, but you'll need to constantly tend to the mares' hooves. To substitute for the missing forage, give them brome hay or orchard grass.
Consider replanting the area with orchard grass, certified endophyte free fescue or an endophyte free pasture mix in the spring. Then, repeat this same thing on a new section until the full pasture is reclaimed. It will be more difficult to get a quality turf without somehow breaking up the soil though. You'll end up having to overseed many times.
Truthfully, it may be just about the same cost to just have a local farmer with the required equipment come in and do it all at once though. They can till/disc the soil, seed and later fertilize quite easily and affordably. Just ask your local seed dealer for some names. They should have plenty.
Remember, it's only an issue for cattle and horses, and while studies have shown a slightly lower weight gain in adult cattle grazing endophyte infected fescue, the only real RISKS are with the offspring (both during gestation period and for several months following birth) for horses. Adults are not at any particular risks consuming the fescue.
Thank you for all your replies... I will have it tested for the endophyte and then will check into both methods... putting up temporary fencing and doing small sections myself versus having a local person come in and do it all at one time. Either way, in the long run, I will have good pasture for my horses in the future.
I think I will also contact our local agricultural extension to see what pasture grass mix they recomend for our area.
I suspect the endophyte problem is a little bit inflated in the press. I wouldn't sweat it that much. If you're really worried, cut the pasture REALLY short, rent out the no-till drill from your local MODNR or conservation or extension (whoever it is that owns it) and start planting orchard grass or brome/timothy mixture. In the meantime, there are plenty of folks in MO that have alfalfa for sale at reasonable prices and you can augment your horses diet with a flake or two a day to lessen their need to graze on fescue. Mine are on fescue and I have no problems. I haven't tested but am sure that mine is the endophyte infected sort (as is all unless you spray to kill and reseed with the non-endophyte). Bear in mind that the endophyte works its way back in on a regular basis.
Well, I wasn't worried as a lot of people around me have horses and don't seem to have a problem, but I have Morgan horses and a big Quarter Horse mare. The vet said that it seems that the horses that are heavier in the crest are more affected. Horses like the old bulldog style Quarter Horse and Morgans. My sister has fescue and her Morgan mare developed laminitis this past Spring from the fescue - at least that is what the local vet told her. (She just moved here two years ago).
Using the no-drill till and overseeding with a Bermuda or other pasture grass recommended for this area sounds like a good idea. Will the other forage grass take over, or will the fescue eventually kill out the other grass? Is this something I will have to redo every few years?
I'm sorry, I'm not a farmer at all. I have had horses all my life, but never had fescue to deal with. I just want to do what is best for my animals and would hate to have them lose a foal or develope lameness because of the pasture I have them out on.
Hay is like gold around here... It's not to be found anywhere. If you don't have enough to get you through the winter, you're in trouble. The late frost last spring and the hard drought dried everything up. Farmers were lucky to get a good first cutting in the barn. Second and Third cuttings never happened.
The deer are coming right up to the house looking for bird seed that I put out as there are no acorns or honeysuckle this winter for them. I have started putting out corn for them in the back pasture.
I am in the Southeast corner of Missouri, not far from the Arkansas border.
I'm in the southwest corner. Hay was OK around here and better west of the I-44. My area is traditionally drier and one good cutting is an OK year.
I'm no vet, but it's my understanding that the toxin produced by the endophyte in fescue causes a slight rise in body temperature. We're only talkin a degree or two. In a hot summer about to foal, that might present a problem to a mare. And the toxin may also contribute to spontaneous abortion too, but I suspect only in the most fragile circumstances. Fescue is used a lot here because it thrives on less water and crappy soil (both abundant in the ozarks)where others fail. Orchardgrass is slightly less drought tolerant, but has similar growth surges to fescue and is more palatable and nutritious to boot. If you cut the fescue close and keep seeding orchard grass, it'll probably dominate after a while. Everybody with horses (as opposed to cattle) seems to think timothy and brome are the grasses to use and I don't know. I have horses and they have fescue and thus far have done fine.
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