Drover Tall Fescue

Product Description

Drover is an early maturity variety selected for better heat and cold tolerance under drought conditions. It is a very high dry matter producing variety. Drover has good seedling vigor and very rapid establishment. It has upright growth habit making it highly suitable for hay production. Drover is endophyte-free, but still persists well under grazing in harsh environments. Drover is suited for stockpiling and fall grazing.

• Perennial cool season forage grass
• Non-toxic safe for all livestock
• High yields
• Persistent

Drover Tall Fescue

Drover is a high yielding persistent cool season perennial forage grass. This traditional tall fescue has exceptional yields and persistence for an endophyte free variety. Drover was developed from surviving fescue plants found in an abandoned forage trial. In the late nineties a yield and persistence trial performed at the Noble Foundation in Ardmore, Oklahoma was devastated by a severe drought in the region. Although other varieties and species did not survive a few plants were able to be collected for breeding and increase which lead to the development of Drover. The overall forage quality of Drover is similar to Fawn fescue with superior yield and persistence. Drover does not cause the usual health problems associated with livestock feeding on toxic fescue. Drover is more persistent than orchard grass, perennial ryegrass and other traditional endophyte free tall fescue.

Establishment

Tall fescue is fairly easy to establish, but remember, a good seed bed is at the heart of excellent stands of hay or pasture. It can be no-tilled into existing alfalfa stands (.25 to .50 inches deep) immediately after harvest. (Talk to your dealer about the proper timing for your area.) When seeding in a prepared seed bed, make sure sufficient packing has been done before and after seed is put down. Also, 20 to 30 units of N at seeding is necessary for a faster establishment.

Management

Tall fescue can be planted with alfalfa, with grass hay mixes, or simply in mono-culture for hay or pasture systems. Remember that tall fescue, like most cool season grasses, stores 90% of food for regrowth after harvest in the bottom 2 to 2.5 inches of the stem. This means that for maximum growth and production at least 3 to 4 inches of stubble should remain after harvest. Also, for top yield, we recommend 1 to 1.5 lbs of available N for each day of growth. Tall fescue can tolerate less than ideal fertility but, like most crops, it gives best yield and quality in balanced soils. Tall fescue is the best grass for stockpile grazing.

Drover Tech Sheet