Tall Fescue for Backgrounding in Preparation for Small-Grain or Bermudagrass Pasture1

The objective of these studies was to compare potential season-long grazing systems for stocker calves using endophyte-infected tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) or small grain forages (wheat [Triticum aestivum L.] and rye [Secale cereale L.]) prior to the spring graze-out period on small grain or early summer grazing on bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon [L.] Pers.) pasture. Forty steers in 2002 (202 ± 3.0 kg) and 32 steers in 2003 (230 ± 3.9 kg) grazed 1.6-ha replicates (2.5 calves/ha) of endophyte-infected tall fescue or small grain pasture from March 13 to May 8; then, all groups grazed a single 16-ha pasture of common bermudagrass until August 15. Calves that grazed small grains during the spring graze-out period gained more (P<0.01) BW than calves that grazed tall fescue in 2002 and 2003. However, no compensatory gain was measured during subsequent grazing on bermudagrass for calves that had previously grazed tall fescue in the spring. Starting in 2002, 48 steers (225 ± 2.6 kg) grazed either tall fescue or small grain pasture from November 21, 2002 to January 31, 2003, and then all groups grazed small grain pastures until April 22. Calves that grazed small grain pasture in the fall gained more (P<0.01) BW than did calves that had grazed tall fescue pasture. The BW gain measured during the subsequent grazing on small grain pasture in the spring did not differ (P>0.05) between calves that grazed tall fescue or small grain pasture previously. Despite the lesser BW gains measured when calves grazed endophyte-infected tall fescue during the winter or spring, no compensatory gain was measured when tall fescue calves subsequently were grazed on small grain or bermudagrass pasture.