71
November 2014
ON FARM LEVEL
Conservationagriculture
t
his article is theninth in a series of articles highlighting a spe-
cific pasture crop species that can play an imperative role
in CA-based crop-pasture rotations. Besides improving the
physical, chemical, hydrological and biological properties of
the soil, such species, including annual or perennial cover
crops, can successfullybeused as animal feed.
Livestock production systems are in many ways dependent on the
utilisation of pasture species, in this case as a pasture ley crop, and
can thereforebecomean integral component of CA-basedcrop-pas-
ture rotations.
It is imperative however to identify a pasture species fulfilling the
requirements of a dual purpose crop, i.e. for livestock fodder and
soil restoration.
Festucaarundinaceae
/
Tall fescue (
Langswenkgras
)
Tall fescue isaverycommon temperate specieswith thewell-known
characteristic of remaining green throughout the winter. This spe-
cies has often been used to ensure that sufficient green forage is
available in the summer rainfall regions throughout theautumn,win-
ter and early spring.
This species unfortunatelyhas the requirement of supplementary ir-
rigation to ensure optimal growth. In an areawherewinter rainfall is
received, thisspecieswill benefit tremendously. This temperatespe-
cies is indigenous toEurope,where it hasapparentlybeenproduced
since 1771.
Tall fescue grows to a height of 1 200 mm and has a typical dark
green colour. Research reports indicate that this species has been
planted in SouthAfrica since 1909. Some of the important cultivars
include Amelie, Demeter, Dovey, Feugo, Emeraude, Jenna, Panatex
andAUTriumph.
Agro-ecological distribution
Tall fescue is a species with a relatively high water requirement of
800mm andmore, but does particularlywell with irrigation, since it
is a very important species used in fodder flow programmes. It has
the ability to grow in dryland conditions in relativelywet areas such
aswetlands (
vleie
).
Since this species has a long growing season and delivers the high-
est dry matter production during the autumn and spring, it is also
important tonote that tall fescue’sproductionwill decline, especially
in summerwhenday temperatures arehigh, and inwinterwhenday
temperatures are extremely low.
As previously referred to, tall fescue is well-adapted to heavy clay
soils and can survive periods of water-logged conditions. Even
though well-adapted to many conditions, it is not recommended
to be planted inwell-drained highland soils, hot northern slopes or
light sandy soils. If there is a requirement toplant this species in the
warmer areasof thecountry, itmust beplanted in thecooler partsof
the landscape, especiallyon southern slopes.
There is however evidence that tall fescue can performwell in the
warmer areas of the country only if water is not limiting. Therefore
sufficient water is of utmost importance to ensure survival and op-
timal production.
Management and utilisation
Likemost grass species, competitionwithweeds in the young seed-
ling stage is detrimental during the establishment phase of tall fes-
cue. It is recommended that thisspeciesbeplanted inautumn (April/
May and March in very cold areas) and even spring (September/
October), considering veryhighor very low temperatures kill germi-
natingplants.
Whenseeded in rows, seeding ratesof 10kg/ha - 15kg/haare recom-
mended and when seeded using a broadcasting method, a rate of
20 kg/ha is advisable andunder irrigation 30 kg/ha canbeused.
Since tall fescue has a highwater requirement, it requires soilswith
very high soil fertility. To meet these high nutrient requirements,
fertilisation rates will depend on what the target dry matter (DM)
production is which is determined by the amount of precipitation
available in the formof rainfall and irrigation.
Generally, soils used for productionpurposes shouldbe fertilised to
maintain soil phosphorus (P) levels of 35mg/kg soil and potassium
(K) levels of 120mg/kg of soil at a soil pH of 6 - 7. To achieve rela-
tively high dry matter production of approximately 16 tons/ha per
annum, up to470kgof nitrogen (N)will be required, especiallyunder
irrigated conditions.
WAYNE TRUTER,
University of Pretoria,
CHRISDANNHAUSER,
Grass SA,
HENDRIKSMITH,
Grain SA and
GERRIE TRYTSMAN,
ARC-Animal Production Institute
Integrated cropandpasture-based
livestockproduction systems
–Part 9
AGRICULTURE
Conservat ion
Series
