Tall fescue establishment and management in south west Victoria

Abstract

Tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum syn. Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) is rarelyused in the south west Victoria region of Australia, and little information is available on its suitability and management in this environment. Summer-active varieties of tall fescue could potentially benefit livestock production in south west Victoria byimproving summer feed availability. A survey was conducted to collect information on summer-active tall fescue use and management in south west Victoria. The surveyidentified several issues that restrict the use of summer-active tall fescue in the studyarea, most notablyuncertaintyabout spring nutritive value, lack of information about new cultivars and slow establishment. Following the survey, a field experiment was conducted to studythe establishment of summer-active tall fescue in south west Victoria under different levels of sowing rate and sowing depth. Seedling densities higher than 250 seedlings/m2 were achieved, with sowing depths of 10-20mm being optimal. © 2012 The Royal Society of New Zealand.