Meadow fescue and its Epichloë endophytes in New Zealand

Abstract

In New Zealand, meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis) was introduced from Europe, along with many other grasses, as Europeans settled in the 1800s. By the 1950s it had fallen completely out of favour and ceased to be used due to its poor agronomic performance. The discovery of an ecotype in Northland in the 1990s, with Epichloë uncinata endophyte, stimulated research on this grass and the effect of its endophyte on insect pests. In environments with little insect pressure, trials with meadow fescue generally exhibit pasture yields lower than perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea). However, in environments with high insect pressure endophyte free meadow fescue can fail in the first year particularly if conditions are dry, while endophyte-infected meadow fescue exhibits strong tolerance to grass grub (Costelytra zealandica), black beetle (Heteronychus arator) and other insect pests. In these conditions it can perform better than both perennial ryegrass with AR37 endophyte and tall fescue with AR584 endophyte. Today the use of mixtures of meadow fescue and meadow fescue type Festulolium, with their E. uncinata endophyte, has found a niche commercial role on farms in New Zealand due to the protection it provides pastures from a number of insect pests. In addition, mixing meadow fescue with tall fescue has been found to improve palatability over tall fescue alone, with animals leaving lower residuals after grazing, leading to improved quality at subsequent grazings. This provides a solution to the challenge of managing tall fescue on its own. This paper reviews the knowledge about this grass/endophyte combination.