Festuloliums are man made crosses between ryegrass and fescue.  The fescue can either be a meadow Fescue or a Tall Fescue.   The differences between varieties can be very dramatic.  They range from short lived to perennial.  They also range in their agronomic traits from Ryegrass like to tall Fescue like.  Another caution with Festulolium varieties is aftermath heading (summer headiness).  Many varieties exhibit a long summer heading period.  Our varieties are new release with a breeding emphasis on high sugars and reduced summer heading.  Like Ryegrass they are best for silage and grazing. 

Barfest Festulolium from Barenbrug  -Order Now-
Barfest Festulolium is a hybrid of Perennial Tetraploid Ryegrass and Meadow Fescue.  It is a new Festulolium that is proving itself in the Festulolium market.  Barfest is very dense, very palatable, very fast establishment, and has good persistence.  Along with excellent quality and digestibility, Festuloliums tend to be a little more drought tolerant than Ryegrass.

Perune  -Order Now-
An "Italian type" tetraploid that should give three years of high production. It is an Italian ryegrass cross with meadow fescue. In the August 2000 Michigan State University hay trial it was the highest yielding variety (over 8 tons of dry matter per acre) among 20 entries of various species and was also the highest rated in terms of palatability. In the 2001 Cornell hay trial, Perune was 21% higher in yield than the top perennial ryegrass. Great for extending the life on thin alfalfa fields for up to three years. A key ingredient of our popular Greenfast mixture. Do not graze shorter than three inches. We have seen some foliar diseases in warm, humid, wet conditions.

Meadow Fescue

Meadow Fescue, a very winter-hardy species, is related to Perennial Ryegrass.  It looks more like Ryegrass than tall Fescue.  Meadow Fescue is very palatable but lower yielding than Tall Fescue.  It does very well in cool moist condition but once established it takes heat well.  We have had a variety in our test plots for 5 years and now have Meadow Fescue in our test plots in additional locations.  So far we have been impressed, but we are cautiously optimistic.  For this reason we only recommend it to be planted as part of a mixture.  We think it will fit organic farms well in that it does not have as high of a nitrogen requirement but is still of high quality. 

Bartura Meadow Fescue from Barenbrug -Order Now-
Meadow Fescue has a soft shiny leaf like Ryegrass and will NOT take over a pasture stand.  Dairy cows eat it as well as Ryegrass.  Bartura may be able to tolerate hot and dry conditions better than Ryegrass.  It may be a good choice for organic growers if they want something that requires less Nitrogen.  However, digestibility is not as high as BG 34.  Bartura heads out with BG 14 Ryegrass, but does not head more than once.  It can tolerate wet soil, but stand life is short when used for grazing. 

Pradel from Barenbrug  -Order Now-
This new release from Barenbrug is a standout in our 2004 forage seeding trial and at other screening locations. It is denser and taller than our other meadow fescues tested. Its forage quality and palatability approaches ryegrass. We will be incorporating this new variety into some of our mixtures as seed supply increases.

Tall Fescue

Tall Fescue is a very adaptable species and grows well in dry or wet conditions. It is also winter-hardy and persistent. Tall fescue grows early in the spring and has the potential for high dry-matter production with Nitrogen fertilization. Tall fescue is a good choice for wetlands.

Tall fescue can be unpalatable due to rough leaves and high lignin content. Barenbrug's breeding activities have led to newer, much softer leafed, higher yielding varieties with significantly improved palatability and digestibility.

Fine leaf tall fescue varieties all have that excellent deep root characteristic that give them persistence and yield. In addition, the soft leaf varieties like Bariane and Barolex have very good palatability and quality.

Many varieties contain a harmful fungus called endophyte. This fungus makes the plant less palatable and depresses animal performance and health. All Barenbrug forage varieties are endophyte-free to ensure good animal health and performance. 

All of Our Fescues are "Endophyte-Free"

Byrons Fescue Blend -Order Now-
Byrons Fescue Blend will always strive to be the most versatile fescue product. We will only use varieties that can serve all purposes of haying, balage, haylage and grazing. You can rest assured we will select the best available varieties which are late heading and high yielding when making Byrons Fescue Blend.

Bariane from Barenbrug -Order Now-
A new soft leafed palatable Tall Fescue ranked #1 for palatability in France.  It is also our latest maturing Tall Fescue which means less seedhead headaches.  It's an excellent companion grass with Alfalfa.

Barolex from Barenbrug -Order Now-
This has the potential to be the best Tall Fescue for grazing.

Now there is a new generation of Tall Fescues available.  They are called fine leaved Tall Fescues.  The picture above clearly shows the difference between a fine leaved Tall Fescue such as Barolex and Kentucky-31.  The Kentucky-31 leaves are wide, open, rough and upright.  The Barolex is fine leaved, soft and very dense.  This picture was taken 5 months after planting side by side.

Drover from Barenbrug -Order Now-
Is a selection from Dovey for even more persistence in heat and drought situations. Very high yielding, this may well be our next best grass for the south. We will be observing this outstanding fescue over the next few years.

TF 33 Fescue Blend from Barenbrug -Order Now-
TF 33 Fescue Blend, which is a blend of productive, late maturing, endophyte-free Fescues—Barcel and Bocarella, is best for hay or grazing beef, sheep or heifers.  Fescue seems to be more palatable under conditions of poor or moderate fertility.  It can be mixed with Alfalfa.

Dovey from Barenbrug -Order Now-
Dovey is recognized around the world as a quick establishing, high yielding, persistent and livestock-safe Fescue.  Dovey Fescue has gained popularity in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Southern Europe.  In these countries, it exhibits the same traits desired in Southern US.

Dovey’s superior seedling vigor allows it to establish quicker than other varieties of Fescue.  The yield potential is second to none as proven in official forage trials performed in Missouri, Oklahoma and even British Columbia.

Dovey has proven to be the most persistent of the endophyte free varieties and even more heat and drought tolerant than entophyte infected Kentucky-31.  This extraordinary trait is observed at The Noble Foundation in Ardmore, Oklahoma after two extremely dry summers.  Dovey is the number one choice for the south.

Improved FC -Order Now-
Byrons Improved Fescue, is a fescue variety with enhanced characteristics equal to the best qualities of other competitors fescues. Improved Fescue is not the finest quality of some of Byron's other fescues, but a very nice grass for winter stockpiling and haying.