By Susan Baniak, UK Marketing and Agriculture Communications

Forage crops are an integral part of Kentucky agriculture, underpinning the success of the state’s livestock industries. Forage research and recommendations from UKREC extension specialists and county agents across the state have helped farmers to evaluate and implement new grazing systems aimed at optimizing forage utilization and livestock production. Annual forage variety trials, beginning in 1925, have helped farmers assess the potential yields, quality, and adaptability of new options under Kentucky’s specific growing conditions.  

UKREC faculty and staff have also conducted extensive research on harvest and storage systems for hay silage to enhance yield and preserve quality. The introduction of advancements in baleage, particularly the adoption of round bales for forage crops in the 1970s, presented significant opportunities for farmers to reduce associated labor costs. However, it also raised numerous new questions related to issues such as storage loss and feeding loss. In response, farmers relied on UKREC’s research for answers.  

Kentucky 31 Tall Fescue and Fescue Toxicosis  

The most important farm visit in the history of Kentucky agriculture occurred in 1931 when Dr. E.N. Fergus, an agronomist with the University of Kentucky, was invited to Menifee County to judge a sorghum syrup show. Following the field day, Dr. Fergus visited a hillside farm owned by Mr. W.M. Suiter. Dr. Fergus observed an excellent stand of grass growing on a steep hillside. The grass had been growing in the field for over forty years. Dr. Fergus identified the grass as tall fescue and took a few pounds of seed back to the University for testing.1  

It was first seeded at the Western Kentucky Substation in 1932, tested for many years, and released by UK extension agronomist W.C. Johnstone in 1943 as the variety “Kentucky 31.”  

By the 1950s, Kentucky 31 tall fescue had become the most widely grown cool season grass in Kentucky, thanks to its remarkable adaptability and strong performance under pasture conditions.   

“It fit into Kentucky,” said extension forage specialist Garry Lacefield, who had worked at UKREC for his entire 41-year career, from 1974 to 2015. “It was tough. It would grow anywhere. It started to grow early, and it would grow late in the season. Farmers really liked it because it was such a good grass, and they could all grow it.”  

However, it also had its disadvantages. Farmers and researchers had observed problems in cattle that grazed in Kentucky 31 pastures, which included reduced weight gain, heat stress, and hoof problems. By the 1970s, researchers at UK had identified an association of certain alkaloids with the condition now known as fescue toxicosis. The popular and resilient tall fescue harbored an endophyte fungus that produced the toxic alkaloids, but the association of the endophyte and the poor performance of cattle wasn’t fully documented until controlled grazing experiments at Auburn University confirmed it in 1980.  

In response, researchers quickly rolled out endophyte-free varieties, including ‘Johnstone’ from the University of Kentucky. However, without the symbiotic support of the endophyte, the fescue lost much of its hardiness and resistance to environmental and management stresses, such as overgrazing, that had made it a farmers’ favorite.  

Rather than no endophyte at all, what the industry needed was a variety with a less problematic endophyte. Lacefield thought it was a pipe dream until he had the opportunity to visit the laboratory of a researcher in New Zealand, Dr. Gary Latch, who had found one.  

The first novel endophyte variety, Max Q, became commercially available through Pennington Seed Company in 2000, and others soon followed. In 2005, Lacefield estimated that the original endophyte was costing the beef industry in the southeastern United States more than $1 billion annually. However, with new viable options available, UKREC forage specialists worked to help many farmers transition to safer forages while still maintaining strong yields. They also instructed farmers on additional grazing strategies to potentially lessen toxin exposure from the original fescue varieties.  

“The work at UKREC was always a team effort,” Lacefield said. “The contributions of colleagues like Donnie Davis, the longtime UKREC superintendent who never delegated a farm task that he could quickly fix himself, and Christi Forsythe, Lacefield’s administrative assistant, whose deep knowledge of the program led to her co-authorship on international papers, were instrumental. The center’s work was also powered by the state’s network of dedicated and talented county extension agents, who were second to none in the United States.”  

Alfalfa  

Alfalfa was historically a valued crop in Kentucky for hay production. Its high nutritional value and benefits for soil health, including its ability to fix nitrogen from the air to improve soil fertility, made it an excellent choice for livestock production. Its use in pasture-based systems had been limited, however, in part because it required careful management and a steeper learning curve for its establishment and maintenance. UKREC forage specialists, such as Garry Lacefield, saw great potential for Kentucky farmers to expand their acreage of alfalfa and improve yields by adopting better management practices, including soil testing, increased lime and fertilizer application, thoughtful variety selection, and proper seeding techniques.  

In the 1970s, UK researchers began investigating a power tillage (should this be seeding?) technique aimed at improving the forage quality and soil fertility in pastures by integrating legumes into fields of tall fescue. With the help of agronomist Tim Taylor, agricultural engineer Ed Smith developed a power drill seeder that could drop legume seeds into freshly prepared slots, resulting in better establishment of legumes like alfalfa in existing grass stands and improved pasture productivity. Field-testing the machine, which John Deere later purchased, was one of Lacefield’s first assignments when he joined the UKREC team.  

In 1980, a visit to an alfalfa farm in Shelby County arranged by county extension agent Roy Catlett, led Lacefield into a discussion on the need to share more of UKREC’s growing alfalfa knowledge with area producers. At first, it was organized as a simple county meeting, but in 1981, the first Kentucky Alfalfa Conference was held in both Shelby County and Princeton, and the annual event has continued at rotating locations across the state for over 40 years.    

Clayton Geralds, a dairy farmer from Hart County, was in attendance at the 1983 Kentucky Alfalfa Conference. By 1990, he had sold his herd and redirected his attention to cultivating alfalfa and other high-quality forages for horse farmers. By 2012, his operation had expanded to include 600 acres of alfalfa and timothy hay, and his reputation as one of the state’s top commercial alfalfa hay producers had grown in tandem.  

1 TALL FESCUE IN KENTUCKY: THE FIRST 80 YEARS Garry D. Lacefield Extension Forage Specialist University of Kentucky. 2011.