Abstract
ABSTRACT New cultivars of nontoxic endophyte-infected (NE) tall fescue must be evaluated under grazing conditions before their commercial release. This research was conducted to compare 2 NE tall fescue cultivars with toxic endophyte-infected Kentucky-31 (KY-31) and an endophyte-free (EF) tall fescue in the Coastal Plain region of southwestern Arkansas. Eleven 0.81-ha pastures were planted to KY-31 (n = 3), EF (cv. Barcel, Barenbrug USA, Tangent, OR; n = 3), or the NE tall fescue cultivars BarOptima, infected with the E-34 endophyte (BarOptima PLUS E-34, Barenbrug USA; n = 3), and Jesup, infected with the AR542 endophyte (MaxQ, Pennington Seed Inc., Madison, GA; n = 2). Pastures were grazed by growing beef calves (n = 33/yr, initial BW = 244 ± 9.5 kg) for 2 yr beginning in January of each year. After 2 grazing seasons, pastures that contained endophyte (KY-31, Jesup AR542, BarOptima PLUS E-34) had greater stand counts than EF (P
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