Healthiest Haylands and Pastures for the Appalachian Region

The West Virginia Plant Materials Center will wrap-up a five-year study in spring 2025 to help producers in the Appalachian region better manage pasture and haylands. In this study, the effects of different nutrient applications and grazing approaches for four types of commonly planted forages: endophyte-infected tall fescue (KY-31), novel endophyte tall fescue (BarOptima Plus), orchardgrass (Olathe) and a mixture of KY-31 tall fescue and white clover (Alice), were evaluated.

To assess the impact of nutrient additions, commercial fertilizer was applied according to annual soil test results to half of the plants and no fertilizer was applied to the other half of the plants. To assess the impacts of different grazing regimes, a recommended grazing regime was simulated by letting grass grow to at least 12 inches then cutting it back to four inches and an overgrazing regime was simulated by letting grass grow to at least four inches then cutting it back one inch.