Description
Get Johnson Festulolium at $2.34 per pound.
The answer for any tough ground! It’s a fescue – rye grass cross.
Tough like fescue and a big producer, while super palatable like rye grass!
Sold to MANY customers in Montana, the Dakotas and Wyoming who LOVE it!
Johnston Festulolium is a perennial bunchgrass which is mainly utilized in pastures for grazing and stockpiling, either in mixes or pure stands. Silage and green chop are other major uses. is adapted to cool humid climates as well as less humid climates with supplemental irrigation.
Planting Depth: .25”
Planting Rates: 25-45 lbs per acre, 8-20 lbs per acre in mixes, 4-15 lbs per acre as a nurse crop
Planting Dates: Mar-May, Aug-Sep
*Product ships in 50 pound bag.
Establishment
Festulolium is easy to establish due to its rapid germination and seedling vigor. Seed size is identical in size and weight with tall fescue. This characteristic with its fast establishment makes it an excellent nurse crop for alfalfa and tall fescue. Benefits of Festulolium include higher forage yields than perennial ryegrass, quality similar to perennial ryegrass, and increased midsummer growth compared to other cool season grasses. Festulolium also has a high disease resistance, winder hardiness, and persistence.
Adaptation
Festulolium does well on fertile soils with a pH of 5.5 to 7.0 but is not recommended for poorly drained soils or soils with poor fertility. Pure stands are the most productive in the 1st year and declining each year from then on. Typically pure stand life is 3-4 years, depending on area.
Management
Festulolium fertilizer requirements are a mix between ryegrass and tall fescue. In general, 150 lbs of N per acre per year will be sufficient to help maintain a fantastic stand. Most farmers typically apply ⅓ of the N in the spring with the rest evenly applied after each harvest or grazing period.
Festulolium performs best under a rotational grazing system and should be grazed down to 3 to 4 inches when plants reach a height of 10 to 12 inches. For silage or green chop, festulolium needs to be cut before seed heads emerge for optimum forage quality.