About Us
Contact Us
The Alliance for Grassland Renewal was formed
in 2012. Participants include partners from
the University, government, industry (including
farmers, seed companies, testing labs) and
non-profit groups. The current board members
are from Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina,
Oklahoma and Oregon. The Alliance is an
Affiliate Council member of MFGC/GLCI.
The goal of the Alliance is to work together in
replacing toxic tall fescue grass with a tall fescue
that hosts a non-toxic endophyte, sometimes
called a “novel” endophyte.
The Alliance for Grassland Renewal is a 501(C)5
not-for-profit organization.
ALLIANCE PARTICIPANTS
Agresearch USA
Agrinostics
Barenbrug
Dow AgroSciences
DLF Int’l Seeds
Mountain View Seeds
Pennington
MU Extension
MU CAFNR
USDA - NRCS Forage Producers
MFGC/GLCI
Noble Foundation
Livestock Producers
Forage & Grassland Foundation, Inc.
www.grasslandrenewal.org
Alliance for Grassland Renewal
901 E. Campus Drive
S-133 Animal Science Research Center
Columbia, MO 65211
Attn: Lena Johnson
573-882-7327
[email protected]
© 2016
•No more fescue foot
•Heavier weaning weights
•No more rough hair coats
•Less loitering in water or shade
•Stronger immune system
•Higher conception rates
•Higher weaning percentage
•Thriftier animals overall
Education
The Alliance provides educational schools to
assist farmers with successfully converting
Kentucky 31 tall fescue stands to novel
endophyte varieties. Schools begin with
understanding fescue toxicosis, then walk
farmers through the conversion process.
Conversion topics include establishment
practices, fertility needs, smother crops, weed
control, stand maintenance, and variety
selection. Schools provide hands-on training for
drill calibration in addition to pasture walks to
observe different novel endophyte varieties and
their many benefits.
Education is a combination of University, NRCS,
agribusiness and farmers’ presentations to give
participants the opportunity to get answers to
questions from all perspectives and information
sources.
Quality Control
Testing for seed purity is conducted by
Agrinostics. Companies in the Alliance have
agreed to regulate themselves by setting quality
control standards for all varieties. Those varieties
that meet the standards will be approved and
their bags labeled with an Alliance approved
sticker (see lower-right).
The first
standard is seed
purity. All seed
lots must be 95
percent pure,
which means
only 5 percent
can be off-types,
such as toxic
Kentucky 31. In addition, all seed lots must have
70 percent viable (live) endophyte. This is an
important standard, because the endophyte
can die in storage, even though it is present in
most of the seeds. The Alliance standard of 70
percent ensures that seed from each company
has the potential to result in fields highly infected
with the desired endophyte.
Two other standards are animal safety and plant
persistence. The specifics of these standards
are currently being developed. In order to
approve a new variety, the Alliance will require
independent confirmation that the variety does
not cause toxicosis and will persist in a grazed
pasture.
Incentives
The Alliance is working with government and
agribusiness to reduce costs incurred during
establishment of novel endophyte varieties.
One role of the Alliance is to assist farmers
in qualifying for incentives. These incentives
are to help defray the cost of converting toxic
Kentucky 31 to pastures that contain a novel
endophyte. The cost of conversion ranges
from $185 to $200 per acre.
To date, incentives available are through EQIP
within NRCS. The Alliance is working to line
up other sources of government assistance for
the coming years. Additional discounts may
come from individual companies. Even still,
without government assistance, conversion
costs are recovered rapidly through improved
livestock performance
Look for this assurance of quality
on the seed bag:
“This seed lot has been tested and determined to contain at
least 70% novel (selected) endophyte and no more than 5%
off-type endophyte.”
www.grasslandrenewal.org
LOT NUMBER:
L127--11--4GG
VARIETY KIND
XXXXXX Tall Fescue 90% Oregon
TEST DATE: 8/22/2015
MAT#211172836
GERMINATION ORIGIN
99.57% PURE SEED