with Endophyte-Free Seed
J.F. PEDERSEN, C.C. KING, JR. C.S. HOVELAND,
L.A. SMITH, and H.W GRIMES*
\Inrgai Joniex and~ Gains, is till entl lie-
comliing ax ailalble inl the marketplace, Since
the presence oft tli fiiguix inl tall fescue bas
lbeen axsociated wxith poor aimial per-
fornilante , many old( xstands ol tall fesxcue that
* Assistanit 
Profess,ii 15 
iiexxir, midt for 
01)1 P-
fessor, IDepai fiicitt of' Agruoinxl anld Soik and
Sti itiiteiidcit aiid Assoiciate Siljtluiiiteideit,
Black Belt Stibi tatiii, rextiectlxix
I oI LANID, 
C.5 B. ,.L. 11xLxNn 
DCC. Ki\'a,
ii. XXW B. AsI i i ,F-\1. \ 1 hI lK, J. A. Nh (I c uit v
IL A 'Sximii I-I X. (,llxll x nj 1 HoLt i xx
Steer Perf ma inlce onJail Fesciue Pastuiire. Agrn.
J. 72:1064-10)65.
are infe-cted xwithl A. euenophiaun \\ xiii un-
douitiitdlx be ireplainted x\ itli A. ctuellon
phI illIlI I litil ce c (
Sinee the fiigix is thought to spread onix
bx infieted seed% pas tutre renloxat ito i xxitkI
en dophx te free Seed Shouli d he 11iiis t Sit(-
cexxfil xx here all of the Seed prodi~uced lIx tile
oitd fescue staidit\ ca ecomeiie n onl x ab Ic. Ill
Rn ii [tii i aind ( 11n g demonttrated that lessx
than I percent of' tall fextlie xeedl reiainlet
2Ni it J C. t94t. ii uiii(fpxt tux iiiIaiiiiii
aiid lFcstilua N N celi ld J. of' Sci. and Tich.
23: 1,S519:3.
T \ ii'tii o%, 11. x1. ) Ti ,Nixi (iiixu, 1966.
Luiiigex itx Ol
1
d IDil llailtx ill Scedx of, Sex ii ai
( iiiii clsiil Griasses anld Lcutiulluc Buiiled ill Sil.
Agroni. 1. 58:22ff 222.
LEAFLET 102 MARCH 1984
ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION AUBURN UNIVERSITY
GALE A. BUCHANAN, DIRECTOR AUBURN UNIVERSITY, ALABAMA
viable after 1 year when buried 1 inch deep.
When buried 7 inches for a year, recovered
seed germinated at a 7.6 percent rate. After
2 years of burial at depths of 1-7 inches, no
tall fescue seed was germinable. However,
under normal conditions, a new supply of
seed could be produced each year.
An experiment was established on an old
tall fescue stand at the Black Belt Substation,
Marion Junction, Alabama, to determine the
amount of natural reseeding of tall fescue
from remnant seed after different methods of
stand destruction and different methods of
subsequent land management. Main plots
were 20 feet x 24 feet and were either chisel
plowed or moldboard plowed at 6-8 inches
September 18, 1980. Each main plot was
divided into two 12-foot x 20-foot subplots
and either seeded to soybeans or fallowed
each summer until the completion of the
experiment. The entire experiment was rep-
licated three times. Soybean subplots were
disked and rotary tilled twice prior to plant-
ing on May 21, 1981, and June 9, 1982, in
30-inch rows. Lorox? and Prowl? were used
on the soybean plots at recommended rates
for weed control. The fallowed subplots
were disked or rotary tilled as necessary (5
times per year) to prevent any volunteer
fescue from making seed and to control
weeds during the summers of 1981 and 1982.
Tall fescue seedlings were counted on
each subplot December 11, 1980, March 20,
1981, May 7, 1982, and March 23, 1983. The
average number of volunteer seedlings per
subplot (240 square feet) is listed for each
sampling date in the accompanying table.
No statistically significant differences were
found between main plots (chisel plow vs.
moldboard plow) or between subplots (soy-
beans vs. fallow). When all treatments were
averaged, the number of seedlings per plot
in December 1980 and March 1981 was sig-
nificantly higher than in May 1982 and
March 1983.
Although the chisel-plowed plots ap-
peared to have more seedlings in the first
year than did the moldboard plowed plots,
so much variability was present between
replications that no conclusion could be
drawn as to differences between chisel and
moldboard plowing. The data clearly indi-
cate that fescue seedlings were almost elimi-
nated after 18 months of being cropped or
fallowed.
In practice, the number of volunteer tall
fescue seedlings per unit area that would be
of practical importance would vary with the
use of the newly established tall fescue
stand. If certified seed are to be produced,
Alabama certification standards for regis-
tered or certified tall fescue seed production
require that seed be planted on land that has
not been seeded to the same species for the 5
previous crop years to prevent contam-
ination
4
. If non-certified seed production
from a stand established from A. coeno-
phialum-free seed is planned, these data and
the results of Rampton and Ching's study in
Oregon indicate that the area to be planted
should be kept out of fescue production for
more than 1 year.
If the new stand is to be used for pasture,
the interpretation of these results becomes
more difficult. The amount of tolerable con-
tamination in a new pasture is unknown.
However, it can be seen that significantly
less contamination would be expected if the
area was kept out of fescue production for
one complete growing season.
A practical approach to maximizing the
use of an established tall fescue stand prior to
the seeding of a new cultivar or an A. co-
enophialum-free pasture can be extrapolated
from this information. By preventing any
established fescue from producing seed in
the same year a new stand is to be planted, a
situation would be created in which any
remnant seed would be approximately 15
months old when the new stand is planted.
Based on our data, and Rampton and Ching's
data
3
, under such conditions few or no tall
fescue seed would be expected to be germi-
nable after that length of time. Intensive
grazing, mowing, or the chemical de-
struction of the sod prior to seed formation
should be effective in preventing seed for-
mation. Additionally, the old sod would have
to be killed prior to planting to prevent
vegetative contamination of the new stand.
4
Official Seed Certification Standards for Ala-
bama. Ala. Crop Improvement Assoc., Inc.
[2]
AVERAGE NUMBERS OF TALL FESCUE SEEDLINGS PER PLOT
AFTER DIFFERENT METHODS OF STAND DESTRUCTION
Treatment, Seedlings, by date 
counted
plow type-crop Dec. 
1980 Mar. 1981 May 
1982 Mar. 1983
No. No. No. No.
Chisel-soybean .............. 16.3 14.3 1.3 0.0
Chisel-fallow ............... 25.3 12.0 1.5 
.0
Moldboard-soybean.......... . 7.3 10.0 .3 .7
Moldboard-fallow ........... . 5.0 4.3 .7 .0
Average.................... 13.5 10.2 1.0 .2
Information contained herein is available to all
without regard to race, color, sex, or national origin.
[3]