The 2008 Joint Meeting of the Society for Range Management and the America Forage and Grassland Council. |
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - 11:40 AM
Endophyte Infected Tall Fescue and Meat Goat Production: Do We Have a Problem?
David C. Ditsch, Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, 130 Robinson Rd., Jackson, KY 41339
Meat goat production is currently recognized as one of the fastest growing livestock enterprises in the U.S. Goats are referred to as small ruminants that prefer to browse above their shoulders selecting highly nutritional plant species that are often undesirable to cattle. In Kentucky, many commercial meat goat production systems depend on grazing cool-season grass-legume pastures that are dominated by endophyte (Acremonium coenophialum) infected tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb). The negative effects on cattle ingesting the alkaloids produced by the fungal endophyte are well documented and include reduced reproductive efficiency, reduced weight gain, lowered milk production, winter coat retention, increased susceptibility to high environmental temperatures and light intolerance. Annual losses from reduced beef cow conception rates and weaning weights caused by fescue toxicity are estimated at over $600 million in the U.S. Unfortunately, only limited research has been conducted to determine if meat goat production is negatively effected by the ingestion of endophyte infected tall fescue. Researchers have reported depressed serum prolactin concentrations and elevated rectal temperatures in lambs fed a diet of infected tall fescue. These results suggest that small ruminate performance and economic return may be reduced when utilizing infected tall fescue as a livestock forage.