The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. of Ardmore Oklahoma, Grasslanz Technology, which is a member of the AgResearch Group in New Zealand, and Gentos, a leading pasture seed company in Argentina have announced a collaboration to develop summer dormant tall fescue cultivars for the benefit of farmers and other agricultural producers in their respective agricultural regions as well as worldwide.

Some tall fescues possess a unique trait where the plant enters an obligatory summer dormancy period to avoid the harsh conditions of summer only to be awakened by the cooler temperatures and shorter days of autumn. The benefits of this summer dormancy are improved persistence in dry summer environments, high quality winter feed and reduced cost to the livestock producer. Noble, Grasslanz and Gentos will jointly breed and evaluate such tall fescues for Argentina, Australia, USA, New Zealand and other international markets.

Gentos developed and released the summer dormant tall fescue cultivar “Flecha” in Argentina and with the assistance of Grasslanz has commercialised the cultivar in several international markets, including the USA. The Noble Foundation believes that “Flecha” type products may provide a high quality winter forage to their farmers in at least the southern Great Plains of the United States, lengthen the grazing season in fall and spring, and reduce the need to plant annual winter forages such as ryegrass and wheat.  These benefits will translate into less annual costs for agricultural producers.

Gentos is a world leader in the area of summer dormant tall fescues. Their plant breeding operation is based at Pergamino in Argentina and will provide innovative new germplasm and plant breeding expertise to the joint program.

AgResearch and its subsidiary Grasslanz have been working with Gentos in developing pasture cultivars since 1988. Grasslanz will contribute germplasm and its international distribution network, but more importantly, Grasslanz will make available its novel tall fescue endophytes to further enhance drought tolerance, insect resistance, pasture productivity and persistence.

“This is what collaboration is all about” said John Stewart, CEO of Grasslanz, “by taking three world leaders in forage technology, from three corners of the world, and having them work together on two of the most exciting forage technologies available, you will create synergy. The combination of the summer dormancy trait and a novel endophyte offers one of those rare opportunities to improve productivity while reducing costs.”

Noble will evaluate Flecha and other jointly developed tall fescues for agronomic and animal performance in at least the southern Great Plains of the United States; develop management systems for farmers and agricultural producers to assist in successful establishment and livestock grazing management; and develop genomics tools to be used in marker-assisted selection by tall fescue breeders.

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, headquartered in Ardmore, Oklahoma, is a non-profit organisation conducting agricultural, forage improvement, and plant biology research; providing grants to numerous non-profit charitable, educational and health organizations; and assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs.

Grasslanz Technology Limited is a subsidiary of AgResearch and is based in Palmerston North, New Zealand. It is a plant technology company serving agriculture through development of proprietary forage cultivars, grass endophytes and applied biotechnology.

Gentos is a pasture seed company with offices in Buenos Aries and Pergamino in Argentina and Montevideo in Uruguay. It is a breeder, producer and marketer of pasture grasses and legumes for South American and international markets.