Festuca aurdinacea, commonly known a fescue, is a long-lived plant (6-10), in fact the longer lasting among cultivated foraging grasses, which adapts well to different soil and climate conditions.
Once established, it can withstand trampling very well and, all things being equal, it’s the most productive foraging grass.

Fescue is the one that better adapts to the different environments and resists very well to different temperatures and pathogen attacks. Most varieties of fescue are not alternative, which means that they only produce seeds after a whole winter has passed. In case of spring sowing, the first crop will only consist of leaves.

When compared with leguminous species, grasses in general, and fescue in particular, differ due to:

• a wider nutritional relation
• Higher content of raw fibre and potassium
• Higher content of assimilable glucides
• Lower calcium and magnesium content

Fescue has an important role in crop rotation: in fact, thanks to its root system it improves soil structure, with beneficial effects on physical fertility. Although it can adapts to all types of soils, it prefers them to be humid, rich, and deep. It’s particularly suitable for hill and mountain areas (not exceeding 700 m a.s.l.) in which it prevents the superficial erosion of the soil.

The seed bed must be prepared following good agricultural practices, and if possible the surface must be worked to a fine texture.
For this reason it would be recommended that fescue is planted in rotation after a crop that leaves the soil in good workability conditions.

The sowing time will depend on the previous crop, and the climate conditions of the area. Both spring and winter may be acceptable. In both cases, the plant must be able to grow 4 to 5 leaves before the summer drought or the winter cold arrive. Due to the fact that forage grasses take up important quantities of nutrients from the land, it is recommended, particularly for fescue, that the soil is well fertilised in depth during sowing, and that the area is treated on annually with fertiliser, in a complete and appropriate way, taking into account the high level of productivity and long-lived properties of the meadow.

The sowing depth may vary between 1.5 and 2 cm, followed by rolling of the surface to facilitate the contact of the seeds with the soil. The recommended seed ratio is 30-50 kg/Ha.
Fescue is a great crop, both for cutting and grazing. Particular attention must be paid to the cutting time, which must not be to early, as it would cause an impoverishment of the reserves, compromising the growth of new shoots, or too late, which would worsen the quality of the forage.