Copes Well Under Pressure
"We suffer from the two extremes as in summer, peat, which is free-draining, can go very dry and in the winter we can have surface water as it is a low-lying area.
"That is why Quantum II tall fescue is ideal, as it can stand wet feet and is deep rooting so can cope with dry spells in summer. I have a mixture of peat and silt soils on my property and all the peat soils are in fescue." Malcolm has 85 hectares in Quantum II tall fescue and plans to sow another 20 hectares this season.
Malcolm says "neighbours look over the fence and ask whether I am irrigating, because when the reygrass is turning dry and brown, the tall fescue is still green. I don't know why farmers in drier regions don't grow more tall fescue. I haven't got a bad word to say about it."
