Festulolium – improved grasses from DLF

DLF is a specialist grass breeding company. Years of experience and know-how has produced successful varieties - especially our breeding programme in Festulolium has given several varieties, which are widely used across the world.

Festulolium is a cross between meadow fescue (Festuca pratense) or tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) or Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum). When this is done with skills and know-how, it will result in grasses with the best characteristics of each parent.

Depending on parental material a Festulolium will get the best qualities from both grasses but it will somewhat be more similar to either the fescue or the ryegrass type. Hence, Festuloliums can be categorized into two main types - the tall fescue or the ryegrass type - related to their characteristic and phenotypic appearance.

Characterized by high dry matter yield, high cold tolerance, drought tolerance and an overall high persistency you find from fescues, whereas rapid establishment, spring growth, good digestibility, high sugar content and palatability characterise ryegrass.

The breeding programme in DLF pursues the potential of Festulolium, which has resulted in several varieties.

• Higher digestibility
• Faster establishment, spring and growth rate
• Increased yield
• Very high persistency

The deep root system and tolerance to drought from the tall fescue combined with high digestibility and yield from the ryegrass result in a persistent, high yielding grass for more challenging conditions.

Replacing tall fescue in a grass mixture with a Festulolium tall fescue type result in higher digestibility, hence an increase in intake of feed which evidently result in more milk or meat.

Our successful breeding of Festulolium and better digestibility have paid off. In resent official trials in Denmark DLF festulolium tall fescue type performs approximately 3 % better than the comparable tall fescues.

• Up to 25 % higher yield than perennial ryegrass
• Better persistency in cold areas
• Comprehensive and fast developing root system
• Upright growth