Abstract
Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) is known to be a drought-tolerant grass. For this reason, there is interest to include it in seed mixtures for areas where forage production is endangered by recurrent drought. Two seed mixtures containing respectively 40 and 60% by seed weight of tall fescue, and containing both a rough-leafed and a soo-leafed cultivar, were investigated in a four-year eld experiment at two drought-endangered sites (835 m a.s.l., low altitude and 1,205 m a.s.l., high altitude). ree cutting frequencies (two to four cuts year-1) coupled with increasing fertilization rates (equivalent to 1 to 2 livestock units ha-1) were applied. e yield proportion of all species was assessed each year before the rst cut. e proportion of tall fescue exhibited year-and treatment-dependent changes over time, achieving towards the end of experiment a yield proportion of about 15 to 25%. At this time, both the soo-leafed and the rough-leafed cultivars showed similar yield proportions. Arrhenatherum elatius and Poa pratensis (mainly at low and at high management intensity respectively) increased over time, while Dactylis glomerata, Lolium perenne and non-sown forbs declined.