Festuloliums are a hybrid between Italian ryegrass and meadow fescue and are thought to have the winterhardiness of the fescues and the high quality of the ryegrasses. It is relatively tolerant of drought and heat but is not tolerant of close grazing. Unlike some other species which keep growing points near ground level, brome's elevated growing points often get grazed off, resulting in slower regrowth. Longer rest intervals or higher grazing is recommended. We don't usually recommend smooth bromegrass as a base for building productive rotationally grazed pastures in Wisconsin.
Tall fescue is vigorous, sod-forming grass, tolerant of heavy grazing and animal traffic.
It is coarse and relatively unpalatable and in a mixed pasture, refusal can be a problem. Turf varieties and older pasture varieties contain an endophyte which can cause health problems in livestock. The endophyte is thought to impart disease and insect resistance to the plant which may improve winterhardiness. The new endophyte-free varieties appear to have good winter survival in Wisconsin, but are not significantly more palatable than the old varieties. We seldom recommend use of tall fescue for pastures in the Upper Midwest due to its palatability problems.