On average, Americans eat more than 50 pounds of beef each year according to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. But what do beef cattle eat? In the eastern United States, beef cattle often eat tall fescue, which is a “cool-season” grass. As the name suggests cool-season grass grows best in temperate conditions -- temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit and abundant rainfall. But it’s not always cool and wet in the eastern United States, and come the summer months, cool-season grasses tend to not do well.
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Patrick Keyser
Patrick Keyser is a professor in the University of Tennessee-School of Natural Resources. He is also the director of the Center for Native Grasslands Management in the University of Tennessee-Institute of Agriculture. Visit nativegrasses.tennessee.edu for more information.
