MOUNT VERNON, Mo. – University of Missouri Extension will hold a free farm tour on July 23 to highlight two successful Lawrence County farm operations that use native warm-season grasses in their forage programs.

MU Extension agronomist Tim Schnakenberg said the tour kicks off at 4 p.m. at Scott and Ryan Bilyeu’s farm in the Marionville/McKinley area. The farm recently integrated a paddock of native warm-season grass into the grazing system. The stand is dominated with big bluestem and Indiangrass, says Schnakenberg.

“Heat- and drought-tolerant warm-season native grasses provide forage for cattle, especially during the summer slump when temperatures rise, rainfall diminishes and cool-season pastures wane,” says Schnakenberg. “They also can be outstanding options for high-yielding hay, requiring less fertilizer than other forages and harvested at drier times of the year than when fescue should be harvested.”

Ryan Post is using his native stand primarily for hay, and it has already produced an abundance of hay this year in the Freistatt area. This part of the tour will feature how quickly the forage has rebounded following the first hay harvest.

The tour ends with a light meal at the MU Southwest Research, Extension and Education Center at Mount Vernon.

There is no charge to attend, but preregistration is necessary. To reserve your meal, preregister by Friday, July 19, by calling 417-357-6812, or register online at https://bit.ly/nwsgtour24.

MU Extension and the MU & MDC Native Grass Group sponsor the event.