A grass named after Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce has been recalled after it was found to pose serious health risks to livestock.

At the time of its release Barnaby Tall Fescue, or Barnaby Grass as it is more commonly known, was described as "persistent" and "bred in the New England".

The fescue was meant to be free of edophytes — a fungus that lives naturally in a plant and can be toxic to grazing livestock.

But Wayne Crofts, managing director of distributer Heritage Seeds, said that was not the case.

"In early winter one of our farmers who was growing our seed crop detected a case and once we investigated it, it was discovered that the crop contained endophyte in it," Mr Crofts said.

"Endophytes occur naturally in some grass seeds, so sometimes they can be very positive for the pasture and sometimes they can have a negative impact.

"There are fescues in Australia which have endophytes in them, and farmers do manage them accordingly to reduce the stocks risk or health risk."

Farmers urged to contact distributer

One hundred tonnes of stock has been sold mainly across New South Wales and Victoria, and some in Western and South Australia.

"Through the product recall we've had a small amount of product returned to us, so we suspect most of product was sown earlier in the year, in autumn," Mr Crofts said.

"Besides this one case that we've had with our seed grower crop, we haven't had any other cases reported to us." The grass, named after Barnaby Joyce, is described as "persistent" and "bred in New England". ( ABC News: Matt Roberts )

Up to 250 farmers have sown the seed.

"There's different risks depending on the stock," Mr Crofts said.

He said it presented a risk to pregnancies in horses.

"We are recommending that those farmers spray those paddocks out and actually sow it with another variety," Mr Crofts said.

"When it comes to other livestock enterprises, like lamb or beef, we are suggesting people sow it out, because it does have the endophyte in it.

"What it means is those plants might persist for longer, which means they last longer, and over time they could become a more dominant part of the pasture."

Work has begun to remediate any paddocks already sown with the fescue.

"We encourage all affected farmers to contact us, so we can work together on remediation plans tailored to the individual circumstances of each affected property, " Mr Crofts said.

While clearly a serious matter, the Deputy PM himself has managed to find humour at his own expense.

"Obviously it causes problems with sheep's feet," he said.

"I think there is probably another grass up at Nimbin that's named after me.

"You've just got to deal with these things."