Old World Bluestems

Much of the cropland in Oklahoma is poorly suited to grain production because the soils are low in fertility and highly erodible.  These factors, coupled with unfavorable economics of wheat production, have prompted some producers to search for other uses for these lands.  The establishment of permanent forages for beef pasture appears to be a promising alternative.  In the past, these areas were revegetated with native range mixtures, weeping lovegrass or bermudagrass.  In recent years, however, producer interest in a group of grasses known collectively as Old World bluestems, has increased greatly.

Introduced Grasses

Old World bluestems include several species of warm-season grasses that were introduced from Europe and Asia from 1920-1965.  These grasses have been studied extensively in Oklahoma for the last 40 years, but producer interest was not widespread until quite recently.

Old World bluestems are warm-season bunch grasses that possess good forage potential for the southern Great Plains.  These grasses respond well to fertilization, are drought and cold tolerant for the most part, withstand close grazing, and are palatable to cattle.  Old World bluestems are not closely related to the native big and little bluestem grasses found throughout Oklahoma.

The six most common cultivars for use in Oklahoma include:  'Caucasian', 'Ganada', 'King Ranch', 'Plains', 'WW-Spar', and 'WW-Iron Master'.  Caucasian and King Ranch have been commercially available for over 20 years, whereas Plains, Ganada, WW-Spar and Iron Master are more recent releases.

Stand Establishment

Old World bluestems are best adapted to loam or clay-loam soils.  Stand establishment on sandy or sandy-loam clay soils is more risky, but usually can be obtained.  Seeding should be on a firm seedbed either by broadcasting the seed or planting at shallow depths (1/4" or less).  Seeding rates of 1 to 3 pounds pure live seed per acre are generally recommended.  The best results have been obtained when seeding was done with a drill specifically designed to handle "fluffy" grass seeds.

Recent developments in seeding, such as using the bare, "caryopses" and lo-till planting into "grazed-out" wheat, warrant attention for future plantings.  More specific information on the establishment of Old World bluestems can be found in Extension Fact Sheet No. 2581-Reseeding Marginal Cropland to Perennial Grasses.

Grazing Season

Old World bluestems typically begin growth in late-April.  As with other warm-season grasses, most of the forage production from Old World bluestems occurs by mid-July.  However, these introduced bluestems are more responsive to late-summer and fall precipitation than are the native grasses.  As such, substantial regrowth can occur in August and September when moisture is available.  In general, Caucasian and WW-Spar attain peak production earlier in the summer than does Plains.  Plains is a mixture of 30 different varieties each maturing at slightly different times, thus a longer green grazing season is present than in the other cultivars.

Hay Production and Value

Limited studies have been conducted on the value of Old World bluestem hay.  These studies indicated that, when properly fertilized and harvested at the appropriate stage of growth, high yields of good quality hay (10 to 16% crude protein) can be obtained.  Caucasian, WW-Spar and Plains bluestem stands have produced as much as 3 to 4 tons of hay/acre with an in-vitro dry matter digestibilities of 57, 61 and 60 percent, respectively.  Steers fed good quality Caucasian bluestem hay, supplemented with adequate protein, grained over 2.2 pounds/day during winter feeding trials.  WW-Spar bluestem hay, harvested after producing a summer seed crop, produced gains of 1.44 pounds/head/day in the same study.