Native Tallgrass Hay

Is anyone growing blue stem or switch grass for hay? How does it compare to alfalfa or timothy/brome mix: yield, food value, etc.

Larry

im out in the shortgrass country,but around here bluestem is good,but every one doesnt like switchgrass.cattle will eat switch grass only if forced to but will realy eat bluestem and do good if you can either graze it heavy enough and and pull cattle off until you get a good regrowth,or keep it mowed and growing.( keep in mind theres several varieties of bluestems,old world,plains,short ,tall are just a few and you need one thats adapted to your climate)as for nutritional value,i dont recall the exact numbers,but as i do recall niether are as good as alfalfa or timothy .In all reality both bluestems and switchgrass makes a fair hay,if and only if you mow and bale it before it gets too woody.Myself if i were planting ,and had the moisture,i would go with the alfalfa/timothy for a hay feild.for a pasture i would (and do ) plant bluestem,but mix it with sideoats,and buffalo grass if possible,and add some clover in for year round use.switchgrass does have a advantage in that it will grow about anywhere,and they are starting to build ethanol plants to use it,but it aint much hay or pasture in my opinion without keeping it mowed off to keep it growing.

Little Blue and Big Blue are very palatable to livestock. Yield is about 1.5 tons/acre. Not even close to alfalfa.

There are some varieties of Old World Blue Stem grasses, specifically Caucasian and Asian that are very hardy and drought tolerant that will yield 3.5 tones/acre.