Big Bluestem As Forage Grass

Anyone ever seed big bluestem for hay or pasture? Was talking to a neighbor yesterday and he heard from the DNR that it's a great plant. I searched it online and it turns out to be a fantastic pasture plant 'cause it does most of it's growing in the hot summer months when other grasses are going dormant. Also has a deep(10')root so it should do better it droughty conditions. Has anyone grown any of it? Seed cost? Can it be broadcasted? The ground up here is very sandy, how's it do in sand? Thanks!

My cows may be fussy but they won't eat it .I have clumps of it in my pasture and it will remain when the rest of the pasture is down to ground level.

This is one of the (2 or 3 main) tall grasses the tall grass prairie was named for. It is what is called a bunch grass (like pampas grasses) so it might be trouble mowing and later tough to plow... It is what buffalo ate so it is nutritious. It grew from Texas thru Manitoba and eastwards. I can't help with seed source but will do a search.
What part of the country are you in?

Does better if you sow it, and I would mix with some other warm season grasses. Excellent feed, makes good hay as well.

I searched on "big bluestem seed" from YAHOO.
Some hits:
outsidepride.com
easywildflowers.com
sharpbro.com
I'm not surprised cows would not eat it like that other person said. They would eat other stuff first. They should eat it in hay. The first ranchers were in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois where this stuff grew best....

Chris, Check out this site.
http://www.mnnativelandscapes.com/
The business is near me. The owner, Joe Schaefer, may be able to help you. I am pretty sure they grow their own seed yet.

I planted my first in about 1983 or 1984 for CRP. I had one patch not in CRP and also FSA would allow haying in disaster years, so I have tried to hay it several times. In all cases I had to rely on someone else to hay it and it was too mature. It needs to be cut early ( at whatever stage the experts recommend). Anyway mine turned out to be too "stemmy" and was pretty much worthless.

Gene

Some call Big Blue, the king of prairie grasses because in its native area it produces well compared to most other grasses. The seed is now about $12/pound and if it is seeded alone it may take up to 10#/acer. It can be no-till drilled into bean, milo or corn stubble. This is good because the old stuff may shield the new plants from getting too much direct sun. Good seed to soil contact is very important and you get the most for seed and sowing dollar by putting the seed at the correct depth with a good drill.

Good grazing management is necessary in order to get the max value from it. Think rotational grazing. If it grows too big, it gets tough and animals will leave it alone and eat something more desirable. In S.E. Nebraska, one area where it is native, July 24, is the recommended date for haying it. If it is not hayed until late September it may loose almost half of the protein value. It is usually seeded with other native grasses and maybe a little bit of legume. Fertilizer is usually not required

we had a customer tried it put salt in it and everything no cow would eat it--- it has virtually no protein ---we treid to sell it for him for bedding no one wanted it then either

I have it on CRP, wouldn't recommend it unless you do controlled grazing and keep it under 8"- 12" tall, It gets very coarse when it goes to seed (5-6' tall). It seemed to choke out the other grasses that were planted with it after about 5 years. It doesn't really start growing until the weather gets quite warm, (mid July in SW/MN). I just baled about 200 big rounds of it this past week, looks like nice hay, cut it just before it started heading. We'll see how fussy the cows are when it's 30 below this winter. ( Can always grind it for bedding if they dont eat it)

Northern Minnersoter. Sorry, shoulda mentioned that.

Native grass seed is available from many sources. Look for any supplier that sells wildflower seeds. Your local co-op/seed supplier should be able to get it. It grows in Northern MIchigan on a line around Baldwin/Big Rapids. It can be hard to get established from what I've been told. Controling weeds the first year or two is paramount to a good stand. It should be burned every five years or so to keep it viable.

Larry in Michigan

The Buffalo thrived on it !!!

I'll try them if the Co-op can't get the stuff. Thanks, Dave!

Big and little Bluestem is rather expensive to establish and is not a grass to plant if you just want a few years pasture. It is a long term grass. That being said I believe it is the best forage grass God put on the planet. It hays well, stores well and keeps well for a very long time. All forage animals will eat it and do well on it. Animals are not so different from us in that they eat what they are used to. If a cow is used to eating sage brush or pine needles they may turn there nose up to blue at first. But don't expect them to go back to sage and pine needles after they get a taste for blue. If put up properly it should have a protein content of around 5%. Have seen it test as high as 8%. Bluestem hay will not have a deep green color as other hays but more of a pastel or lighter green color inside the bale. Hay put up late will be more of a gray/brown in color and is filler feed or mulch. And will have more coarse stems. If pastured only blue will develop clumps that aminals will eat around. Mowing or burning will help eliminate the clumps. Burning should take place in the spring when new grass shoots are about an inch long. Care should be taken not to over graze as this allows weeds and some trees to get a start.
Most CRP mixes are a mix of 5, 6 or 7 different grasses including Bluestem. (Prairie grass)
Bluestem has gotten a bad reputation from hay being sold as Bluestem to buyers that didn't know the difference. Bluestem hay is typicly called Prairie hay and this is a true statement as there are other good grasses in with the bluestem. BUT any grass that grows on the prairie can be sold as Praire hay so a buyer should be knowlegable on what to look for.

If managed properly it is a very good warm season grass. Most people bale it to late or let it get to tall before pasturing. We try bale ours around the first of July or turn the cattle on it in the middle of June. We burn it and the switch grass in the early spring. Southwest Missouri.

Turner Seed Company in Brekenridge Texas has all kinds of varieties of Blue Stem. I think they are on the www at turnerseed dot com. Tom

Neighbor in North Texas has it. He's up on higher/drier land than us. He says his cows won't touch it until there is NOTHING else to eat. He's been working on replacing it with Spar.