Big Bluestem

[pdfangus]

Miscanthus as a forage plant?

that is a new wrinkle for me.

I planted one in the yard as an ornamental a few years ago.
have noticed that every time my mare is in the yard she first walks thru it to scratch her belly and then begins to graze on it. i would not have thought those hard sharp leaves would be very good grazing but she seems to love it. I can see how cattle might eat it. but it is so clump oriented that it seems to me that there would be a lot of space for invasives between the clumps. Of course for wildlife the space for cover and the plant diversity are what is desired.

 

[fargus]

Miscanthus is being used up here as an energy crop. Grow it to cut and bale, and then burn it in place of coal for electricity, or use it to heat greenhouses and industrial facilities. It's a fledgling industry, but interesting to keep an eye on.

I don't think I'd try it as a forage crop. It just looks too coarse and woody.

 

[Lucky_P]

I'll echo previous posts about OG - it's one of the last things my cows will eat.
Watching the cows' preferences, over the years, as they rotate through the paddocks, they'll eat, in this order:
Johnsongrass
Crabgrass
Fescue & clovers
Plaintain, pigweed, ragweed, etc.
Orchardgrass
Broomsedge

 

[lavacarancher]

I have about 25 acres of it and my cattle eat the heck out of the hay. It likes to grow in heavy soils and it will scare the heck out of you for hay. It don't really start comin' on until early Fall when it starts to cool off a little. You are depending on it for your Winter hay and it doesn't look like your gonna' get anything then it takes off. And when it does turn on OMG! It's pretty easy to get 3000 lbs to the acre or at least that's a pretty good estimate when I have good rain.

There are a couple of varieties of Bluestem, Gordo Bluestem, Little Bluestem and King Ranch Bluestem are the one that come to mind and I think that Big Bluestem and Gordo Bluestem are the same.

Seeds are available from several sources. Google it up - you'll get at least five hits.

 

[dun]

Big and Little Bluestem are totally different grasses. There are a bunch of different cultivars within each of them, just as there is in fescue, orchard grass, switch grass, red and white clover, etc.
Here the WSG starts to get growing in early june and grows through late august early spetember if it's cut or grazed. The uncut/ungrazed stuff started heading out 2 weeks ago.

 

[Stocker Steve]

OG works well for hay if you don;t cut it as short as you do fescue. If you cut it short (around hear to about 3 inches) it will be gone in 2 years.

I put N on my sick tall fesuce pasture this spring rather than plow it up. It really took off. Grazed in it hard once and then cut one crop of stemmy hay. Walked the regrowth and was surprised by the amount of OG in it. The landowner planted OG for a couple years in the 70s and the seed bank must be full of it... Looks like it lasts at least 40 years.

 

[fargus]

OG works well for hay if you don;t cut it as short as you do fescue. If you cut it short (around hear to about 3 inches) it will be gone in 2 years.

I put N on my sick tall fesuce pasture this spring rather than plow it up. It really took off. Grazed in it hard once and then cut one crop of stemmy hay. Walked the regrowth and was surprised by the amount of OG in it. The landowner planted OG for a couple years in the 70s and the seed bank must be full of it... Looks like it lasts at least 40 years.

We found the wild Tall Fescue here just shows up on its own as well. OG isn't a terrible grass, in fact I like having it on about 1/3 of my acres. It just isn't the wonder grass that some of the grazing specialists claim it is up here.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I have been using some OG on one farm when I inter seed clover. Cheap seed and vigorous. Cows seem to like the mix.

 

[bandit80]

Thanks dun. That's the experience type of thing I was looking for.

I always get asked why we don't use more orchardgrass. Tell you the truth it doesn't do what the "gurus" tell you it will, and the cows prefer other forages. I've never had palatability issues with fescue, brome, or reed canarygrass, but OG is not their preference. Anybody have some real, positive experience with Big Bluestem on their own operations?

Dad planted 30 acres of big bluestem about 20 years ago. Brother and I have grazed it, but mostly we cut it for hay. If you let it go until it heads out, it can be some very coarse hay. However if you mow it just as the first few heads start to come out, it seems to make a very palatible hay that the cows love. Never had a problem with them eating it. You absolutely cannot graze or hay it late in the year, as the plant's reserves are stored above the ground, and can be removed by grazing. Also with all bunch grasses, it can be somewhat rough when mowing/raking/baling.