crested wheatgrass all have the ….
crested wheatgrass all have the potential to regrow in the fall when conditions are favorable. All three species provide highquality forage in the fall and both wildrye species provide high-quality winter feed.
Warm-season species, which are less abundant in Montana due to our climate, begin growing in summer when temperatures are higher and can provide high-quality forage in summer and fall. Warm-season species can be used in areas suitable for their growth when management objectives include summer and fall grazing. Examples of warm-season species in parts of Montana include little and big bluestem and prairie sandreed. Management Considerations
When choosing introduced species to plant in pastures, it is important to consider the available moisture characteristics on the site, driven by annual precipitation and soils, and match species accordingly. In areas that are subirrigated (i.e., where water naturally occurs just below the ground’s surface) or where irrigation is available, species with higher moisture requirements can be considered (e.g., smooth brome, orchardgrass, meadow brome). For dryland pastures, the mean annual precipitation of the site should match the requirement of species that can grow and thrive with lower available moisture, such as crested wheatgrass, Russian wildrye, and pubescent wheatgrass.
In a complementary grazing program where native and introduced forages are used, timing of grazing is of primary concern to benefit both the forage and the grazing animal. Graze cool-season, introduced forages early in the spring while native rangeland is still maturing. It is important to consider that some cool-season species tolerate early spring grazing better than others. For example, crested wheatgrass, and Russian wildrye are very tolerant of early spring grazing, while Altai and basin wildryes and pubescent and intermediate wheatgrasses are less tolerant at that time of year. Graze pastures with species tolerant to spring grazing first in the spring and remove livestock early enough that there is sufficient soil moisture for those plants to regrow. This will offer an opportunity for fall grazing on these pastures.
Due to the differences in timing of growth of native and introduced forages, it is advised to fence native rangeland separately from introduced pastures. This strategy is especially important to sustain native rangeland plants where spring grazing occurs. It is well documented that grazing animals will preferentially graze native species over introduced species in the spring, potentially damaging the native plant community if grazed moderately to heavily for consecutive years.
