Fargo, North Dakota
September 4, 2008
Species of grass that grow in cool
weather often are referred to as cool-season grasses, while
species that grow in warm weather are called warm-season
grasses.
As grasses mature, digestible energy decreases, so young growth
is more nutritious and palatable. That means range managers
would expect a pasture with a balanced mixture of cool- and
warm-season grasses to provide a more abundant and nutritious
forage for livestock throughout the grazing season than a
pasture dominated by just one group.
"Range monitoring procedures can help identify the balance of
warm- and cool- season grasses in a pasture," says Chuck Lura,
rangeland specialist at the
North Dakota State University Central Grasslands Research
Extension Center near Streeter. "Producers may then adjust their
management to provide more abundant and nutritious forage for
their livestock."
Cool-season grasses grow during the early and cool part of the
growing season, but grow very little during the warmer days of
summer, and may grow again during the cool days of autumn.
Common cool-season species include the needlegrasses and
wheatgrasses, prairie junegrass, Indian ricegrass, Kentucky
bluegrass and brome.
Warm-season grasses are just the opposite. They grow very little
during the cool days of spring and fall, but grow well during
the warmer parts of summer when the cool-season species often
are stressed. Common warm-season grasses include blue grama, big
and little bluestem, switchgrass and prairie sandreed.
"Occasionally it is said that cool-season grasses are more
nutritious than warm- season grasses," Lura says. "That is true,
but only if the comparison is made when the plants are at the
same developmental stage. But because cool- and warm- season
grasses grow at different times of the growing season, the
comparison is not realistic."
The Central Grasslands Research Extension Center has established
a program to assist producers in implementing and maintaining
range monitoring procedures.
This effort is made possible through funding from NDSU, the
North Dakota Natural Resources Trust and Ducks Unlimited.
To learn more about rangeland monitoring, contact Lura at (701)
424-3606 or chuck.lura@msub.nodak.edu. More information on warm-
and cool-season grasses is available in NDSU Extension Service
publication EB-69, "Selected North Dakota and Minnesota Range
Plants." It's available through the NDSU Distribution Center at
(701) 231-7882 or NDSU.DistributionCenter@ndsu.edu. |
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