Russian Wildrye

Russian Wildrye is a cool-season, introduced, perennial bunch grass.  It is very palatable to  domestic livestock,  elk, deer, and antelope.  Russian Wildrye is an excellent grass for dryland pastures because it has a longer growing period than most dryland grasses, and even when dried maintains a high protein content, allowing for a longer grazing season.  It is tolerant of grazing and regrows quickly.  It can be grown in saline soils and competes well with weeds once established.  Russian Wildrye is not suitable for hay production because most of the growth  is from basal leaves which are difficult to harvest.