Crested Wheatgrass for Spring Grazing in Northern New Mexico

Abstract

Seeding crested wheatgrass (Agropyron desertorum (Fisch.) Schult.) has been an exciting and noteworthy development in northern New Mexico. Private ranchers and land-managing agencies have enthusiastically adopted the practice, and for good reasons. Crested wheatgrass is productive and relatively easy to establish on northern New Mexico rangelands. It appears to be long-lived, despite being at the southern limits of its range of adaptability. It regrows with summer rains, and reproduces well from seed. Its big selling point, however, is its ability to furnish succulent, nutritious forage well ahead of native ranges in early spring, at the very time it is most needed by cows and ewes to maintain a flow of milk for their young.