The grasses were in large part a natural erosion barrier. Their thick and high growth did not allow the extreme heat and wind to get to the ground. During the Great Depression with no rain in sight and the winds that always swept the plains now started and the once grass covered land become the Dustbowl of the west. Erosion of most of the plains area destroyed the larger tracts of native soil where these native grasses once grew. Bluestem grasses are found in most of the US and were most prevalent in the mid western prairies when the large herds of buffalo and other large grazers covered the land.
Bluestems are tall growing and produce abundant blades of high nutritive value.
Big bluestem can be grown in pure stands or in mixtures of other grasses and provides excellent forage and hay crops. This bluestem is a native, perennial, warm season grass and is genetically linked to the big bluestem and can be cross bred with the big bluestem to produce strains that are more adaptive and more productive for forage purposes. All rights reserved.