It tolerates long periods of flooding in early spring and a uniformly moist soil, exceeding 50 percent of field capacity, is beneficial during seedling emergence for successful establishment. The light fluffy seed tends to clog in grain drills. Varieties produce similar forage yields. For seed production, the variety Retain has less seed loss due to shattering. Primary use is for hay, pasture and conservation plantings on wet or imperfectly drained soils.
Seed is very light and easily transported to other wet sites.