Forage species well suited to Canadian prairies

The forage species best suited to the Canadian prairies include a mix of cool-season and drought-tolerant perennial and annual grasses, along with hardy legumes. These species are chosen for their adaptability to prairie soils, variable moisture, and temperature extremes.beefresearch+3

Top Perennial Forage Grasses

• Crested wheatgrass: Highly drought-tolerant, persistent, ideal for early spring grazing and dry prairie soils.agric.gov+1

• Russian wildrye: Good for fall grazing, salt/drought-tolerant, palatable and high yielding.seedmb+2

• Smooth bromegrass: Productive, winter-hardy, well adapted to a range of soils, excellent for hay and pasture.seedmb+1

• Meadow bromegrass: Similar to smooth brome but grows better in drier areas.beefresearch+1

• Altai wildrye: Tolerates saline/alkaline soils, excels on heavier soils where drought may be an issue.seedmb

• Timothy, tall fescue, and orchardgrass: Widely used, but require more moisture and are best in areas with higher rainfall or irrigation.beefresearch

Recommended Legumes

• Alfalfa: The backbone legume for prairie forages; many hardy, dryland varieties available, highly productive but prone to bloat.beefresearch+2

• Sainfoin: Winter hardy, drought-tolerant, non-bloating, does well on brown and dark brown soils, but needs well-drained sites.harvest.usask+2

• Sweet clover: Adapted to well-drained soils, used for hay and pasture.seedmb

• Cicer milkvetch, red and white clover: Good for long-term pastures, add protein and fix nitrogen.seedmb+1

Best Annual Forages

• Barley, oats, triticale, and millet: Used extensively for greenfeed, silage, emergency, or annual pasture.seedmb+1

• Corn, sorghum-sudangrass: Suitable where growing season and rainfall/irrigation allow for high-yield silage or greenfeed.beefresearch

Select Native Species

• Western wheatgrass, northern wheatgrass, rough fescues, prairie sandreed: Maintain biodiversity, stabilize soils, adapted to natural prairie conditions.publications+1

These forages, in flexible mixtures, provide year-round grazing, drought resilience, and maintain soil health on the Canadian prairies.agric.gov+3

1. https://www.beefresearch.ca/topics/forage-species/
2. https://publications.gc.ca/pub?id=9.851156&sl=0
3. https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex16/$FILE/120_20-1_2009.pdf
4. https://www.beefresearch.ca/content/uploads/2022/05/Alberta-Forage-Manual.pdf
5. https://www.seedmb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/seedmb_2012_forage_crops.pdf
6. https://www.seedmb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Forage-Crops.pdf
7. https://harvest.usask.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/0362223c-aa12-4f1b-87e5-b0a3beeb862b/content
8. https://cariboo-agricultural-research.ca/documents/CARA_lib_McCartney_Horton_1997_Canadas_Forage_Resources.pdf
9. https://www.canadiancattlemen.ca/crops/forages/choosing-forage-varieties-without-getting-lost-in-the-weeds/
10. https://www.agcanada.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Forage_and_Grassland_Guide_2014.pdf