Altai Wildrye

Altai Wildrye (Elymus angustus)

Plant Species
From Montana Interagency Plant Materials Handbook *
By S. Smoliak, R.L. Ditterline, J.D. Scheetz, L.K. Holzworth, J.R. Sims, L.E. Wiesner, D.E. Baldridge, and G.L. Tibke

Altai wildrye is a native of western Siberia and the Altai Mountain region between Siberia and Mongolia. It thrives well on semi-deserts, steppes and saline soils. It is an excellent pasture grass that extends the grazing season into the fall and winter.

Altai wildrye has good curing qualities, and its erect growth makes it especially useful for late fall and winter grazing. The aftermath from seed production is nutritious, and can be used for fall and winter pasture.

Description

Altai wildrye is a winterhardy, drought-tolerant perennial. The coarse, wide, erect, basal leaves vary from light green to blue. The seed heads, 6 to 8 inches long, are borne on nearly naked, coarse stems 24 to 48 inches long. The seed is about three times as large as that of Russian wildrye or crested wheatgrass and can emerge from deeper seedings. The plant is generally a bunch-type, but it does develop short rhizomes. The root system of Altai wildrye is unique because it can penetrate 10 to 13 feet deep and can use moisture to that depth more efficiently than other introduced grasses.

Adaptation

Altai wildrye is well adapted to the loam and clay-loam soils of the prairies, where it offers great potential as a pasture grass. It grows best in areas that receive about 14 to 18 inches of annual precipitation, although its root system is able to make use of water at deeper depths than most grasses. It has been reported from Canada that Altai wildrye is able to utilize water from a perched water table (12 to 14 feet deep). It is almost as tolerant of salinity as tall wheatgrass.

Limitations

Altai wildrye seedlings grow more slowly than those of crested wheat-grass, and even though it has large seeds that can emerge better from deeper depths than other grasses, shallow seeding is recommended. Because Altai wildrye seedlings are poor competitors with weeds and will not compete well with volunteer seedlings of other grasses that may be present in newly-broken, native stands or old crested wheatgrass fields, it is important to have a clean, firm seedbed. Weeds should be destroyed by cultivation or with herbicides before seeding. After the grass has developed beyond the three-leaf stage, you may need to control weeds again with a herbicide. Once Altai wildrye is established, it is very competitive with most weeds. The newly-established plants should be allowed to mature and set seed before routine grazing can begin. Late fall seedings (November 1) or early spring seedings (April 1 to 15) maximize seed yields in the first crop year. The seed yield of Altai wildrye is low in comparison to the seed yield of most other grasses.

Use for Hay

Altai wildrye plants, as with Russian wildrye, have mostly basal leaves, thus making the forage difficult to harvest as hay, especially in dryland sites. It is not recommended for hay production.

Use for Pasture

Altai wildrye is well suited to pasture production. It has a long period of growth that starts early in the spring and continues into late fall. Although it starts growing later in the spring than Russian wildrye, it has a greater ability to recover after grazing if moisture is adequate.

Although the growth of Altai wildrye is coarse, cattle and sheep find it very palatable. It has the ability to retain a high nutritive value throughout summer, fall and into winter. Cattle have made satisfactory gains in September and October on Altai wildrye pasture saved for fall grazing. The erect, basal leaves of Altai wildrye will project above shallow snow and remain erect in deep snow, forming a bridge across the plants, and allow cattle to remove the snow with their muzzles and graze the forage underneath. It produces well, being somewhat better than Russian wildrye in yield and protein content. Also, it produces better quality forage than most other species at both the flowering stage and the mature or cured stage of development. To increase pasture production, include alfalfa with Altai wildrye in alternate rows or in a cross-seeded pattern. In dry areas the rows should be about 36 inches apart, and in moist areas about 18 to 24 inches apart.

* The Montana Interagency Plant Materials Handbook (EB69) is no longer in print, but is available for viewing in
Montana County Extension Service and National Resource Conservation Service Offices.