The Best Midwest Natives Grasses and Forbs for Pasture

(Psssst, we talk a lot more about this on episode 147 of The Prairie Farm Podcast. Dr. Eyheralde, professor of wildlife biology at William Penn University, joined us to discuss grazing and a lot more.

*Insert story about how this is meaningful to me*

Now that we got that out of the way, here’s the information you googled for. “What are the best native grasses and wildflowers for my pasture?”

It’s important to note, these are all generally good for cows, horses, sheep, goats, and other grazers, but can depend heavily on soil type, moisture levels, and the amount of foot traffic there is.

Grasses:

-       Big Bluestem… Are you surprised? This is a staple to the native Midwest landscape. It grows very tall and provides high tonnage of nutrition for the grazers. It is also very drought tolerant.

-       Little Bluestem. Shorter than Big Bluestem but similar in adaptability. It carries less tonnage, but it can handle heavy grazing. We recommend putting at least a little bit of Little Bluestem in your mix.

-       Switchgrass. Switchgrass will grow in a rock, and it has so many stems that it produces high levels of tonnage for your grazers. This is a must have for your native pasture mix.

-       Indiangrass. This is a secondary grass. It helps with the overall health of the pasture and field, and it is very versatile, but given the choice of Big Bluestem or Indiangrass, cattle will choose BB every time.

-       Side Oats Grama are a favorite of buffalo and other cattle, but it is similar to Little Bluestem in that it produces less tonnage.

-       Virginia Wild Rye. This is a cool season grass that comes up the first year. It’s not a favorite for the grazers (except goats, because goats can’t tell the difference between a delectable flower and a shoe), but it comes up earlier than anything else, and between Virginia Wild Rye and nothing, mammals tend to pick the food option.

-       Junegrass. This is also a cool season grass. It’s incredibly cheap, so you can put it in heavily, but it’s tonnage is very small. It’s used as a filler to fill cracks between grasses.

-       Canada Wild Rye. This is almost identical to the Virginia Wild Rye, but if you have dogs, it’s worth noting that the seeds of this plant can get into their skin and cause rashes and infection.

-       Prairie Dropseed. This is a great option for cows in particular, buuuuut… it’s super expensive, so we recommend just putting at least a little in your pasture mix.

Wild Flowers:

We recommend high levels of diversity, so these are the higher recommended ones, but feel free to add many more wild flowers to this.

-       Lead Plant. This is beloved by all grazers, and it’s beautiful. We consider this a MUST.

-       Stiff Goldenrod has a lot of tonnage, and it grows quickly late in the season when there are few other flowers.

-       Wild Bergamot. Also known as bee balm, this is a beautiful and palatable species for eyes and grazing stomachs alike. It also is a favorite for bees and other pollinators.

-       Purple Prairie Clover. This is a native clover that is a legume without the legume bloating that happens in cattle. We highly recommend this one.

-       Purple Coneflower. This is one of the most common native flowers in the Midwest and has high levels of nutrients for grazers.

-       Black-Eyed Susan. Though not as desirable normally as Purple Coneflower, this is a very economic option to put in mixes and still carries high level of nutrients.

-       Maximilian Sunflower. This flower has more tonnage than most and carries lots of nutrients, and stands tall within the field, adding extra dimensions to the field.

There are many more that work well, such as Prairie Coreopsis, Butterfly Weed, Wild Quinine, Ohio Spiderwort, Golden Alexander, Stiff Goldenrod. We’ll let you build the mix how you want, but if you go with high levels of the seed above, you’ll provide your livestock with a sustainable, healthy ecosystem that will sustain not only the grazers but other countless species of wildlife.

We recommend a 50/50 blend. 50% grasses and 50% wildflowers. After a few years it will end up being about 75/25, but if you start with that ratio, the flowers will have a hard time surviving.

If you want to see our pasture mixes, you can find them here.

Looking for other habitat mixes, check out what we have here.

Or just looking for some good ‘ol fashion garden pollinator mixes? Check them out here.

Blessings!