Hycrest Crested Wheatgrass

Agropyron desertorum

Hycrest Crested Wheatgrass is a long-lived, cool season, drought tolerant grass with an extensive root system. It was introduced to the West in the 1800's as a rangeland grass. It germinates under a wide range of conditions, has strong seedling vigor and successfully establishes under challenging conditions. It is best adapted to heavier soils of good fertility, with early growth in Spring ahead of most other native or introduced grasses. It becomes dormant during hot and dry Summer months, but growth resumes when moisture is sufficient. It is completely winter hardy across the Plains and is long-lived, persistent and easily endures adverse management and heavy grazing pressure. It has high quality forage during early Spring growth and often good Fall forage for livestock and some big game species. With stiff stems poking through the snow, it can even serve as Winter forage on some pastures. Crested Wheatgrass is ideal for re-vegetation of disturbed areas and is one of the few plants adapted to Western conditions that can effectively control and/or prevent the establishment of invasive annual rangeland weeds such as cheatgrass. It is also planted to serve as a fuel break ('Green Stripping') to control the spread of rangeland wildfires.
Because of past extensive use in rangeland projects, it's quick establishment and long persistence, Crested Wheatgrass can become overly dominant . To help determine if this is the right choice for your conditions, we have consulted re-vegetation specialists who use a series of criteria to determine appropriate species, and provide this below for your guidance:
Adaptation: must be adapted to the environmental conditions of the site. See above for this information and compare to your conditions.
Establishment: the ability to germinate and grow rapidly during the early spring season is critical if a seedling is to successfully compete with annual weeds. Unlike many native grasses, Crested Wheatgrass germinates and grows rapidly very early in the spring.
Compatibility: the compatibility of the selected plant with others is an important consideration. Crested Wheatgrass is a highly competitive species and where it is well adapted, may become the dominant species of the re-vegetated area. If a diverse plant composition of shrubs, grasses, and forbs is the re-vegetation goal, Crested Wheatgrass should not be used.
Functional utility: refers to the ability of the plant to accomplish land use goals while also meeting the criteria of adaptation, establishment and compatibility. If re-establishment of the native plant community is the goal, use of Crested Wheatgrass may be inappropriate because it is an introduced species, highly competitive, and persistent. On the other hand, if the goals are to defer grazing of adjacent native rangelands, provide rapid ground cover to control soil erosion, or reduce the wildfire hazard, then Crested Wheatgrass would have a high functional utility
Practicality: if a plant is not available in sufficient quantities or is so expensive or risky to establish that large scale re-vegetation is not feasible, it may be too impractical to use. Crested Wheatgrass is readily available and considered a practical solution in many cases.

Growing Height: 1 to 3 feet
Min Yearly Rainfall: 8"
Seeds Per Pound: 88,000
Acre Rate: 22 lbs
Lbs per 1000sq feet: 3 lbs