Preferred Seed

   Generally, Meadow Bromegrass is native to southwestern Asia. It differs from smooth bromegrass in that it has less strongly creeping rhizomes and is slower to become established. It has more basal leaves. The presence of awns, hairy leaves and stems, and lack of aggressive rhizomes also distinguish meadow brome from smooth brome. Specifically, MacBeth Meadow Bromegrass is a long-lived, rapid developing, leafy, non-native cool season grass that spreads by short rhizomes. MacBeth yields as much or more total forage as smooth bromegrass and has forage quality equal to that of smooth bromegrass. MacBeth has much faster recovery and better fall growth which is extremely palatable to all classes of livestock as both green forage and cured hay.

   Grown alone or in a mixture with a legume, MacBeth Meadow Bromegrass produces excellent hay. It is very palatable to cattle, sheep and horses. It is less aggressive than smooth bromegrass and retains a better balance with alfalfa in grass-alfalfa mixtures. Another benefit to long term stands of MacBeth for hay or pasture is that most of the seed heads appear in the first cutting and only a few seed heads are formed after the first two years. MacBeth Meadow Bromegrass is palatable and well-adapted for pasture use. It starts spring growth earlier than most other grasses and is ready for grazing at an earlier date. Its strong regrowth characteristic gives it a good seasonal growth pattern and contributes to its value as pasture forage. There have been no insect or disease problems in forage-producing fields of MacBeth Meadow Bromegrass noted as of now.