Grazing North Texas: Buffalograss

By Tony Dean, tonydean.tx1@gmail.com

Buffalograss is one of the historically important grasses of the plains. It is adapted to a wide area of the central U.S., from Texas to Montana, and it was an important source of grazing for the vast herds of bison that roamed the plains. It is still an important forage resource for cattle and other grazing animals today.

Buffalograss is a low-growing, warm-season perennial. It is adapted to clay and loamy soils and grows best in the 15- to 30-inch rainfall belt. In Texas, you rarely see it in far East Texas or on deep sandy soils. During the growing season it has a soft grayish-green color, then turns straw-colored when dormant.

It can grow across large areas in a virtually solid stand or blend with other grasses if conditions allow. In Texas, its companions normally include blue grama, hairy grama, Texas grama and possibly sideoats grama.

Buffalograss doesn’t produce much volume, growing no more than 5 to 8 inches tall, but cattle strongly prefer it. Crude protein during the summer months runs 10 to 12 percent, and it cures well during the winter dormant season. Cattle will choose it in most pastures but usually don’t overgraze it heavily because of its short growth form. It keeps its vigor if grazed no shorter than 2 to 3 inches.

Male and female plants

Buffalograss is one of the few native grasses that produces male and female plants separately. The small seed heads, or flags, mark the male plants. Buffalograss sometimes forms small colonies a few square feet in size dominated by either male or female plants. The female plants produce the seed, a hard bur that sits low among the leaves near the ground.

Buffalograss reproduces by seed and by runners called stolons. Stolons grow along the soil surface and can root down at the nodes. A good way to identify buffalograss is the many stolons growing from both male and female plants. Stolons from male plants are male, and stolons from female plants are female.

Those stolons give buffalograss added erosion control. It is considered a sod-forming grass.

Telling it apart

People sometimes confuse buffalograss with curly mesquite, another low-growing grass. Before flowering, you can tell them apart by pulling up a stolon and running the stretch between the nodes across your lips. If it feels rough like sandpaper, it is curly mesquite. If it is smooth, it is buffalograss.

In the yard

Besides its value as forage, buffalograss is often used in lawns designed to tolerate drought. With irrigation and fertilizer, it doesn’t get much taller, but it forms a denser sod and turns darker green. During drought, it fades to a lighter straw color but can survive long dry periods if it has a healthy root system. It isn’t particularly shade tolerant and doesn’t do well in high-traffic areas.

Seed is available for planting, and treated seed usually germinates more readily than untreated seed. Soil temperatures in May normally favor germination, but the seed won’t germinate until it has adequate moisture.