Malinowski, D.P., Kramp, B.A., Zuo, H., and W.E. Pinchak. 2005. Obligatory summer-dormant cool-season perennial grasses for semiarid environments of the southern Great Plains - Research update. p. 76-80. In K. Cassida (ed) Proc. American Forage and Grasslands Council Conference, 11-15 June 2005. Bloomington, IL.

For the past several decades there have been many attempts to incorporate cool-season perennial grasses into grazing systems in the southern Great Plains to complement winter forage from dual-use wheat pastures. Traditional cultivars fail in these environments because they cannot survive prolonged and severe summer droughts. Since 2000, we have been evaluating forage production and persistence of a unique group of cool-season perennial grasses with obligatory summer dormancy. In a series of experiments obligatory summer dormancy in tall fescue and orchardgrass has been proven superior to summer semi-dormancy (traditional cultivars) in terms of summer drought survival and early season forage production. In this presentation, we report our current research findings and future aspects of introduction of obligatory summer-dormant cool-season grasses to grazing systems in the southern Great Plains.