VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Sorghastrum nutans | Indiangrass 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Livestock and wildlife eat indiangrass throughout the summer, but it
does not cure well and is generally considered only fair forage for fall
and winter grazing [69].  Numerous songbirds and small mammals eat the
seeds [55].


PALATABILITY : 
Indiangrass is highly palatable to livestock and wildlife in the summer
but only fairly palatable after maturity [53].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Indiangrass provides a good source of protein and vitamin A throughout
the summer when leaves are green.  Digestibility and crude protein
decrease as plants mature [11,31,70].  Spring burning (April 1-15)
increased digestibilty of crude fiber, dry matter, and ether extract
[67].


COVER VALUE : 
Indiangrass provides excellent nesting and security cover for pheasants,
northern bobwhite, mourning doves, prairie chickens, and several
songbirds [31,55,61].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Indiangrass has been used for several revegetation projects.  It is
recommened for range seeding on overgrazed range sites throughout
Nebraska [69].  Roadside revegetation projects in Iowa included
indiangrass [24].  Establishing indiangrass on cultivated soils in the
glaciated prairie pothole region in the north-central United States
creates wildlife habitat [23].  Revegetating mined areas (surface coal
mines) was unsuccessful in east central Texas [66] and Kentucky [47].
Though indiangrass established, the cover was insufficient for soil
stabalization.

Prairie grasses (primarily big bluestem and indiangrass) have had mixed
results for strip-mine reclamation in Illinois.  The establishment of
satisfactory stands required 10 to 15 years of growth and high seeding
rates [8].  On 30-year-old strip-mine spoils, indiangrass produced well
with both spring and fall plantings [63].  Another study had fair
success, but suggested early-spring planting be used in areas where
summer moisture stress may be a problem [65].

Direct seeding with a grass drill is the most effective planting method
[24].  Awns and hairlike appendages found on the seeds limit their
ability to flow through the drill.  Cleaning with a debearder and
fanning mill significantly increases seed quality and flowability [39].
Planting depth, rate and time, and seed cleaning and quality are
described generally by Wasser [75] and specifically for New Mexico by
Allison [6].  The seeding rate is 10 pure live seed (PLS) pounds per
acre (11-12 kg/ ha) [23].  Transplanting seedlings works successfully
in areas where using a drill is not feasible [54,74].  Broadcast seeding
and hydroseeding have been tried with mixed results [16,24].



OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
NO-ENTRY


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Indiangrass is intolerant of repeated close grazing and is a decreaser
on all range sites [40,69].  It may decrease during drought, but
recovers immediately when precipitaion returns to normal [33].  It may
be incorporated with cool-season grasses in farm management plans, since
maximim production occurs while cool-season grasses are dormant [30].

Cutting indiangrass at the hay stage caused a decrease in plant density
in Wisconsin.  Cutting at monthly intervals during the summer caused
little or no decrease in plant densities [62].

Several cultivars of indiangrass are available, each meeting
requirements for specific sites and uses [14,28,37,43,56,71].  Woehler
[79] discusses the use of herbicides to control annual weed competition
in new plantings.

Related categories for Species: Sorghastrum nutans | Indiangrass