The Best Types of Grass Seed for Hay

Soil

• Before you spend time and money on hay-grass seeds, you need to know the structure of the soil you will be planting. All hay-grass seeds will require a well-draining soil to germinate and grow, but different seeds will grow best if your soil also is the correct composition and pH value. Soil testing kits are available at garden centers, but for a detailed and concise report on your soil, contact your local university cooperative extension office. The extension office will either already have reports on the soil quality in your area, run tests on samples you provide or visit your property and analyze your soil.

Cool-Season Grass

• Rye grass, both annual and perennial, is one of the best seeds to plant and grow for hay during the cool season of the year. Rye grass for livestock feed is flavorful and high in protein. The seeds germinate in 7 to 14 days, and the grass tolerates a wide range of growing conditions, including poor soil and drought. Timothy and orchard grass are also high-quality, good cool-season hay grasses that are often grown in a seed mix with alfalfa or other grasses. Tall fescue grass seed is nutritional and grown for forage and hay in milder, more humid regions.

Warm-Season Grasses

• Unlike the abundance of cool-season grass seeds to plant for hay, there is only one warm-season grass grown for hay baling: Sudan grass. Sudan grass is usually grown in a mix with alfalfa and sometimes grain sorghum for a more complete nutritional content. Warm-season grass seed must be sown when the soil temperature reaches 60 degrees Fahrenheit for successful germination. Sudan grass is fast-growing and, once established, will have a higher efficiency of water usage, resulting in a higher hay yield.

Special-Purpose Grasses

• After you have had your soil analyzed and know the pH value, you will be able to select a grass for hay that will grow well in the soil conditions you have. It is easier, and less expensive, to grow grass seed appropriate to the existing soil than to try to adjust the soil to grow a specific type grass seed successfully. Fortunately, hay grasses like timothy and orchard grass can thrive in low-pH or low-fertility soils, while clovers and canary grass can be grown in wet areas or areas with a higher pH.