Quick answer: Smooth brome (Bromus inermis) is a tough, winter-hardy, sod-forming cool-season grass that makes excellent cattle and horse hay across the Northern Plains and Midwest. Its strength is a big, easy-drying first cutting; its weakness is a weak second cutting unless you feed it nitrogen. Cut it at the boot to early-head stage in late spring for quality — protein falls roughly half a percent a day once it heads out. It cures fast (often a single good day), takes nitrogen after each cut to regrow, and bales into clean, dense rounds. If you want more regrowth for multiple cuttings or grazing, plant meadow brome instead of smooth brome. Bale it dry, around 15–18% moisture, and net-wrap it to hold shape and shed water through storage.
Brome is the grass a lot of Plains and Midwest farmers grew up on: it holds a hillside together, greens up early, winters hard, and turns into soft, palatable hay that cows and horses both clean up. Smooth brome (Bromus inermis) is the workhorse version. But growers who lean on it will tell you it has one clear rhythm — one strong cutting, then a thin second cutting unless you push it with fertility. Here is how experienced hands time it, feed it, dry it, and bale it, in their own words.
Why smooth brome earns its keep
Smooth brome is a cool-season perennial that spreads by rhizomes into a thick sod. That sod is the whole appeal: it makes durable, weather-tolerant hay ground, and it holds equipment up when other fields are too soft. One long-time grower summed up the draw in a thread simply titled info on brome hay:
"We have a lot of smooth brome (Bromus inermus) in our state that forms alot of heavy sod and comes in volunteer in a lot of hay and pastures. Makes a real good hay crop and cures easy and stays green longer into the season then orchard grass."
— hayray, Michigan · HayTalk thread 15238
That heavy sod pays off on wet ground, where a bunch grass like orchard grass would rut or bog down:
"Another plus to anything that forms a heavy sod, you can get onto the ground a little sooner if it's extremely wet compared to fields that are 50-90% alfalfa and the rest of another grass."
— mlappin · HayTalk thread 15238
Cut on time, brome is genuinely good feed. University of Missouri Extension rates well-managed smooth bromegrass hay in the same class as other quality cool-season grasses, with crude protein commonly landing in the low-to-mid teens when it is cut before it heads out and kept fertilized (MU Extension G4672).
The catch: one strong cutting, then a weak second
Smooth brome puts most of its energy into that first spring flush, then regrows slowly. The near-universal complaint is a disappointing second cutting — unless you open the fertilizer checkbook:
"I actually bale most of my brome in the fall when I have time to get to the fields and nothing else will dry. A big dissapointment in second cutting however, not much there even after a lot of rain unless you want to put a bunch of money into nitrogen."
— hayray, Michigan · HayTalk thread 15238
This is the single most important thing to understand about smooth brome: it is a one-good-cutting grass in most of its range. If you want that second (and third) cutting, meadow brome is the better tool — it regrows far faster:
"I'd go with a Meadow Brome instead of Smooth Brome. It yields alot more and comes back more after cutting then smooth brome does."
— swmnhay · HayTalk thread 15238
That matches the agronomy. Smooth brome regrows slowly (roughly 60–80 days between cuts), while meadow brome (Bromus riparius, sometimes sold as B. biebersteinii) keeps a dense base of basal leaves and comes back in about 30–45 days, holding quality better through the regrowth. Meadow brome also matures about a week earlier, so plan your cutting order accordingly.
| Trait | Smooth brome | Meadow brome |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | One big, high-yield hay cutting | Multiple cuttings & rotational grazing |
| Regrowth speed | Slow (~60–80 days) | Fast (~30–45 days) |
| Sod / spread | Aggressive rhizomes, heavy sod | Bunchier, less aggressive |
| Maturity | About a week later | Earlier |
| Winter hardiness | Excellent (slightly hardier) | Very good |
When to cut: chase the boot stage, not the tonnage
Brome quality falls off a cliff once the seed heads emerge and the stems go to stem. The target for a quality first cutting is the boot to early-head stage — when the head is still in or just pushing out of the sheath. Kansas State's forage agronomists put optimum brome-hay harvest right around head emergence, and note that waiting for more bulk trades away protein and digestibility fast (K-State, Harvesting Brome Hay). Figure on losing roughly half a percentage point of crude protein per day once it heads.
In the real world, weather and equipment push a lot of brome later than that — and it is still feed, just lower-grade:
"Most brome around here gets cut in June or July, even though the quality is going down. The way the season is shaping up, anything resembling hay in a bale will have good value. Cows just don't grow on mud pies and snow balls."
— Gearclash · HayTalk thread 101044
If yours got away from you and headed out, don't burn it — bale it as cow hay or bedding-grade roughage and fix the timing next year. Late-cut brome that has dropped seed also thickens the stand for future years. For how cutting order and timing change value across the season, see our note on first vs second vs third cutting hay.
Feed it or it fades
Brome is a heavy feeder, and nitrogen is the lever on both yield and that stubborn second cutting. Most extension programs recommend splitting nitrogen — a shot in early spring for the big first cut, and again after first cutting if you want meaningful regrowth. Smooth brome also responds strongly to manure and poultry litter, which is how a lot of growers keep it productive:
"I do have easy access to chicken litter for fertilizer it has a good amount of nitrogen in it as well as other things that built the soil."
— Daniels Farms, north Arkansas · HayTalk thread 15238
Soil-test and keep phosphorus and potassium in range too; a brome stand that is starved going into summer thins out and lets weeds and cool-season invaders creep in. Our hay-field fertility guide covers rates and timing in more detail.
Drying and baling: brome's easy button
Here is the good news that makes brome forgiving: it dries fast. Its stems are finer than orchard grass or a legume, and a clean cutting on good ground can be baleable in a single strong drying day:
"It is very easy to dry, alot of times drys in one day, even in the fall. What happens to my brome fields I get to in the fall is that the second growth starts coming in under the first cut growth so everything is greener then you would think."
— hayray, Michigan · HayTalk thread 15238
Condition at mowing, lay a wide swath, and rake once when it is close so you keep the leaf on. Because brome cures quickly, you rarely need to fight it — but it also means you can over-dry a thin cutting, so keep an eye on the windrow. Bale dry brome hay at about 15–18% moisture; our baling-moisture guide walks through the targets and the heating risk above them, and a moisture tester takes the guesswork out.
Then protect the cutting you timed so carefully. Brome makes a dense, well-shaped round bale that holds up beautifully under quality bale net wrap — the tight sod-grass mat wraps clean and sheds rain far better than twine, which matters most for bales stored outside through a Plains winter (more in storing net-wrapped bales outside). Make sure your roll width matches your baler with our net-wrap size guide.
Smooth brome hay, start to finish
- Pick the right brome — smooth brome for one big hay cutting and tough sod; meadow brome if you want fast regrowth for multiple cuts or grazing.
- Feed it nitrogen — split N spring and after first cutting; manure or litter works well. A starved stand gives you a weak second cut and opens the door to weeds.
- Cut at boot to early-head — quality drops about half a percent protein per day once it heads, so time beats tonnage.
- Dry it fast, rake gently — brome often bales in a day; condition, lay wide, rake once to keep leaf.
- Bale at 15–18% and net-wrap — brome makes a dense, clean round; net wrap holds shape and sheds water in storage.
Frequently asked questions
When should you cut smooth brome for hay?
Cut smooth brome at the boot to early-head stage, when the seed head is still in or just emerging from the sheath. That is the best balance of yield and quality — crude protein falls roughly half a percent per day once it heads out. Most of the crop's value is in that first spring cutting, so time it for quality rather than waiting for more bulk.
Why is my brome's second cutting so thin?
Smooth brome naturally puts most of its growth into the first cutting and regrows slowly, so a weak second cutting is normal — especially without added nitrogen. Feeding N (or manure/litter) after first cutting helps, but if you consistently want multiple cuttings, meadow brome regrows much faster and yields more over the whole season.
Is smooth brome or meadow brome better for hay?
Smooth brome gives one large, high-yield cutting and forms a tough, winter-hardy sod, making it ideal for dedicated hay ground and cattle hay. Meadow brome regrows in about 30 to 45 days versus 60 to 80 for smooth brome, so it suits multi-cut hay systems and rotational grazing better. Choose based on whether you want one big cut or several.
What moisture should you bale brome hay at?
Bale dry brome hay at about 15 to 18% moisture. Brome cures quickly — often in a single good drying day — thanks to its fine stems, so condition at mowing and check the windrow so you don't over-dry a thin cutting. Baling much wetter without a preservative risks heating and mold; net-wrapping the finished bale then protects it through handling and outdoor storage.
Does brome make good horse hay?
Yes. Clean, leafy smooth brome cut before it heads out makes soft, palatable horse hay that many buyers like as an alternative to timothy or orchard grass. The keys are cutting on time so it stays leafy, drying it without rain, and baling it dry and dust-free. Late-cut, stemmy brome is better suited to cattle.
The XES Netting team manufactures bale net wrap for round balers and writes these guides so forage growers can find clear, source-cited answers. Every farmer quote in this post is verbatim with a link to the original HayTalk thread — go read the discussions in full.
Featured photo: Smooth brome (Bromus inermis) seed head by Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
