Let’s talk about River Oats

River oats. 😮
My mind is blown by the idea of a native perennial grain that I was not aware of- add in ‘excellent animal fodder’ and ‘grows in dry shade’ to the list and I’m getting really excited! Do I have good reason to be? Please talk to me about the realities of growing River Oats- can you harvest a reasonable amount of grain from them? How easy is winnowing the grain? How well does it grow? Can it be dried as hay to feed rabbits or goats? Are there downsides to growing River Oats?
I want to know EVERYTHING about this plant ❤️

This is the only post that I can find discussing River Oats, here on permies:

https://permies.com/t/39652/strategies-developing-outputs-wetlands-wooded#309931

He mentions surviving the winter, so does it survive your winters?

One of my favorite plant websites gives this information:

Chasmanthium latifolium aka Inland Sea Oats, Indian Wood Oats, Wild Oats, River Oats, Flathead Oats, Upland Oats, Upland Sea Oats

This is a 2-4 ft., clump-forming, perennial grass bearing large, drooping, oat-like flower spikelets from slender, arching branches. The blue-green, bamboo-like leaves often turn a bright yellow-gold, especially in sunnier sites, in fall.

Very popular as a low-maintenance shade grass

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=chla5

North Carolina State University has an interesting write up on it. www.plants.ces.ncsu.edu

John F Dean wrote:North Carolina State University has an interesting write up on it. www.plants.ces.ncsu.edu

Your link didn’t work, but I found one that does, here it is in case anyone wants to read it.

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/chasmanthium-latifolium/

It is good info, but similar to what I’ve found already, all of which seems to talk about its use for landscaping rather than as a grain source.
I was really hoping to hear from someone who has experimented with it.
I’m thinking at this point, I want to plant some for my ducks, then I can try out the grain and see what I think of it. If it doesn’t seem too useful, at least the grass and seeds will be good forage for them.

Anne Miller wrote:He mentions surviving the winter, so does it survive your winters?

It shows that it is perennial to zone 3, so I’m sure it would survive, but probably dies back. I live in zone 7 so there is a good chance it wouldn’t. It might be like my miscanthus, and turn yellow and dry but still be available to grazers, then grow fresh greenery in the spring.

Green Deanne is calling them Wood Oats in this article. He does use the same botanical name as the NCSU article.