It looks like KR bluestem grass (Bothriochloa ischaemum var songarica) . Not to be confused with Bluestem grass. Not related. KR is from China, or so I was told by a biologist who wrote up my wildlife plan.. The King ranch brought it in ( there for the acronym in the name). The cows don't like it. Another human experiment gone awry. It is considered an invasive by many, but it is considered good for getting water down to the water table. It does make monocultures.

Thank you! That is indeed what it is. Now, how to get rid of it. Luckily, it's roots aren't deep and it pulls up easily after it has been well watered. I wish I hadn't mowed it all down today; it would be a lot easier to pull with some stems left.

I bet cattle don't like it because it's tough and stringy. Same reason my lawnmower doesn't like it.

This is what Mr. smarty pants says. I am scared of summertime burns.

Here is a link that might be useful: KR Bluestem control

I call this needle grass for lack of knowing what it is. I have spent several autumns (probably 5 or 6) clearing my front yard, since that's when the seed heads come up and you can spot the clump. I use a hoe to pop up the center and I then throw away the plants. The first fall I spent several weeks, a little section at a time. The next year I spent a little less time, and on and on until this year I only had about 4 or 5 plants to pop up. My neighbors, on the other hand, pretty much only have this in their yards.

Carla

The more important question aren't any of my neighbors doing anything about it???

Too much work is why they aren't tackling it. I think it's a really ugly grass. I didn't want the plants to seed, so I committed to popping up the clumps before they seeded and making sure they went into the garbage can. This stuff will squeeze out all normal grass and simply take over until it is the only thing in the yard. At least that's what I've learned from the neighbors...

Carla

I have IT and I just don't have IT IN ME to battle trees AND grass AND thistles over 17 acres. I am hoping that the cycles come around and get it out of here. I see less of it than I saw 5 years ago. I do not know if that is a sign of recycling out and back again. I think the drought knocked it back severely . BUT this could just as easily reverse itself. Meanwhile I need to get up courage , know how and equipment to do a summer burn. Don't hold your breath. Usually summers come with burn bans. There lies another rock in the road..I do notice that during butterfly migrations skippers and other butterflies other than monarchs really do like it.

Marti8a, our Beefalos eat it, but I do notice they prefer the other pasture grasses first.

I've been digging it up and putting the clumps in the trash, but it's slow going. I've got quite a bit of it as our acre was solid with it when we moved here, and NONE of my neighbors do anything except mow their yards. There was one neighbor south of me who used to have a really nice lawn, but the new neighbors who bought it last year are not gardeners and I see this stuff popping up all over their yard. On the other side of the road south of them is a pasture of this stuff. I really admire the previous owners now for keeping this out of their yard with the south wind bringing those seeds across the road every day.

it's called Johnson grass around here - if you cut if off, you have bamboo like shoots that hurt to step on. I pop it out with a shovel and the cows love it.

Here is a link that might be useful: johnson grass photos

No, it's not Johnson grass. It is another invasive grass from China that grows in a circle pattern and then shoots up seed heads this time of the year. It only gets about knee high. Very tough stuff.

Carla

To me the seed heads look more like Bermuda than Johnston grass. I end up pulling up purple top grass in my attempts at keeping johnston grass at bay. I now know to look at the base. If there is purple at the base , it is Johnston grass. They look an awful lot alike but the purple top does not get huge and it is a native.