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Agricultural Values There are many agricultural uses of wet- lands and, properly managed, a wetland may yield many things to a farmer. One of the most obvious uses is the grazing or haying of wetland vegetation. In many parts of the U.S. farmers have grown to depend on the hay crops that wetlands can provide annually. Such hay crops are especially important in those areas where periodic drought causes upland crop fail- ures. In drought years the wetland basin may be the only part of the farm that produces a harvestable crop. And in nor- mal years a farmer can almost always take a hay crop from the edge of the wetland as natural drying occurs during the summer. In some situations, farmers have taken advantage of their wetlands by sow- ing native wetland grass seeds for later harvest. Such management techniques are not yet well established, but many farmers have successfully changed the plant composition of their marshes so that they have increased yields. Caution must be exercised in harvesting wetland plants since continual use could result in unde- sirable changes in plant composition. Many wetland plants have high nutri- tional values and in some areas of the country, such as Florida, these wetland plants are recognized as some of the best available forage. Most marsh grasses, sedges, and rushes are as good as or even better than Kentucky bluegrass for livestock grazing or hay production. In freshwater marshes, common reed, reed canary grass, maidencane, and some of the cutgrasses are nutritious for cattle. Salt marshes and brackish marshes also provide a variety of plants, such as the cordgrasses, that are suitable for live- stock. Even some of the coarser marsh plants, such as cattails and bulrushes, are nutritious early in the growing season. Harvesting of hay from wetlands or direct 12