The present inventions relate to compositions and methods for providing drought resistant grass plants comprising Festuca mairei plant germplasm. Specifically, the inventions relate to providing compositions and methods for introgressing Festuca mairei germplasm and/or specific Festuca mairei genes into grass plants, such as Lolium perenne plants. Further, the invention relates to methods of grass plant breeding comprising genetic markers for identifying the preferred Festuca mairei germplasm introgressed into grass plants, and providing commercially desirable drought resistant cultivars of grass plants.