Residue from cultivars of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), winter wheat, and spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was characterized for fiber and nutrient traits using reference methods and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Calibration models were developed for neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), carbon (C), sulfur (S), nitrogen (N), and C:N. When calibrations were tested against validation sets for each crop year, NIRS was an acceptable method for predicting NDF (standard error of prediction (SEP)<0.87; R2>0.90) and ADF (SEP< 0.81; R2>0.92) and moderately successful for ADL in 1 year of the study (SEP=0.44; R2=0.81) but less successful for C, S, N, and C:N (R2 all<0.57). These results indicate that NIRS can predict the NDF and ADF of cereal residue from dryland cropping systems and is a useful tool to estimate residue decomposition potential.