Over-seeding cool season annual legumes and grasses into dormant Tifton 85 bermudagrass for forage and biomass

Cool-season annual legumes and grasses were over-seeded into dormant Tifton 85 in mixtures and pure plots and harvested for biomass and forage. Dry matter (DM), nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) yields of the cool-season grasses and legumes were evaluated along with the subsequent effect of over-seeding on the Tifton 85. Dry Matter and C yields improved in all cases when harvest was delayed for biomass. A rye-hairy vetch combination was the greatest DM, C, and N producer when harvested for forage. Pure legume stands were generally inferior to legume-grass stands, in terms of DM and C yields. The first harvest of Tifton 85 was suppressed the most when harvest was delayed for peak biomass production.