Bahiagrass Hay: Why It Grazes Better Than It Bales

By the XES Netting team — bale net-wrap manufacturer · Updated August 24, 2026 · ~14 min read

In February 2026, someone in South Carolina found an old forum thread about converting bahiagrass to bermudagrass, and posted a question that nobody answered:

I'm in SC zone 8b and have been advised by a Clemson Extension agent that Bahia and Bermuda are the best perennial grasses to grow in horse pastures in this state. However, there seems to be a lot of people wanting to get rid of Bahia and I'm wondering why.

— Horsingaround, HayTalk, "Converting from Bahia to Bermuda"

That is the right question, and the apparent contradiction has a clean answer. The extension agent is right about pasture. The people trying to kill it are almost all trying to make hay. Bahiagrass is genuinely one of the best grazing grasses in the Southeast and genuinely one of the more frustrating hay crops — and there is a measurable, physical reason why, which most discussions of it never get to.

Why bahiagrass grazes better than it bales

Start with the complaint, because the forums are consistent about it. A Georgia producer who has baled other people's bahiagrass summed it up in a single line:

P. Bahai is everywhere down here....lots of people want me to bale their fields....did it once, never again, cross contamination of your Bermuda grass is too great a problem. Stuff makes sorry hay but fairly good for grazing.

— somedevildawg, HayTalk, "Is Pensacola Bahiagrass a perennial?"

"Sorry hay but fairly good for grazing" is the whole species in six words. Another producer described the same thing as a growth habit rather than a quality problem:

Several around here have the Tifton 9 Bahia for pasture. Some grow it as a hay. It seem to stand up to grazing well. It just does not make the tons per acre that other grasses do. Grows only so tall then quits.

— Tim/South, HayTalk, "Is Pensacola Bahiagrass a perennial?"

"Grows only so tall then quits" is exactly right, and the University of Georgia has measured it. In clipping trials reported in UGA Extension Bulletin 1362, bahiagrass puts most of its production near the ground regardless of how much nitrogen you apply:

Share of total Pensacola bahiagrass forage found at each height band, across four nitrogen rates. Adapted from UGA Extension Bulletin 1362 (Beaty et al., 1963).

Height band	Share of total forage	Can a mower get it?
5 in. and above	9–16%	Yes
4–5 in.	8–9%	Yes
3–4 in.	9–10%	Yes
2–3 in.	9–12%	Marginal
1–2 in.	16–18%	No
0–1 in.	39–45%	No

Read the bottom two rows again. Somewhere between 55% and 62% of everything the field grows is sitting below two inches, and adding nitrogen barely moves it — at the highest rate tested, nearly 40% of the crop was still in the bottom inch. UGA's conclusion is blunt: because most bahiagrass forage sits below the typical 1.5 to 2 in. cutting height of hay equipment, bahiagrass is generally not considered a good species for hay production.

That single fact reorganizes everything else people say about this grass:

• "It doesn't yield." It does yield. You are harvesting about 40% of it. A grazing animal harvests nearly all of it, which is why UGA calls bahiagrass the most grazing-tolerant species used for forage production in Georgia.
• "It's tough to cut." You are running the cutterbar into a dense, prostrate sod rather than through a standing canopy.
• "It makes ugly bales." Short, fine, low-volume material does not form the clean, square-shouldered roll that a tall grass does.
• "It grows only so tall then quits." Under close defoliation it grows more prostrate, not less — UGA notes that under extreme grazing pressure it produces leaf so close to the ground that animals physically cannot reach it.

None of that is a defect in your management. It is the plant doing what it evolved to do, on a farm that wants a hay crop.

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The two-year establishment problem, and what actually causes it

The second complaint is the wait. One producer talked himself out of a 50-acre project over it:

I had decided to prepare the seed bed and drill Tifton 9 Bahia. In looking at the planting recommendations it says not to expect a good stand for 12 - 24 months. I did not realize if I planted it this spring that I most likely would not get a cutting this year. I have concerns about putting that much money into something and having to wait so long to get any return. It has kind of taken the wind out of my sails on the project.

— Tim/South, HayTalk, "Having Second Thoughts on Planting Bahia"

Nobody in that thread could explain why it takes that long — including an experienced grower who had assumed it did not:

I'm kinda surprised at the establishment time as well. It doesn't take much to make it happy....I put less fertilizer on it and it still grows like a weed.

— Mike120, HayTalk, "Having Second Thoughts on Planting Bahia"

Here is the answer, and it is not about soil, fertility or rainfall. It is seed dormancy. Bahiagrass seed carries a hard, waxy seed coat with a structure UGA describes as a germination flap, which has to open before water reaches the embryo. The consequence is that only about 50 to 60% of viable seed germinates within 30 days of planting. Some of the rest comes up weeks later. Some does not come up until the following growing season.

So the field is not failing. It is germinating on an installment plan. What you see in year one is roughly half a stand, with the balance arriving over the next twelve months — which is precisely how a planting recommendation ends up saying "12 to 24 months."

Two useful and slightly counter-intuitive consequences follow:

• Older seed often performs better. Seed stored for a year frequently germinates better than fresh seed, because dormancy breaks down in storage.
• Scarification helps common bahiagrass but is usually unnecessary for the named varieties, which are typically sold already processed.

The varieties that shortcut the wait

One grower in the same thread had already found the workaround and posted it, without knowing the mechanism it was solving:

There is a Quik Bahia variety out there that is suppose to establish quickly but the seed is pretty expensive. I have found that Bahia is tough to cut and does not produce well. It is very drought tolerant though.

— rajela, HayTalk, "Having Second Thoughts on Planting Bahia"

He is describing TifQuik, and it is the right recommendation. TifQuik is a variant of Tifton-9 selected specifically for seedling vigor, and most of its seed germinates within one to two weeks rather than over two seasons. Tifton-9 itself, released in 1987 as a selection out of Pensacola, has much greater seedling vigor than Pensacola and produces up to 25% more forage.

Better seedling vigor also lets you cut the seeding rate, which offsets part of the higher seed price:

Bahiagrass seeding rates. Source: UGA Extension Bulletin 1362.

Variety	Drilled, prepared seedbed	Broadcast or no-till
Pensacola and Pensacola types	12–15 lb/acre	18–20 lb/acre
Tifton-9 and TifQuik	8–10 lb/acre	12–15 lb/acre

Establishment details that matter more than they sound

• Plant 1/4 to 1/2 in. deep, and no deeper. Bahiagrass seed is small. If you broadcast, cover with a light disking or a cultipacker; if you drill, you need the small-seed box, because the seed is too small to meter accurately in grain drill cups.
• Firm the seedbed. The field test is your own boot: a footprint about a quarter of an inch deep means the bed is firm enough. Till and pack at least a month before planting where you can.
• Do not put nitrogen down at planting. It feeds the annual grasses, which emerge faster than the bahiagrass will. Apply 35–50 lb N per acre after the seedlings are up and growing.
• Plan for a weed-control gap. This is the part that catches people, and a producer with thirty years of Pensacola experience stated it precisely.

Intresting note; you say if you can controll the broadleaf weeds. What are you going to spray with ?? I have found nothing that won't kill the Pensacola until the pensacola is 6in tall { about 4-6 months old here }. I have killed many an acre of pensacola trying different herbicides. After it is established it is very hard to kill, 1gl of roundup per acre won't kill it.

— scrapiron, HayTalk, "Is Pensacola Bahiagrass a perennial?"

That matches the published guidance almost exactly. UGA advises waiting until bahiagrass seedlings reach 8 in. before using 2,4-D on broadleaf weeds, and notes that no herbicide selectively controls annual grasses in a newly established stand — mowing is the only tool, set high enough that you clip the weeds without touching the bahiagrass, potentially monthly. His observation that it is nearly impossible to kill once established is the same trait, running the other direction. Our weed control in hay fields guide covers reading those label restrictions.

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Know what you actually have

One of the longest bahiagrass threads on record is a producer trying to work out whether the plants in his own field were bahiagrass at all, after drilling it in a mix with pearl millet. Several experienced growers looked at his photographs and told him there was no bahiagrass visible in any of them. Along the way, the single most useful identification key in the whole corpus got posted twice:

If it's Bahia, you'll see the "Y" shaped seedheads all over the place. I think it puts them up before it grows any leaves. It spreads with roots, shoots, and seeds. It makes decent hay, but down here it doesn't handle drought as well as Bermudia.

— Mike120, HayTalk, "Is Pensacola Bahiagrass a perennial?"

The first picture looks more like Dallisgrass than Bahia. Bahia only has two branches on the seedhead.

— Mike120, HayTalk, "Is Pensacola Bahiagrass a perennial?"

That is the field key, and it takes about three seconds. Bahiagrass carries two seed-bearing branches in a V or Y off a tall, thin stem. Dallisgrass carries three to five branches arranged alternately along the stem. Crabgrass carries several finger-like branches radiating from one point. If you count branches, you have your answer without a hand lens.

The seedheads are also the trait that makes bahiagrass unmistakable from the tractor seat once it starts running: tall wiry stems well above a short leaf canopy, produced prolifically through the season. That is the same reason it spreads into neighboring bermudagrass, and it is why one grower quit custom-baling it — the seed rides home in the equipment. If you run the same machine across bahiagrass and a clean bermudagrass field, clean down between fields.

The other question that thread answered is whether it is even perennial:

Yes it is, it comes back from the roots. Most years ours will green up after a couple warm days in the winter.

— LaneFarms, HayTalk, "Is Pensacola Bahiagrass a perennial?"

Correct. Bahiagrass is a warm-season perennial that spreads by short, stout stolons as well as by seed, and it greens up earlier in spring and holds later in fall than bermudagrass does.

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The varieties, and why the choice matters more than it looks

"Bahiagrass" covers varieties that behave quite differently, and choosing the wrong one is a decision you live with for decades.

Bahiagrass varieties. Source: UGA Extension Bulletin 1362.

Variety	Released	What sets it apart
Common	1913	The original introduction to Florida. Low yielding; no longer planted.
Pensacola	Late 1930s	Still the most widely grown. Narrower leaves, more winter hardy, fairly resistant to ergot.
Argentine	1944	Wider, darker leaves. Better on poorly drained soils, but less cold tolerant, a poorer seed producer, and very susceptible to ergot.
Tifton-9	1987	Selection from Pensacola. Much better seedling vigor, up to 25% more forage, more upright. Less tolerant of very close grazing.
TifQuik	Later selection	A Tifton-9 variant bred for superior seedling vigor. Germinates in one to two weeks.
AU Sand Mountain	Auburn	The most winter hardy option — the pick at the northern edge of the range.
UF-Riata	Florida	Selected to stay green longer, extending the grazing season at the ends.

Three decisions come out of that table. If you are haying, take Tifton-9 or TifQuik — the more upright habit is worth real money against the two-inch problem, and the establishment wait largely disappears. If you are north in the range, winter hardiness outranks yield, so look at Pensacola types or AU Sand Mountain. And if you are grazing, think hard before planting Argentine: ergot infects the seedheads and can cause heat stress and other problems in cattle, and Argentine is the variety most vulnerable to it.

Variety also determines whether you can ever remove it. As one producer noted when someone asked about converting a bahiagrass field to bermudagrass:

the best way to convert would be to crop the field for a couple years to kill all the bahia. It will take that long to kill out all the bahia and allow for the seed in the soil to germinate and kill them. You can get a head start by spraying the field with glyphosate. If you had Argentine bahia I would take extra care in amking sure it was gone before planting bermuda as there are no chemical options to control it in bermuda fields.

— LaneFarms, HayTalk, "Converting from Bahia to Bermuda"

Note the logic in that answer: you have to crop the field for two years because of the seedbank. The same staggered dormancy that makes bahiagrass slow to establish makes it slow to eradicate. The trait cuts both ways.

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Bahiagrass versus bermudagrass, honestly

Almost every bahiagrass thread turns into this comparison within ten posts, so here it is directly. Our Coastal bermudagrass hay guide covers the other side of the table in detail.

	Bahiagrass	Bermudagrass
Established from	Seed	Sprigs (hybrids) or seed (common types)
Annual nitrogen	100–200 lb/acre	150–250 lb/acre
Soil tolerance	Sandy, acid, low fertility, poorly drained; more shade tolerant	Wants better-drained, better-fertilized ground
Grazing tolerance	Highest of any forage grass in the region	Good, but less
As a hay crop	Poor — most forage is below cutting height	The regional standard
Hay quality	50–56% TDN, 9–11% CP	More digestible at the same age
Season length	Earlier in spring, later in fall	Shorter at both ends
Overseeding winter annuals	Harder — the sod is dense and compact	Easier
Market demand for the hay	Thin; sells at a discount	Strong and reliable

That last row is the one that decides it for commercial producers, and it got said plainly:

If you are selling the hay. I would sprig Bermuda. There is always a demand for good bermuda. I have a few acres of Baha'i that I'm thinking of burning down to sprig in bermuda.

— Troy Farmer, HayTalk, "Having Second Thoughts on Planting Bahia"

Settling the drought argument

The forums flatly contradict themselves on drought. One grower calls bahiagrass very drought tolerant. Another says it does not handle drought as well as bermudagrass. Both were posting from the Southeast, and both are describing something real.

The resolution is in a third post, from a Georgia producer explaining what bermudagrass needs to survive a dry spell:

Without a doubt, that's about the only benefit I can see to Baha'i, and the "N" requirement is no where near Bermuda. But, properly maintained Bermuda can certainly withstand a drought, they have very deep roots, but most are under amended with regards to "K" and root structure suffers.....

— somedevildawg, HayTalk, "Having Second Thoughts on Planting Bahia"

That reconciles it. Bahiagrass is drought-persistent: it survives almost anything and comes back, but it stops producing. Well-managed bermudagrass with adequate potassium is drought-productive: deep roots keep it yielding through a dry spell. Bermudagrass that has been fertilized with nitrogen and starved of potassium loses the root system that makes that possible, and then bahiagrass looks tougher by comparison — which it is, against that bermudagrass. Our fertilizing hay fields guide covers why potassium is the nutrient most often left off a southern hay field.

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What bahiagrass hay actually yields and tests

Against everything above, one producer with three decades in Pensacola bahiagrass posted a result that deserves to be on the record, because it is far better than the reputation:

I have baled many thousand bales of Pensacola & fed them to cattle & horses, it makes ok hay. My best yeild was 88 rolls,4x5.5 at over 1000lb per roll, off 8.2 acres. We weighed 12 rolls on a certfied scale, 1080- 1320 lbs each. Tested out at 12% CP.

— scrapiron, HayTalk, "Is Pensacola Bahiagrass a perennial?"

Take the numbers seriously — they are scale-verified, which is rare in a forum post. Eighty-eight 4x5.5 rolls averaging around 1,200 lb off 8.2 acres works out to roughly 12,800 lb of hay per acre for the season, at 12% crude protein. That is above UGA's published 9–11% range for bahiagrass hay and is a perfectly saleable cow-hay test. Our hay yield per acre guide has the arithmetic for running this on your own bale count.

What that tells you is not that the two-inch problem is fake. It is that bahiagrass rewards frequency rather than height. UGA's hay recommendation is to cut on intervals of less than five weeks, because the quality falls away quickly after that. Cut often, take the top of the canopy while it is leafy, and accept that you are harvesting a fraction of total production. Wait for it to get tall enough to feel worth cutting and you will bale stems.

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Baling it: blades, ugly bales, and honest marketing

Three practical realities show up in nearly every thread. All three are consequences of the same short, dense, tough-stemmed growth habit.

It is hard on cutting equipment. Bahiagrass seed stems are wiry and the sod is dense, and the grower who custom-bales it for neighbors put it simply:

If you could burn the sage grass field prior to discing would be the best thing to do. I bale a few Bahia meadows for some people and it makes some nice hay but it is tough on mower blades.

— rajela, HayTalk, "Having Second Thoughts on Planting Bahia"

Budget for blades, keep a spare set on the tractor, and check knife condition more often than you would in bermudagrass. A dull disc mower knife in a dense low sod tears rather than cuts, which slows regrowth. See our disc mower troubleshooting guide.

The bales look worse than the hay is. This is worth planning around because it is a marketing problem, not a feed problem:

I've got a Bahia field next to it that isn't nearly as productive that I usually just roll up to sell. I typically square bale one cutting of the Bahia for our own horses, but it makes ugly bales that I hide from the borders and they only see the pretty green ones that the horses don't like as much.

— Mike120, HayTalk, "Having Second Thoughts on Planting Bahia"

There is a real observation buried in that joke: his boarders reject the good-looking bales and the horses prefer the ugly bahiagrass ones. Appearance and feeding value are only loosely related, which is exactly what a hay test is for.

Short, fine material also makes a less cohesive roll than a long-stemmed grass does, so bahiagrass bales benefit from attention to bale formation. Keep the chamber pressure up, drive to fill the ends of the bale rather than tracking the center of the windrow, and do not skimp on wraps — a low-density bale that is not held tightly will slump and shed. Our guides on how many wraps per bale and round bales not holding shape both apply here.

Sell it for what it is. Bahiagrass hay is honest cow hay, and the buyers who want cheap, clean, moderate-quality roughage are a real market. What loses accounts is selling it as something else. Describe it accurately, price it as cow hay, and let the test speak — our how to price hay guide covers pricing a discount forage without giving it away.

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So: plant it, or fight it?

Back to the question that started this. Here is the honest decision rule.

Plant bahiagrass if the ground is sandy, acid, low-fertility or poorly drained; if you are grazing rather than baling; if the fertilizer budget will not carry bermudagrass; if you want a grass that survives hard grazing and drought without being replanted; or if you are running a sod-based rotation, because bahiagrass is a non-host to root-knot, reniform and soybean cyst nematodes and following it with peanuts or soybeans measurably improves the row crop.

Fight it if hay is the product and you have ground that will support bermudagrass. The two-inch problem does not go away, the market discount does not go away, and it will migrate into your clean fields on your own equipment.

And if you do plant it, plant Tifton-9 or TifQuik. Every serious objection in fifteen years of forum threads — slow establishment, no yield, will not stand up to a mower — is at least partly addressed by a variety selected for seedling vigor and upright growth. The seed costs more. Against a wait that a producer above described as taking the wind out of his sails, it is the cheapest part of the project.

Frequently asked questions

Is bahiagrass good for hay?

Not especially. University of Georgia Extension states bahiagrass is generally not considered a good species for hay production, because roughly 60% of its forage grows within 2 inches of the soil surface — below the 1.5 to 2 in. cutting height of most mowers. It makes acceptable cow hay at 50–56% TDN and 9–11% crude protein, but it is a far better grazing grass than a hay crop.

Why does bahiagrass take two years to establish?

Seed dormancy. Bahiagrass seed has a hard waxy coat with a germination flap that must open before water reaches the embryo, so only about 50–60% of viable seed germinates within 30 days. The rest emerges over the following months, and some not until the next growing season. Tifton-9 and TifQuik germinate in one to two weeks.

What is the difference between Pensacola and Argentine bahiagrass?

Pensacola has narrower leaves, is more winter hardy, produces seed better and is fairly resistant to ergot. Argentine has wider, darker leaves and does better on poorly drained soils, but is less cold tolerant, a poorer seed producer, and very susceptible to ergot — a real concern in grazed cattle pastures.

How do you tell bahiagrass from dallisgrass or crabgrass?

Count the branches on the seedhead. Bahiagrass carries two seed-bearing branches in a V or Y shape on a tall thin stem. Dallisgrass carries three to five branches spaced alternately along the stem. Crabgrass has several finger-like branches radiating from a single point.

How much nitrogen does bahiagrass need?

After establishment, 100 to 200 lb of nitrogen per acre annually, split into two or more applications, versus 150 to 250 lb for bermudagrass. Do not apply nitrogen at planting — it favors annual grasses that outrun the bahiagrass seedlings. Apply 35 to 50 lb per acre once seedlings are up and growing.

Is bahiagrass drought tolerant?

It is drought-persistent rather than drought-productive. Bahiagrass survives dry spells reliably and recovers, but stops producing forage. Well-managed bermudagrass with adequate potassium keeps yielding through drought because of deeper roots — which is why producers disagree on this. Bermudagrass that is short on potassium loses that advantage.

How do you get rid of bahiagrass in a bermudagrass field?

Slowly. Experienced producers recommend cropping the field for about two years to exhaust the seedbank, using glyphosate to get a head start. Two years is required because bahiagrass seed germinates in stages over multiple seasons. Argentine bahiagrass needs extra care because there are no selective chemical options for it in bermudagrass.

What seeding rate should I use for bahiagrass?

For Pensacola and Pensacola-type varieties, 12 to 15 lb per acre drilled into a prepared seedbed, or 18 to 20 lb per acre broadcast or no-tilled. Tifton-9 and TifQuik have better seedling vigor, so use 8 to 10 lb per acre drilled and 12 to 15 lb broadcast. Plant only 1/4 to 1/2 in. deep.

Can bahiagrass hay be fed to horses?

Yes. Producers report baling and feeding Pensacola bahiagrass to both cattle and horses, and Clemson Extension has recommended bahiagrass among the best perennial grasses for horse pastures in South Carolina. Its moderate energy level suits easy keepers. Check the seedheads for ergot, particularly with Argentine.

Related guides

• Coastal bermudagrass hay guide — the other half of the southern forage decision
• Crabgrass hay guide — the volunteer grass that outperforms its reputation
• Fertilizing hay fields — why potassium decides drought performance
• Hay yield per acre — turning a bale count into a real yield figure
• How to read a hay test — what TDN and crude protein are actually telling you
• Thickening a thin hay field — options short of a full replant
• Round bales not holding shape — bale formation in short, fine forage

Hero image: bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum) showing its characteristic two-branched seedheads. Photo via Wikimedia Commons, used under its stated license.