Tifton 85 bermudagrass is widely regarded as one of the most productive and digestible warm-season hay grasses available to livestock producers in the southeastern United States and tropical regions worldwide. Developed as a hybrid between two bermudagrass species in the 1980s, it consistently outyields older varieties like Coastal bermudagrass while delivering significantly more digestible fiber to cattle, goats, and horses. That combination of tonnage and feed quality has made it a dominant choice for hay operations across the Gulf Coast states and much of Latin America, though it comes with management demands that set it apart from simpler forages.
Where Tifton 85 Came From
Tifton 85 traces its origin to the USDA forage breeding program in Tifton, Georgia. In 1984, researchers space-planted 145 hybrid seedlings from a cross between Tifton 68 bermudagrass and a South African accession called Tift 292. The seedlings were grown in deep sand, and at the end of the season, the 13 largest plants showing the least drought injury were selected. Entry number 13 went on to beat every other selection in a three-year, 32-entry plot trial and eventually earned the name Tifton 85.1Crop Science. Tifton 85 Bermudagrass—Early History of its Creation, Selection, and Evaluation
The cross mattered because the two parent species brought different strengths. Tifton 68 was already known for high digestibility, and Tift 292 contributed vigor and a thicker stem that would later prove useful during field curing. Tifton 85 is a sterile hybrid, meaning it produces no viable seed. Every stand must be established vegetatively from sprigs or stolons, which limits how quickly it can spread on its own but also prevents it from becoming weedy.
Yield and Digestibility Compared to Coastal Bermudagrass
Coastal bermudagrass was the benchmark hay grass in the Southeast for decades, and Tifton 85 was specifically bred to surpass it. Head-to-head trials show a clear advantage. In a multi-year comparison with growing beef steers, Tifton 85 produced roughly 34% more dry matter per acre, about 48% more digestible dry matter, and 55% more digestible fiber than Coastal.2PubMed. Comparison of Tifton 85 and Coastal bermudagrasses for yield, nutrient traits, intake, and digestion by growing beef steers Those are striking differences for two grasses that look fairly similar in the field.
The digestibility edge is arguably more important than the raw tonnage. Bermudagrass has a reputation for being stemmy and hard for animals to break down, but Tifton 85 has consistently higher in vitro and in vivo fiber digestibility. In the same trial, its digestible acid-detergent fiber was nearly double that of Coastal, even though Tifton 85 actually had higher total fiber concentrations in the plant tissue. The fiber was simply more accessible to rumen microbes. A separate study confirmed that Tifton 85’s neutral detergent fiber was more digestible than the fiber in corn silage, which matters when formulating mixed rations.3Animal Feed Science and Technology. Effect of hay maturity, forage source, or neutral detergent fiber content on digestion of diets containing Tifton 85 bermudagrass and corn silage
For the hay buyer, the practical meaning is that a ton of Tifton 85 delivers more usable energy than a ton of Coastal. Animals eating Tifton 85 hay tend to gain weight faster on the same quantity of feed, or producers can stretch hay supplies further while still meeting nutritional targets.
Establishing a Stand
Because Tifton 85 is sterile, you cannot seed it. Establishment relies on planting sprigs, which are pieces of stolon (runner) dug from an existing field and spread mechanically across prepared ground. How deeply those sprigs are buried makes an enormous difference in how well the stand takes off.
Research on stolon planting depth found that partial burial, where some portion of the stolon remains exposed at the soil surface, dramatically outperformed full burial. Partially buried stolons produced roughly twice as many emerging shoots per square meter as fully buried ones in one trial year, and in a second year the fully buried stolons failed to emerge at all. By the end of the season, partially buried plots reached up to 90% ground cover and yielded about 1,000 kg per hectare more forage.4Crop Science. Stolon Type and Soil Burial Effects on ‘Tifton 85’ Bermudagrass Establishment The takeaway is straightforward: set planting equipment shallow. Making sure some stolon tissue stays above ground is more important than which type of stolon you plant.
Establishment year is typically not a hay-production year. Most producers let the stand fill in fully before taking a first cutting, which means planning ahead. In warm climates, a spring planting can produce harvestable forage by late summer if conditions cooperate, but a conservative approach is to wait until the following season for serious hay production.
Fertilization Strategy
Tifton 85 is a hungry grass. It responds strongly to nitrogen, and pushing nitrogen rates higher keeps boosting yield well past what would be economical for most other forages. However, the environmental cost of heavy nitrogen use on sandy Coastal Plain soils creates a real tension.
In a study tracking both production and groundwater quality, the recommended rate of 90 kg of nitrogen per hectare per harvest produced the highest total dry matter yield at roughly 22 metric tons per hectare per year. But a modeled economic optimum sat lower, around 57 kg of nitrogen per harvest, producing about 18 metric tons. Critically, nitrogen rates above 70 kg per harvest pushed nitrate levels in the leachate past the safe drinking-water threshold, while rates at or below 50 kg kept leachate below that limit.5Crop Science. Environmentally Sustainable Nitrogen Fertilizer Management for ‘Tifton 85’ Hay Production in Sandy Soils On sandy ground with a shallow water table, that distinction matters for well water safety.
A separate long-term trial found that while yields continued climbing at very high nitrogen rates, the sweet spot for maximum economic return was between 224 and 448 kg of nitrogen per hectare per year, with phosphorus and potassium replaced in proportion to crop uptake. The recommended fertilization ratio for Tifton 85 worked out to roughly 4 parts nitrogen, 1 part phosphorus, and 5 parts potassium.6Agronomy Journal. Fertilization Ratios of N–P2O5–K2O for Tifton 85 Bermudagrass on Two Coastal Plain Soils The potassium demand surprises some growers. Bermudagrass is a potassium-hungry crop, and skipping K applications is one of the fastest ways to run down both yield and stand persistence.
Another study looking at nitrogen strategies confirmed that maximum herbage accumulation was reached near 210 kg of nitrogen per hectare per harvest, and that shoot nitrogen concentration needed to stay above about 24 g per kg of dry matter to sustain 90% of potential production.7Crop Science. Growth, Herbage Accumulation, and Nutritive Value of ‘Tifton 85’ Bermudagrass as Affected by Nitrogen Fertilization Strategies Tissue testing can help dial in whether a given field is getting enough nitrogen without overshooting.
Harvest Timing and Curing
When you cut Tifton 85 determines both the yield per cutting and the nutritional quality of the hay. The general rule for bermudagrass applies here: shorter regrowth intervals give you leafier, more digestible forage, while longer intervals add tonnage but drop quality. For Tifton 85, research with beef steers found that three to five weeks of regrowth between cuttings was the recommended harvest window, and that digestibility declined steadily once plants grew past the five-week mark.8PubMed. Comparison of Tifton 85 and Coastal bermudagrasses for yield, nutrient traits, intake, and digestion by growing beef steers
Leaf-to-stem ratio shifts as the plant matures. The leaves carry most of the protein, and as stems elongate and thicken, leaf crude protein drops.9Small Ruminant Research. Dynamics of harvesting and feeding Cynodon hybrid Tifton 85 hay of varying maturities to wether kids For goat and sheep producers especially, cutting on the earlier side of the window preserves the protein content that small ruminants need.
Curing Tifton 85 in the field takes patience because the thick stems dry more slowly than the leaves. One study found that leaves reached around 90% dry matter within 24 hours of cutting, while the stems needed about 30 hours of sun exposure to approach 80% dry matter.10Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia. Dehydration curve, fungi and mycotoxins in Tifton 85 hay dehydrated in the field and in shed That mismatch is a problem in humid climates. If you bale based on leaf dryness, the stems trap enough moisture to promote mold. Using a mechanical conditioner at cutting can speed up the dehydration process. Research confirmed that conditioned Tifton 85 showed higher dry matter content within the first hour after cutting and continued to dry faster throughout the curing period.11Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia. Use of conditioners in the production of Tifton 85 grass hay
Time of day at cutting is another variable growers debate. A Brazilian study tested whether morning versus afternoon cutting changed the nutritional composition of the resulting hay. Cutting time did alter the fresh forage composition, but the differences largely disappeared once the grass was dried to hay moisture, making the timing less consequential than many producers assume.12Scientia Plena. Horário de corte do capim Tifton 85 altera a composição nutricional do feno produzido?
Tifton 85 in Dairy Rations
Bermudagrass hay has traditionally been seen as a second-tier forage for dairy cows compared to alfalfa. Tifton 85 has done a lot to close that gap. In a trial with high-producing lactating Holsteins, Tifton 85 haylage replaced alfalfa hay in balanced rations with no drop in feed intake, milk yield, or milk composition including fat, protein, and lactose.13PubMed. Effect of feeding alfalfa hay or Tifton 85 bermudagrass haylage with or without a cellulase enzyme on performance of Holstein cows That is a meaningful finding for southeastern dairies, where alfalfa is expensive to source and bermudagrass grows cheaply in the backyard.
The key qualification is that rations need to be properly balanced for fiber content. When researchers increased the proportion of bermudagrass in dairy diets without adjusting other ingredients, total feed intake declined because the extra fiber filled cows up before they consumed enough energy. Milk yield dropped accordingly, even though digestibility of the fiber fraction actually improved as more bermudagrass was included.14PubMed. Intake, milk yield, and digestion by dairy cows fed diets with increasing fiber content from bermudagrass hay of silage The lesson is that Tifton 85 works well in dairy rations as a planned component, but simply swapping more and more bermudagrass into a mix without rebalancing energy and protein sources will cost you milk.
A separate trial found that replacing Tifton 85 hay with Tifton 85 silage in dairy rations maintained milk production and fat percentages, though milk production efficiency declined slightly as silage replaced more of the hay.15Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia. Tifton 85 bermudagrass (Cynodon sp.) silage as a replacement for Tifton 85 hay to feed lactating cows This gives producers flexibility: in wet years when field curing is difficult, ensiling Tifton 85 preserves a comparable product.
Baleage and Silage as Alternatives to Dry Hay
Field curing is the biggest logistical headache with Tifton 85 in humid climates. Rain during the drying window ruins quality, promotes mold, and wastes the cutting. Wrapping bales as baleage (high-moisture fermented hay) sidesteps that problem by baling at 40 to 60% moisture and sealing the bale in plastic for anaerobic fermentation.
Getting the wrap right matters. A study comparing different numbers of polyethylene film layers found that four to six layers of wrap produced baleage with adequate fermentation characteristics. With fewer layers, air infiltration allowed undesirable microbial growth and poor fermentation profiles.16PubMed Central. Characterization of Tifton 85 bermudagrass haylage with different layers of polyethylene film and storage time The pH of the finished baleage tended to stay high for a bermudagrass product, around 5.4, because the grass has relatively low levels of soluble sugars available for lactic acid production. That means the margin for error with air leaks is thinner than it would be with a higher-sugar crop.
Interseeding alfalfa into Tifton 85 stands before making baleage is gaining traction in the Southeast. A three-year trial found that mixed bermudagrass-alfalfa baleage had higher crude protein (about 14% versus 11.4%) and better true digestibility (roughly 67% versus 60%) than bermudagrass alone.17Journal of Animal Science. Three-year evaluation of yield and nutritive value of tifton-85 bermudagrass and tifton-85 bermudagrass-alfalfa mixtures produced as baleage in the southeast The alfalfa bumps the protein and helps compensate for bermudagrass’s naturally higher fiber levels, producing a more balanced feedstuff without having to buy supplemental protein.
Drought Tolerance and Cold Vulnerability
Tifton 85 handles drought better than Coastal bermudagrass. Researchers observed that under water stress, Tifton 85 kept more green leaf area and continued growing when Coastal had already gone dormant. The mechanism appears to involve a deeper root system: Tifton 85 pushed more root mass below 13 centimeters of soil depth, allowing it to access moisture deeper in the profile.18Crop Science. Variation of Responses to Water Stress Between ‘Tifton 85’ and ‘Tifway’ or ‘Coastal’ Bermudagrass
Cold tolerance is a different story. Freeze-tolerance trials ranked Tifton 85 among the more susceptible varieties, alongside Coastcross and Tifton 68. Varieties like Midland 99, Ozark, Goodwell, and Hardie were all significantly more freeze-tolerant.19Grass and Forage Science. Freeze tolerance of forage bermudagrasses In practice, this means Tifton 85 is risky north of roughly the I-20 corridor in the U.S. (central Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi) and can suffer winterkill even in the transition zone during unusually cold winters. Producers in those marginal areas sometimes keep a backup plan, maintaining some acreage in a hardier variety to hedge against stand loss.
Feeding Tifton 85 Hay to Horses
Horse owners sometimes worry about bermudagrass hay causing impaction colic, and the concern is understandable given the grass’s fibrous reputation. However, the variety most commonly linked to impaction issues is Coastal bermudagrass, not Tifton 85. Tifton 85 has thicker stems and broader leaves, combined with meaningfully higher digestibility, which would tend to reduce rather than increase impaction risk.20Equinews. Alternatives to Tifton Hay for Metabolic Horses That said, hay quality still depends on maturity at cutting. An overmature Tifton 85 bale that sat in the field for seven or eight weeks of growth is going to be woody and poorly digestible regardless of the cultivar name on the tag.
For horses with metabolic concerns like insulin resistance, bermudagrass hay in general tends to be lower in nonstructural carbohydrates than cool-season grasses like orchardgrass or timothy, which can be an advantage. The tradeoff is that protein content in bermudagrass hay is often marginal for growing horses or lactating mares unless the stand was cut young and well-fertilized.
Bermudagrass Stem Maggot
The bermudagrass stem maggot arrived in the southeastern U.S. around 2010 and has become one of the most significant pests for hay producers. The larvae feed inside the upper stems, killing the top leaf and giving fields a frosted, bleached appearance that reduces both yield and quality. Among commercially available bermudagrass varieties, Tifton 85 is still considered the standard for stem maggot tolerance, though researchers acknowledge there is room for improvement.21Crop, Forage & Turfgrass Management. Improved management of the bermudagrass stem maggot
Management revolves around cutting frequency. Since the maggot targets actively growing stems, harvesting on a tighter rotation disrupts the pest’s life cycle and limits the number of generations that can build up in a season. Some producers also apply insecticide when damage first appears, though chemical control alone has not proven sufficient. The tolerance that Tifton 85 shows is relative, not absolute: in heavy infestation years, even Tifton 85 fields sustain visible damage.
Soil Carbon Under Tifton 85 Pastures
Perennial warm-season grasses are often credited with building soil organic matter, and Tifton 85 fields managed as grazed pastures have been studied for carbon dynamics. A trial on southeastern Coastal Plain soils found that total soil organic carbon and nitrogen did not change measurably in the short term under any combination of grazing intensity and nitrogen fertilization. However, the more labile fraction of soil carbon, the portion that turns over relatively quickly, declined under high grazing intensity and low nitrogen input.22Soil Biology and Biochemistry. Short-term effects of grazing intensity and nitrogen fertilization on soil organic carbon pools under perennial grass pastures in the southeastern USA In other words, overgrazing and underfertilizing can erode the actively cycling carbon pool even when the total carbon stock looks stable on paper. For hay fields that are not grazed, the removal of aboveground biomass at every cutting means that returning nutrients through fertilizer and occasionally leaving a residual stubble becomes important for long-term soil health.
Buying Tifton 85 Hay on the Open Market
If you are buying rather than growing Tifton 85 hay, a few things are worth watching. First, not all Tifton 85 hay is created equal. The same cultivar cut at three weeks of regrowth versus seven weeks of regrowth can differ by several percentage points of crude protein and substantial digestibility. Ask the seller about cutting interval, or better yet, get a hay test. A standard forage analysis from a lab costs very little and tells you the actual protein, fiber, and energy value of the bale you are feeding.
Second, color can mislead. Tifton 85 that was rained on during curing may look darker and smell musty, both signs of quality loss. But perfectly green hay that was cut too late can also be low quality despite its attractive appearance. The green color means the chlorophyll was preserved during drying, not that the hay is nutritious. Stem thickness gives a better visual clue: pencil-thin stems suggest an earlier, more nutritious cut, while stems thicker than a drinking straw indicate the plant had time to mature.
Third, storage matters as much as production. Hay stored outside without cover on the ground can lose 20 to 30% of its dry matter to weathering within months, with the outer inches of each bale effectively composting. Round bales are especially vulnerable. Whether you are growing or buying Tifton 85, keeping bales off the ground and under shelter preserves the quality advantage you paid for.