We evaluated the effects of Ν rate and two strategies of cattle manure (CM) application on dry matter yield (DMY) and nutritive value of bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum L. Fluege). The Ν rate treatments were 200 and 400 kg Ν ha"1 from CM or 50/50 CM plus ammonium nitrate (AN) combination, applied either in a single or split dosage. Bahiagrass was clipped at 28-d intervals for DMY, crude protein concentration (CP) and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD). First year results showed significant effects of application strategies and Ν rate. The combination of CM+AN performed better than treatments with CM alone. Dry matter yields of 6.67, 6.46, 5.73 and 6.27 Mg ha"1 were recorded for the 400 kg Ν ha"1 as CM+AN in single and split, and for the 200 kg Ν ha"1 as CM+AN in single and split applications, respectively. Comparatively, DMY of 6.38, 5.35, 5.98 and 4.82 Mg ha"1 were recorded for the 400 kg Ν ha"1 of CM in single and split, and for the 200 kg Ν ha"1 of CM in single and split applications, respectively. The 400 kg Ν ha"1 of CM+AN had the greatest IVOMD values of 547 and 543 g kg"1 for the single and split applications. Treatments receiving split application of CM had the lowest DMY, IVOMD and CP values. Phosphorus uptake and percentage recovery were also greatest for treatments that received CM+AN combination. Between 23 to 26% of the applied Ρ was recovered in the CM+AN treatments compared to 10 to 21% in the treatments that had CM alone. The results show that applying CM in combination with an inorganic nitrogen source can provide high forage yield of high quality and also reduce Ρ risk to the environment.