I'm in Burleson County - the drought took a toll on some of my coastal Bermuda grazing fields and I was thinking about some type of winter planting to get cover on the ground and add some nutrients for when the Bermuda grass comes back next spring. Any thoughts other than to just plant it with some rye grass?

Any ideas who may rent seed planters/drills?

Putting winter rye down would be the worst thing you can do because the Bermuda will be competing with the root structure. Our golf course quit over seating years ago, and the transition is minimal. You're better off just letting the Bermuda go dormant.

Thanks for the insight. I may of not been very clear as to what I have - it is just a patches of the pasture that have little to no grass currently

I'm not partial to rye but looking to get something that will help the soil stay and give it a boost of nitrogen until the summer grasses can be brought back. I was thinking about using a seed mix with rye and clover like they do in row crops or a deer food plots and then next spring till and replant Bermuda as needed.

If it's not going to be good for my coastal Bermuda long term I won't do it

Just want to try to help the soil get a little healthier until next Spring growing season

Smart move finding a no till drill. it made a difference in everything I planted.

You will have to fertilize if you grow ryegrass, oats etc for forage.
The TAM series of tetraploid ryegrass are impressive.

I planted 10 acre rotations of Silver River sweet clover every winter mainly for soil improvement but it was excellent forage. Turner Seed in Breckinridge Tx sells it.
Excellent for bee honey production.

Or simply consider a mix of ryegrass, oats, white clover, and vetch. Will need to add preplant fertilizer for the grasses.
By late April it will be gone.

Better forages than Coastal if you have to replant.
Lots of choices and rotation plantings too detailed for a post.

Austrian winter peas!

Be careful with clover if you have cattle grazing. They can't have too much of it

Ryegrass is not going to add nutrients to the soil. It is fine for holding the world together and providing some forage, but it most certainly will suck the soil dry of moisture at a time you want your coastal to come back. By all means, use some clover (Burleson Co. is a soil nightmare, so be sure your clover matches the pH), and a mix of forbs (tillage radish, forage brassica, etc..) and grass such as oats (gets out of the way earlier in the season). You have a fairly narrow window closing in with day length and weather, so get it in pretty quickly. Yes, clover needs fertilizer (a sniff of N and lots of P and K depending on the soil) and when mixing with other forages extra N may be needed.

On a side note, I doubt your coastal is toast in those spots. Wait until spring and some rain to decide about replanting. It may well be that fertilizer and management will fill your voids. Go talk to Veronica at the NRCS office in Caldwell and tell her that her old agronomist sent you.

Fertilize it.