Cool-season forages complement warm-season forages in dairy systems and also function as winter cover crops to protect the land from erosion and nutrient losses. This research evaluates a number of cool-season forages for greenchop, silage and nutrient mitigation in dairy systems. Although annual ryegrass is the cool-season forage of choice by dairies, forage triticale and oats may offer advantages such as early or late season planting with comparable forage quality. There is limited knowledge about the forage quality, including soluble sugar content, N and P uptake and seasonal forage distribution of southern cool-season forages. Cultivars and new experimental breeding lines of annual ryegrass, oat and forage triticale were evaluated for yield, protein content, carbohydrate composition and digestibility. Evaluations also included seasonal aspects of forage production and the potential for N and P removal using cool-season forages in dairy silage operations. Dairy farmers can use this information for selecting cultivars that are best suited to their needs.