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The increasing cost of N fertilizer has stimulated an interest in sourcing protein from warm-season legumes among beef cattle producers in the tropical/subtropical areas of the world. The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of two strategies of incorporating cowpea [ Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] into bahiagrass ( Paspalum notatum Flügge) pastures on the herbage characteristics and performance of grazing cow-calf pairs. The study was conducted in Ona, Florida, USA, from May to August in 2007 and 2008. Experimental units were 1·0 ha. Treatments were bahiagrass pasture alone (control), 50:50 bahiagrass-cowpea pasture (cowpea), bahiagrass pasture with a cowpea creep grazing area (0·1 ha, creep grazing) and bahiagrass pasture with a creep-fed concentrate [(creep feeding; 10 g kg−1 body weight (BW)]. The cowpea pastures had lower herbage mass [HM, 1·8 vs. 3·7 t ha−1] and herbage allowance [HA, 0·8 vs. 1·4 kg DM kg−1 live weight (LW)] compared with the other treatments. Cowpea had greater CP (CP, 160 g kg−1) and in vitro digestible organic matter (IVDOM), (600 g kg−1) than bahiagrass (110 and 490 g kg−1 respectively); however, cowpea HM was only 0·9 t ha−1 in May and 0·7 t ha−1 in June, but it did not persist in July and August. Calves receiving the creep feeding treatments had greater average daily gain (0·8 vs. 0·7 kg d−1) than calves in other treatments. Further research is necessary to exploit the superior nutritive value of cowpea in grazing systems in the south-eastern USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]