The seed production characteristics of forage plants tums the choice of the time to start and the method of harvesting into a difficult and critical task. The proper determination of the time to begin harvesting should be based upon knowledge on the dynamics of seed maturation, both on an individual basis and in terms of population of inflorescences. To do that, seed producers can make use of several "maturation indexes", whose reliability depends on their previous experiences, the frequency and thoroughness of their observations and the local climatic characteristics. In choosing the harvest method, several factors should be taken in account, such as the peculiarities of the species or cultivar to be harvested, the management applied to the area, the prevailing climatic conditions, the volume of seeds aimed, the market conditions, the availability of resources and equipments, and other factors. The hand methods are efficient in terms of seed recover and, in general, they can result in good quality seeds. These methods, however, tend to lose popularity as labour becomes rare and expensive, as has happened in several regions of Brazil. This has led to the adoption of mechanical methods of seed harvesting, despite the fact that, in Brazil, there are not equipment specifically developed for this purpose available commercially. So, besides a few home - developed and ? made equipments, the mechanical combine, the type normally used for cereals, has been used with a growing intensity, despite its low efficiency in forage seed recovery, mainly because of its wide availability. The success of the utilization of this equipment in forage plants relies largely on adequate adaptations and adjustments. Several problems found in harvesting forage plant seeds can be minimized through the application of proper management practices to the crop. These practices also depend on several factors, such as the specie and variety being cultivated, harvest method to be applied, resources and equipment availability, objectives aimed, and other factors. These practices can result in high productivity, not only through an interference on the seed production by the plant but, also, through an increase of the harvesting efficiency, since they can adequate the plants to the ways, methods and equipments applied.