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Growing a cover crop living mulch between plastic-mulched beds may reduce soil erosion while providing other agroecosystem services. However, information regarding the relative differences among living mulch species to maximize services and minimize competition for nutrients and water in adjacent plastic-mulched beds is limited. A 2-year experiment in Michigan evaluated nine living mulch species for biomass production, in-season weed suppression, and potential for cash crop competition. Species included three warm season grasses {Italian ryegrass [ Lolium perenne L. ssp. multiflorum (Lam.) Husnot], teff [ Eragrostis tef (Zuccagni) Trotter, and sudangrass [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench ssp. drummondii (Nees ex Steud.) de Wet & Harlan]}; three cool season grasses [barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.), rye ( Secale …