Therein lies the caveat. Which way is better when you have extremely thick vegetation growing in an area you wish to seed this way. Is it better to broadcast first and then roll/mow and run the risk of the new seedlings running out of energy before they can push through the thatch layer, thus causing them to die? Or the alternative of rolling/mowing the vegetation first and broadcasting onto the thick thatch layer and having some of the new seedlings germinate without being in contact with the soil, thus not allowing the new roots to reach the dirt before they dry out and die? Either situation is cause to warrant upping the seeding rate to overcome the germination issues. We had our best success with the broadcast first then roll/mow method, as I would rather take my chances knowing the majority of the seed was at least touching the ground and not hung up in the thatch layer somewhere. We never had anything come in extremely thick on our sandy plots accept rye. In the years we broadcast into thick, standing rye, we mowed it. Our thought process was that even though the thatch would be heavy, the loose, chopped up strands laying on top would be easier to push through than a thick mat of stems that were pressed down onto themselves and into the soil by the packer wheels. If you have a normal BW patch I would say broadcast and roll, if it seems like an excessively thick stand of BW, broadcast and then mow it. I don't see a compelling reason for you to do any type of tillage on that plot, your BW kept the weeds back, don't "stir the pot" and potentially bring new weed seeds up into the germination zone.
