Barley is a crop sometimes grown for fodder

In agriculture, fodder or animal feed is any foodstuff that is used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. Barley ( Hordeum vulgare) is an annual Cereal Grain, which serves as a major animal Feed crop, with smaller amounts used for Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture Food is any substance usually composed primarily of Carbohydrates Fats water and/or Proteins that can be eaten or drunk by an Domestication (from Latin domesticus) refers to the process whereby a Population of Animals Livestock is the term used to refer (singularly or plurally to a Domesticated Animal intentionally reared in an agricultural setting to produce such as Food Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family The domestic goat ( Capra aegagrus hircus) is a subspecies of goat Domesticated from the Wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe The horse ( Equus caballus) is a hoofed ( Ungulate) Mammal, one of eight living species of the family Equidae. The chicken ( Gallus gallus, sometimes G gallus domesticus) is a domesticated Fowl which is traditionally believed to have descended from Pigs, also called hogs or' swine', are Ungulates which have been domesticated as sources of food leather and similar products since ancient times Most animal feed is from plants but some is of animal origin. "Fodder" refers particularly to food given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them), rather than that which they forage for themselves (see forage). Forage is plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems eaten by grazing Livestock. It includes hay, straw, silage, compressed and pelleted feeds, oils and mixed rations, and also sprouted grains and legumes.

The worldwide animal feed industry consumed 635 million tons of feed (compound feed equivalent) in 2006, with an annual growth rate of about 2%. The use of agricultural land to grow feed rather than human food can be controversial; some types of feed, such as corn (maize), can also serve as human food, while others such as grass cannot. Maize (ˈmeɪz ( Zea mays L. ssp mays) known as corn in some countries is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica Some agricultural by-products which are fed to animals may be considered unsavory by human consumers. A by-product is a secondary or incidental product deriving from a Manufacturing process a Chemical reaction or a biochemical pathway and is not the primary product

Common plants specifically grown for fodder

• Alfalfa (lucerne)
• Barley
• Birdsfoot trefoil
• Brassicas
  • Chau moellier
  • Kale
  • Rapeseed (Canola)
  • Rutabaga (swede)
  • Turnip
• Clover
  • Alsike clover
  • Red clover
  • Subterranean clover
  • White clover
    

    Round hay bales
• Grass
  • False oat grass
  • Fescue
  • Bermuda grass
  • Brome
  • Heath grass
  • Meadow grasses (from naturally mixed grassland swards)
  • Orchard grass
  • Ryegrass
  • Timothy-grass
• Maize (corn)
• Millet
• Oats
• Sorghum
• Soybeans
• Trees (pollard tree shoots for "tree-hay")
• Wheat

Types of fodder

Fodder factory set up by an individual farmer to produce customized cattle feed

• Compound feed and premixes, often called "pellets" or "nuts"
• Crop residues: stover, copra, straw, sugar beet waste
• Fish meal
• Freshly cut grass and other forage plants
• Meat and bone meal (now illegal in many areas due to risk of BSE)
• Molasses
• Oil cake and press cake
• Oligosaccharides
• Conserved forage plants: hay and silage
• Seaweed
• Seeds and grains, either whole or prepared by crushing, milling etc
• Sprouted grains and legumes
• Yeast extract

Health concerns

In the past, mad cow disease spread through the inclusion of ruminant meat and bone meal in cattle feed due to prion contamination. Alfalfa ( Medicago sativa) is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop Barley ( Hordeum vulgare) is an annual Cereal Grain, which serves as a major animal Feed crop, with smaller amounts used for See Lotus for other uses including several other plant taxa bearing this name Brassica ( Brás-si-ca) is a genus of plants in the mustard family ( Brassicaceae) Kale or Borecole is a form of Cabbage ( Brassica oleracea Acephala Group) green in color in which the central leaves do not Rapeseed ( Brassica napus) also known as rape, oilseed rape, rapa, rapaseed and (in the case of one particular group of The swede, (yellow turnip, swedish turnip or rutabaga ( Brassica napobrassica, or Brassica napus var For similar vegetables also called "turnip" see Turnip (disambiguation. Alsike redirects here Alsike Sweden is also a town in the Knivsta Municipality, Sweden. Trifolium hybridum or alsike clover is a plant species of the genus Trifolium. Trifolium pratense ( Red Clover) is a species of Clover, native to Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa, but planted The legume Subterranean clover ( Trifolium subterraneum) often shortened to sub clover, is a species of Clover native to northwestern Europe White Clover ( Trifolium repens) is a Species of Clover native to Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. Grass is the common word that generally describes Monocotyledonous green Plants The family Gramineae ( Poaceae) are the "true grasses" and include Arrhenatherum, commonly called Oat-Grass or Button-grass is a genus with seven species and subspecies from the grass family Poaceae. Fescue ( Festuca) is a Genus of about 300 Species of perennial tufted Grasses belonging to the grass family Poaceae Not to be confused with the vertebrate clade " Cynodont " Cynodon ( Greek "Dog-tooth" is a genus of nine species of Bromus is a large Genus of the true grass family ( Poaceae) with about 160 Species. Danthonia is a Genus of Grass species Grasses of this genus are sometimes referred to as oatgrass, but that common name is not restricted A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by Grass and other non- Woody plants. Dactylis glomerata ( Cocksfoot or Orchard Grass or Cocksfoot Grass) is a common grass, native to Europe, Asia Ryegrass ( Lolium) is a genus of nine species of tufted Grasses family Poaceae. Timothy-Bailey ( Phleum pratense) is an abundant perennial grass native to most of Europe except for the Mediterranean region Maize (ˈmeɪz ( Zea mays L. ssp mays) known as corn in some countries is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica The millets are a group of small- Seeded Species of Cereal crops or grains widely grown around the world for Food and Fodder Oats redirects here It may mean either the common cereal oat discussed here or any cultivated or wild species of the Genus Avena. Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, some of which are raised for grain and many of which are used as Fodder plants either cultivated or as part A tree is a perennial Woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or Pollarding is a Woodland management method of encouraging lateral branches by cutting off a tree stem or minor branches two or three metres above ground level Wheat ( Triticum spp is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Levant area of the Middle East. Compound feeds are feedstuffs that are blended from various raw materials and additives Nutrient Systems (nutrient premixes integrate functional ingredients from Vitamins, Minerals, Amino acids, Nucleotides, and Nutraceuticals Stover consists of the leaves and stalks of corn (maize sorghum or soybean plants that are left in a field after harvest Copra is the dried meat or kernel of the Coconut. The name copra is derived from the Malayalam word kopra for dried coconut Straw is an agricultural By-product, the dry stalk of a Cereal plant after the Grain or Seed has been removed Sugar beet ( Beta vulgaris L a member of the Chenopodiaceae family is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of Sucrose. Fish meal, or fishmeal, is a commercial product made from both whole Fish and the bones and Offal from processed fish Grass is the common word that generally describes Monocotyledonous green Plants The family Gramineae ( Poaceae) are the "true grasses" and include Meat and bone meal (MBM is a product of the rendering industry Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ( BSE) commonly known as Mad-Cow Disease ( MCD) is a fatal Neurodegenerative disease in Cattle Molasses or Treacle is a thick Syrup by-product from the processing of the Sugarcane or Sugar beet into Sugar. Oil cake is the solid residue that can be removed from various types of oily seeds Press cake is the solids remaining after Pressing something to Extract the liquids An oligosaccharide is a Saccharide polymer containing a small number (typically three to ten of component sugars also known as Simple sugars. Hay is a generic term for grass or Legumes that have been cut dried and stored for use as animal feed, particularly for grazing animals like For the Christian Alternative band please see Silage (band Silage is fermented, high-moisture Fodder that can Seaweed is a loose colloquial term encompassing macroscopic Multicellular, benthic marine Algae. A seed (in some plants referred to as a kernel) is a small embryonic Plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat usually with some stored Yeast extract is the common name for various forms of processed Yeast products that are used as food additives or flavourings Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ( BSE) commonly known as Mad-Cow Disease ( MCD) is a fatal Neurodegenerative disease in Cattle Meat and bone meal (MBM is a product of the rendering industry Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family A prion (ˈpriːɒn is thought to be an infectious agent that according to current scientific consensus is comprised entirely of a propagated, mis-folded This practice is now banned in most countries where it has occurred. Some animals have a lower tolerance for spoiled or moldy fodder than others, and certain types of molds, toxins, or poisonous weeds inadvertently mixed into a food source may cause economic losses due to sickness or death of the animals.

Sprouted grains as fodder

Fodder in the form of sprouted grains and legumes can be grown in a small-scale environment. Sprouted grains can greatly increase the nutritional value of the grain compared with feeding the "raw" (ungerminated) grain to stock.

See also

• Forage
• Pasture
• Grain
• Cannon fodder (metaphorical usage)
• Factory farming

External links

• Animal feed legislation and guidance
• Animal Feed and Ingredients Glossary
• FAO Feed Safety guidelines
• Feed - Biosecurity Guide