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Forage

 
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Forage is plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock
Livestock

Livestock is the term used to refer to a domesticated animal intentionally reared in an agricultural setting to produce things such as food or fibre, or for its labour....
.






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Bull Eating Fodder
Forage is plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock
Livestock

Livestock is the term used to refer to a domesticated animal intentionally reared in an agricultural setting to produce things such as food or fibre, or for its labour....
. Historically the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture
Pasture

Pasture is land with herbaceous vegetation cover used for grazing of ungulate livestock as part of a farm or ranch. Prior to the advent of factory farming, pasture was the primary source of food for grazing animals such as cattle and horses....
, crop residue
Crop residue

There are two types of agriculture crop residues:Field residues are materials left in an agricultural field or orchard after the crop has been harvested....
, or immature cereal
Cereal

Cereals, or cereal grains, are mostly Poaceae cultivated for their edible brans or fruit seeds . Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more energy worldwide than any other type of crop; they are therefore staple foods....
 crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder
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....
 and carried to the animals, especially as hay
Hay

Hay is a generic term for Poaceae or legumes that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing animals like cattle, horses, domestic goat, and sheep....
 or silage
Silage

File:Cattle eating corn silage.jpgSilage is fermentation , high-moisture fodder that can be fed to ruminants or used as a biofuel feedstock for anaerobic digesters....
.

Common forages


Grasses

  • Brachiaria decumbens
  • Brachiara humidicola
  • Bothriochloa pertusa
  • Bothrioochloa bladhii
  • Heteropogon contortus
    Heteropogon contortus

    Heteropogon contortus is a tropical, perennial tussock grass with a native distribution encompassing Southern Africa, southern Asia, Northern Australia and Oceania....
  • Themeda triandra
    Themeda triandra

    Themeda triandra is a perennial grass widespread in Australia, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. In Australia it is commonly known as kangaroo grass, in East and South Africa it is known as "red oat grass" or red grass, in Afrikaans, rooigras....
  • Panicum maximum
  • Cenchrus ciliaris
  • Melinis minutiflora
  • Setaria sphacelata
  • Chloris guyana
  • Cynodon dactylon
    Cynodon dactylon

    Cynodon dactylon , also known as durva grass, Bermuda Grass, Dubo, Dog's Tooth Grass, Bahama Grass, Devil's Grass, Couch Grass, Indian Doab, Grama, and Scutch Grass, is a Poaceae native to north Africa, Asia and Australia and southern Europe....
  • Paspalum dilatatum
  • Hyparrhenia rufa
  • Echinochloa pyrmaidalis
  • Leersia hexandra
  • Hymenachne amplexicaulis
  • Entolasia imbricata
  • Intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium
    Thinopyrum intermedium

    Thinopyrum intermedium is a sod-forming perennial grass. This species is often confused with the young shoots of wheat grown as a health food, which is also referred to as wheatgrass....
    )
  • Bluegrasses or meadow-grasses (Poa
    POA

    POA may refer to:* Price On Application or Price On Asking. When seller wants confidentiality.* Public Order Act 1936 , UK law concerning public disorder and violence....
     species)
    • Kentucky bluegrass or smooth meadow-grass (Poa pratensis)
    • Rough meadow-grass (Poa trivialis
      Poa trivialis

      Poa trivialis is an ornamental plant in the Poaceae family. Though often considered a weed of golf courses, some use it as a turf grass for Teeing ground and driving ranges....
      )
    • Texas bluegrass (Poa arachnifera
      Poa arachnifera

      Texas bluegrass is a species of Poaceae....
      )
  • Bromegrass or brome (Bromus
    Bromus

    Bromus is a large genus of the true grass family . Estimates in the scientific literature of the number of species have ranged from 100 to 400, but plant taxonomists currently recognize around 160--170 species ....
     species)
  • False oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius
    Arrhenatherum elatius

    Arrhenatherum elatius a species of grass, common in the temperate regions of Europe, which is often used as an ornamental plant. It is native to Europe but can be found elsewhere as an introduced species....
    )
  • Fescues (Festuca species):
    • Red fescue (Festuca rubra
      Festuca rubra

      Festuca rubra is a species of Poaceae known by the common name red fescue. It is found worldwide and can tolerate many habitats and climates; it generally needs full sun to thrive....
      )
    • Meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis
      Festuca pratensis

      Festuca pratensis is a species of Poaceae, which is often used an ornamental plant.It is commonly known as meadow fescue....
      )
    • Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea
      Festuca arundinacea

      Festuca arundinacea is a species of fescue known by the common name tall fescue. It is a cool season perennial C3 carbon fixation grass species native to Europe....
      )
  • Orchard grass or cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata
    Dactylis Glomerata

    Dactylis Glomerata is an album by doom metal band Candlemass, released in 1998. This album features guitarist Michael Amott on lead guitar...
    )
  • Reed canary-grass (Phalaris arundinacea)
  • Ryegrasses (Lolium species):
    • Annual or Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum
      Lolium multiflorum

      Lolium multiflorum is a ryegrass native to temperate Europe, although the precise location of its origin is unknown.It is an Herbaceous plant Annual plant, Biennial plant, or Perennial plant grass that is grown for silage and as a cover crop....
      )
    • Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne
      Lolium perenne

      Perennial Ryegrass is a grass from the family Poaceae. It is native to Europe, Asia and northern Africa, but is widely cultivated and naturalised around the world....
      )
  • Timothy-grass or timothy (Phleum pratense)


Herbaceous Legumes


  • Stylosanthes sacbea
  • Stylosanthes humilis
  • Chamaecrista rotundifolia
  • Macroptilium atropurpeum
  • Macroptilium bracteatum
  • Medicago truncatula
    Medicago truncatula

    Medicago truncatula is a small legume native to the Mediterranean region. It is a low-growing clover-like plant 10–60 cm tall with trifoliate leaf, each leaflet rounded, 1–2 cm long, often with a dark spot in the center....
  • Glycine wightii
  • Clitoria ternatea
    Clitoria ternatea

    Clitoria ternatea is a vine native to tropical and equatorial Asia, but has been introduced to Africa, Australia and the New World. It grows well in moist neutral soil and requires little care....
  • Arachis pintoi
    Arachis pintoi

    Arachis pintoi is a Fodder plant native to Cerrado vegetation in Brazil....
  • Vigna parkeri
  • Alfalfa or lucerne (Medicago sativa)
  • Bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus
    Lotus corniculatus

    Lotus corniculatus is a common flowering plant native to grassland temperate Eurasia and North Africa. The common name is Bird's-foot Trefoil , though the common name is often also applied to other members of the genus....
    )
  • Clovers (Trifolium species):
    • Alsike clover (Trifolium hybridum
      Trifolium hybridum

      Trifolium hybridum or alsike clover is a plant species of the genus Trifolium. The head of the flower has pale pink or whitish coloring....
      )
    • Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum)
    • Red clover (Trifolium pratense)
    • White clover (Trifolium repens)
  • Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia)
  • Sweetclover or melilot (Melilotus species)
  • Vetches (Vicia
    Vicia

    The vetches are a large genus of about 140 species of flowering plants in the legume family . They are native to Europe, Asia and Africa. Some other genera of their subfamily Faboideae also have names containing "vetch", for example the vetchlings or the milk-vetches ....
     species)
    • Common vetch or tare (Vicia sativa)
    • Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa)
    • Bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia)
    • Vicia articulata Hornem
    • Vicia narbonensis


Tree Legumes

  • Leucaena leucocephala
  • Albizia lebbeck
    Albizia lebbeck

    Albizia lebbeck is a species of Albizia, native to tropical southern Asia, and widely cultivated and naturalisation in other tropical and subtropical regions....
  • Acacia aneura


Silage

  • Corn (maize)
  • Alfalfa
  • Grass-legume mix
  • Sorghums
  • Oats


Crop residue

  • Sorghum
    Sorghum

    Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of Poaceae, some of which are raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture....
  • Corn (maize) stover
  • Soybean stover


See also

  • Grass-fed beef
  • Foraging
    Foraging

    Foraging theory is a branch of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behavior of animals in response to the environment in which the animal lives....
    , a method of finding food
  • Hunter-gatherers, humans who survive by foraging
  • Forage (honeybee)
    Forage (honeybee)

    For bees, their forage or food supply consists of nectar and pollen from flower plants within flight range. The forage sources for Western honey bees are an important consideration for beekeepers....
     can also refer to the plants that produce nectar, in the context of the animals that gather it, such as honeybees.