Forage

Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock.[1] Historically, the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals, especially as hay or silage.[2]

Sorghum grown as forage crop.

While the term forage has a broad definition, the term forage crop is used to define crops, annual or biennial, which are grown to be utilized by grazing or harvesting as a whole crop.[3]

Common forages

Bull feeding on grass
Horse-drawn transport of fodder in Romania
Meadow of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne)

Grasses

Grass forages include:[4][5]

Herbaceous legumes

Herbaceous legume forages include:[6]

White clover (Trifolium repens)

Tree legumes

Tree legume forages include:

Sheep with silage

Silage

Silage may be composed by the following:[7]

Aquatic feeds

Crop residue

Crop residues used as forage include:

  • Sorghum
  • Sweet potato vines
  • Corn or soybean
  • Fruit tree by-products stover

Other

  • Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatusDaikon radish/"forage radish"[8]

See also

References

  1. Fageria, N.K. (1997). Growth and Mineral Nutrition of Field Crops. NY, NY: Marcel Dekker. p. 595.
  2. Fageria, N.K. (1997). Growth and Mineral Nutrition of Field Crops. NY, NY: Marcel Dekker. p. 583.
  3. Givens, D. Ian (2000). Forage evaluation in ruminant nutrition. CABI. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-85199-344-7.
  4. Murphy, B. (1998). Greener Pastures On Your Side of the Fence. Colchester, Vermont: Arriba Publishing. pp. 19–20.
  5. Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Pasture" . New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
  6. Murphy, B. (1998). Greener Pastures On Your Side of the Fence. Colchester, Vermont: Arriba Publishing. p. 20.
  7. George, J. R. (1994). Extension Publications: Forage and Grain Crops. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt. p. 152.
  8. Jahanzad, E.; Barker, A. V.; Hashemi, M.; Eaton, T.; Sadeghpour, A.; Weis, S. A. (2016). "Nitrogen Release Dynamics and Decomposition of Buried and Surface Cover Crop Residues". Agronomy Journal. American Society of Agronomy (Wiley). 108 (4): 1735–1741. doi:10.2134/agronj2016.01.0001. ISSN 0002-1962. S2CID 88990719.
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