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. 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). 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. Some agricultural by-products which are fed to animals may be considered unsavory by human consumers.

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
* 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

* Compound feed and premixes, often called "pellets", "nuts" or "(cattle) cake".
* Crop residues: stover, copra, straw, chaff, 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. 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.

prouted 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.

ee also

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

External links

* [http://www.food.gov.uk/foodindustry/farmingfood/animalfeed/animalfeedlegislation Animal feed legislation and guidance]
* [http://feed.feedmachinery.com/ Animal Feed and Ingredients Glossary]
* [http://www.fao.org/ag/AGa/AGAP/FRG/Feedsafety/feedsafety.htm FAO Feed Safety guidelines]
* [http://www.afia.org/Biosecurity_Guide.html Feed - Biosecurity Guide]


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Synonyms:
, (for cattle), , (cattle)


Look at other dictionaries:

  • FODDER — (Heb. מִסְפּוֹא, mispo, AV, JPS, provender ), most often mentioned together with teven ( chaff, AV, JPS, straw ) as feed for camels and asses (Gen. 24:25; 43:24; Judg. 19:19). Teven, which was the most important food of domestic animals, was made …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • fodder — [fäd′ər] n. [ME < OE fodor (akin to Ger futter) < base of foda, FOOD] 1. coarse food for cattle, horses, sheep, etc., as cornstalks, hay, and straw 2. a) something, esp. information, that is thought of as being in large supply and, often,… …   English World dictionary

  • Fodder — Fod der (f[o^]d d[ e]r), n. [AS. f[=o]dder, f[=o]ddor, fodder (also sheath case), fr. f[=o]da food; akin to D. voeder, OHG. fuotar, G. futter, Icel. f[=o][eth]r, Sw. & Dan. foder. [root]75. See {Food} and cf. {Forage}, {Fur}.] That which is fed… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • fodder — (n.) O.E. fodder food, especially food for cattle, from P.Gmc. *fodran (Cf. O.N. foðr, M.Du. voeder, O.H.G. fuotar, Ger. Futter), from PIE *patrom, from *pa to feed (see FOOD (Cf. food)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • fodder — ► NOUN 1) food for cattle and other livestock. 2) a person or thing regarded only as material to satisfy a need: young people ending up as factory fodder. ORIGIN Old English, related to FOOD(Cf. ↑food) …   English terms dictionary

  • Fodder — Fod der (f[o^]d d[ e]r), n. [See 1st {Fother}.] A weight by which lead and some other metals were formerly sold, in England, varying from 191/2 to 24 cwt.; a fother. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Fodder — Fod der (f[o^]d d[ e]r), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Foddered} (f[o^]d d[ e]rd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Foddering}.] To feed, as cattle, with dry food or cut grass, etc.; to furnish with hay, straw, oats, etc. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Fodder — Fodder, engl. Gewicht, s. Fudder …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Fodder — Fodder, englisches Gewicht für Blei, in London = 19,5, Newcastle = 21, Stockton = 22 Ztr. à 50,8 kg, für Blei in Rollen = 20 Ztr …   Lexikon der gesamten Technik

  • Fodder — Fodder, engl. Gewicht für Blei in Blöcken oder Mulden (sog. Gänsen oder Sauen), in London = 191/2, Newcastle = 21, Stockton = 22 Hundredweight (à 50,8 kg); für Blei in Rollen = 20 Hundredweight (1016 kg) …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • fodder — forage, *food, feed, provender, provisions, comestibles, victuals, viands …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

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