Forage

Updated on Nov 22, 2024

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Forage is plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. 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. The term forage fish refers to small schooling fish that are preyed on by larger aquatic animals.

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.

Grasses

Grass forages include:

Agrostis spp. – bentgrasses

Agrostis capillaris – common bentgrass

Agrostis stolonifera – creeping bentgrass

Andropogon hallii – sand bluestem

Arrhenatherum elatius – false oat-grass

Bothriochloa bladhii – Australian bluestem

Bothriochloa pertusa – hurricane grass

Brachiaria decumbens – Surinam grass

Brachiaria humidicola – koronivia grass

Bromus spp. – bromegrasses

Cenchrus ciliaris – buffelgrass

Chloris gayana – Rhodes grass

Cynodon dactylon – bermudagrass

Dactylis glomerata – orchard grass

Echinochloa pyramidalis – antelope grass

Entolasia imbricata – bungoma grass

Festuca spp. – fescues

Festuca arundinacea – tall fescue

Festuca pratensis – meadow fescue

Festuca rubra – red fescue

Heteropogon contortus – black spear grass

Hymenachne amplexicaulis – West Indian marsh grass

Hyparrhenia rufa – jaragua

Leersia hexandra – southern cutgrass

Lolium spp. – ryegrasses

Lolium multiflorum – Italian ryegrass

Lolium perenne – perennial ryegrass

Megathyrsus maximus – Guinea grass

Melinis minutiflora – molasses grass

Paspalum dilatatum – dallisgrass

Phalaris arundinacea – reed canarygrass

Phleum pratense – timothy

Poa spp. – bluegrasses, meadow-grasses

Poa arachnifera – Texas bluegrass

Poa pratensis – Kentucky bluegrass

Poa trivialis – rough bluegrass

Setaria sphacelata – African bristlegrass

Themeda triandra – kangaroo grass

Thinopyrum intermedium – intermediate wheatgrass

Herbaceous legumes

Herbaceous legume forages include:

Arachis pintoi – pinto peanut

Chamaecrista rotundifolia – roundleaf sensitive pea

Clitoria ternatea – butterfly-pea

Lotus corniculatus – bird's-foot trefoil

Macroptilium atropurpureum – purple bush-bean

Macroptilium bracteatum – burgundy bean

Medicago spp. – medics

Medicago sativa – alfalfa, lucerne

Medicago truncatula – barrel medic

Melilotus spp. – sweetclovers

Neonotonia wightii – perennial soybean

Onobrychis viciifolia – common sainfoin

Stylosanthes spp. – stylo

Stylosanthes humilis – Townsville stylo

Stylosanthes scabra – shrubby stylo

Trifolium spp. – clovers

Trifolium hybridum – alsike clover

Trifolium incarnatum – crimson clover

Trifolium pratense – red clover

Trifolium repens – white clover

Vicia spp. – vetches

Vicia articulata – oneflower vetch

Vicia ervilia – bitter vetch

Vicia narbonensis – narbon vetch

Vicia sativa – common vetch, tare

Vicia villosa – hairy vetch

Vigna parkeri – creeping vigna

Tree legumes

Tree legume forages include:

Acacia aneura – mulga

Albizia spp. – silk trees

Albizia canescens – Belmont siris

Albizia lebbeck – lebbeck

Enterolobium cyclocarpum – earpodtree

Leucaena leucocephala – leadtree

Silage

Silage may be composed by the following:

Alfalfa

Maize (corn)

Grass-legume mix

Sorghums

Oats

Crop residue

Crop residues used as forage include:

Sorghum

Corn or soybean stover

References

Forage Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA