FODDER CROPS are crops that are cultivated primarily for animal feed.
By extension, natural grasslands and pastures are included whether
they are cultivated or not.
Fodder crops may be classified as either temporary or permanent crops.
The former are cultivated and harvested like any other crop.
Permanent fodder crops relate to land used permanently (for five years
or more) for herbaceous forage crops, either cultivated or growing
wild (i.e. wild prairie or grazing land), and may include some parts
of forest land if it is used for grazing.
Temporary crops that are grown intensively with multiple cuttings per
year include three major groups of fodder: grasses, including cereals
that are harvested green; legumes, including pulses that are
harvested green; and root crops that are cultivated for fodder. All
three types are fed to animals, either as green feed, as hay, i.e.
crops harvested dry or dried after harvesting, or as silage products.
Silage, or ensilage, refers to green fodder preserved without drying
by fermentation that retards spoiling. Some fodder crops are
components of compound feeds.
Grasses contain crude fibres, crude protein and some minerals.
Legumes are particularly rich in proteins and minerals. Root crops
are high in starch and sugar and low in fibre, making them easy to
digest. The fibre content of most fodder crops consists of cellulose,
a complex carbohydrate polysaccharide that is indigestible for humans,
but which is a good source of energy for animals, and particularly
ruminants.
For reporting purposes, the aggregation of various fodder crops into
"feed units" is expressed in different ways in different countries.
For example, aggregations are reported in terms of metabolizable
energy, digestible nutrients, starch equivalent, protein equivalent,
or grain equivalent.
The FAO list includes 17 primary crops. The code and name of each
crop appears in the list that follows, along with its botanical name,
or names, and a brief remark where necessary.
PRODUCTS USED FOR ANIMAL FEED
include: processed products from fodder
crops; waste and residue; manufactured compound feeds, consisting of
various mixed feeds of vegetal and animal origin to which minerals and
vitamins have been added; and chemical preparations, such as vitamins
and minerals and various additives.
The FAO list includes 21 products, in addition to products that are
already listed under other headings. The code and name of each
product is listed below.
| FAOSTAT CODE | COMMODITY | DEFINITIONS, COVERAGE, REMARKS |
| 0636 | MAIZE FOR FORAGE | Maize cut green as grass. |
| 0637 | SORGHUM FOR FORAGE | Usually sweet sorghum, so called for the sweet juice in the stem, which is cut green as grass. |
| 0638 | RYE GRASS FOR FORAGE Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum); English, perennial ryegrass (L. perenne) | Quick-growing grasses. |
| 0640 | CLOVER FOR FORAGE Trifolium spp. | Various species grown for pasture, green fodder or silage. |
| 0641 | ALFALFA FOR FORAGE Medicago sativa | A deep-rooted perennial herb used for green fodder, for hay or silage, and for pasture. |
| 0642 | GREEN OILSEEDS FOR SILAGE | Cut green as grass. |
| 0643 | LEGUMES FOR SILAGE Including inter alia: birdsfoot, trefoil (Lotus corniculatus); lespedeza (Lespedeza spp.); kudzu (Pueraria lobata); sesbania (Sesbania spp.); sainfoin, esparcette (Onobrychis sativa); sulla (Hedysarum coronarium) | Includes species of pulses, if harvested for fodder. |
| 0639 | GRASSES NES FOR FORAGE Including inter alia: bent, redtop, fiorin grass (Agrostis spp.); bluegrass (Poa spp.); Columbus grass (Sorghum almum); fescue (Festuca spp.); Napier, elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum); orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata); Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana); Sudan grass (Sorghum vulgare var. sudanense); Timothy grass (Phleum pratense) | Includes species used for cereal production, if cut green for fodder. |
| 0644 | CABBAGE FOR FODDER Brassica chinensis; B. oleracea | Especially cultivated for fodder. |
| 0645 | PUMPKINS FOR FODDER Cucurbita spp. Especially cultivated for fodder. | |
| 0646 | TURNIPS FOR FODDER Brassica rapa var. rapifera | Especially cultivated for fodder. |
| 0647 | BEETS FOR FODDER beet, beetroot, mangold (Beta vulgaris) | Especially cultivated for fodder. |
| 0648 | CARROTS FOR FODDER Daucus carota | Especially cultivated for fodder. |
| 0649 | SWEDES FOR FODDER rutabaga, swede, swede turnip (Brassica napus var napobrassica) | Especially cultivated for fodder. |
| 0655 | VEGETABLES, ROOTS FODDER NES | Any other crop of the vegetable group that is cultivated for fodder. |
| 0860 | RANGE PASTURES | |
| 0861 | IMPROVED PASTURES | |
| 0857 | Hay, Non-Leguminous | Hay that is mainly from grasses. |
| 0858 | Hay (Clover, Lucerne, etc.) | Hay from leguminous crops. |
| 0859 | Hay nes | Hay from unspecified plants. |
| 0862 | Alfalfa Meal and Pellets | Alfalfa (lucerne) dried, whole, cut, chopped, milled, pressed or pelletized. |
| 0017 | Bran of Wheat | Defined broadly to include sharps and other residue from the milling, sifting or other working of the grain. Contains a little flour. |
| 0035 | Bran of Rice | A by-product of polishing brown rice, comprising the pericarp, aleurone layer, embryo and some endosperm. |
| 0037 | Cake of Rice Bran | A residue of the extraction of oil. Also known as de-oiled rice bran. |
| 0047 | Bran of Barley | A by-product of the production of pot barley. |
| 0059 | Bran of Maize | A by-product of the milling of shelled maize. |
| 0061 | Cake of Maize | A residue of the extraction of oil from germ. |
| 0073 | Bran of Rye | A milling by-product. |
| 0077 | Bran of Oats | By-product of milling oats for human consumption, containing mainly hulls and fragments of the endosperm (oat millfeed), as well as residues from hulling, rolling, flaking, etc. |
| 0081 | Bran of Millet | A milling by-product. |
| 0085 | Bran of Sorghum | A milling by-product. |
| 0091 | Bran of Buckwheat | A milling by-product. |
| 0096 | Bran of Fonio | A milling by-product. |
| 0099 | Bran of Triticale | A milling by-product. |
| 0105 | Bran of Mixed Grain | A milling by-product. |
| 0112 | Bran of Cereals nes | A milling by-product. |
| 0213 | Bran of Pulses | Bran, sharps and other residues from the milling or working of pulses. |
| 0238 | Cake of Soybeans | Oilcake and other solid residues (except dregs), whether or not ground, or in the form of pellets, resulting from the extraction of fats or oils. |
| 0245 | Cake of Groundnuts | Residue from oil extraction. |
| 0253 | Cake of Copra | Residue from oil extraction. |
| 0259 | Cake of Palm Kernel | Residue from oil extraction. |
| 0269 | Cake of Sunflower Seed | Residue from oil extraction. The cake is used for feed if it is from decorticated seeds, or for fertilizer if it comes from undecorticated seeds. |
| 0272 | Cake of Rapeseed | Residue from oil extraction. |
| 0273 | Olive Residues | Residues make up about 40% of the olives crushed for oil, but account for about 5% of the oil. |
| 0282 | Cake of Safflower Seed | Residue from oil extraction. |
| 0291 | Cake of Sesame Seed | Residue from oil extraction. |
| 0294 | Cake of Mustard Seed | Residue from oil extraction. |
| 0298 | Cake of Poppy Seed | Residue from oil extraction. |
| 0314 | Cake of Kapok | Residue from oil extraction. |
| 0332 | Cake of Cottonseed | Residue from oil extraction. |
| 0335 | Cake of Linseed | Residue from oil extraction. |
| 0338 | Cake of Hempseed | Residue from oil extraction. |
| 0341 | Cake of Oilseeds nes | Residue from oil extraction. |
| 0120 | Potato Offals | The residue and waste from the preparation of potatoes. |
| 0169 | Beet Pulp | Residue from the extraction of sugar from the root of sugar beets. Used for animal feed. |
| 0170 | Bagasse | Residue consisting of the fibrous portion of the sugar cane after the juice has been extracted. Used as a fuel in sugar mills, as an animal feed, and in paper production. |
| 0628 | Pulp, Waste of Fruit for Feed | Waste of fruit, fruit pomace and marc, excluding marc of grapes. |
| 0566 | Marc of Grape | Residues from the pressing of grapes. Used also for distilling. |
| 0629 | Beet Tops | Beet tops, consisting of the leaves and upper part of the root, are used for feed. They account for about 25% of plant weight, though it is uncertain how much, if any, of this is included in national production statistics. |
| 0630 | Cane Tops | The leaves and upper part of the stalks, which are used for feed. The tops represent about 10% of the weight of the plant. |
| 0635 | Straw and Husks | Cereal straw and husks, unprepared, whether or not chopped, ground, pressed, or in the form of pellets. |
| 0650 | Leaves, Tops and Vines nes | Vegetable products that are not specifically grown for animal feed, but are used for that purpose. |
| 0651 | Forage Products nes | Plants specifically grown for animal feed. |
| 0652 | Vegetable Products for Feed nes | Vegetable products, vegetable waste, residues and by-products from the industrial processing of vegetable materials. |
| 0653 | Food Wastes | Sweetened forage and preparations of a kind used for animal feed, e.g. wine lees, argol. |
| 1259 | Food Waste, Prep. for Feed | Same coverage as 0653. |
| 1173 | Meat Meal | Flours, meals and pellets of meat and offal (including of marine mammals); greaves and tankage. Used for feed. |
| 1174 | Fish Meal | Flours, meals and pellets from fish, crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates. Used for feed. |
| 1175 | Blood Meal | Flours, meals and pellets obtained through dehydration of blood. Used for feed. |
| 0840 | Compound Feed, Cattle | Prepared animal feed designed to provide a balanced diet (complete feed). |
| 0841 | Compound Feed, Poultry | See 0840. |
| 0842 | Compound Feed, Pigs | See 0840. |
| 0843 | Pet Food | International trade classifications cover only dog and cat food. FAO trade data also cover food for other pets (i.e. fish, birds, etc.), whenever possible. |
| 0845 | Compound Feed nes | See 0840. See general note in the introduction. |
| 0846 | Gluten Feed and Meal | Generally, by-products of the wet milling of maize. Gluten feed consists of fibres, spent germ and steep liquor. Gluten meal contains endosperm protein fractions that remain following starch recovery (see Chapter 1.). |
| 0849 | Feed Yeast | Inactive dried yeast. |
| 0850 | Feed Supplements | Prepared animal feed that supplements the basic farm produced feed with organic or inorganic substances. |
| 0851 | Non-Protein Nitrogens | A mixture of different nutrients or substances that are used in making complete or supplementary feeds. |
| 0852 | Other Concentrates nes | See 0851. |
| 0853 | Vitamins | See 0851 |
| 0854 | Feed Additives | See 0851. |
| 0855 | Feed Minerals | See 0851. |