Animal feed

Farm animals need food to grow.

This food is called feed. Some animals eat grass in fields.

This is called forage. Other animals eat fodder. Fodder is food brought to them. It can be hay or grain.

Farmers use corn and soy for feed. They also use food scraps. Some pigs eat scraps called slop. This helps animals stay healthy. Good food helps them grow strong.

Farm animals need food to stay healthy. This food is called animal feed.

There are two main types of feed. The first is forage. This is food animals find themselves, like grass in a field.

The second type is fodder. This is food that people bring to the animals. It can be hay, straw, or grains.

Farmers spend a lot of money on feed. It is often their biggest cost. Many farmers grow their own crops to save money. They might also use food waste. For example, they can use grain left over from making beer.

Some feeds are made in factories. These are called compound feeds. They mix grains like corn and soy with vitamins. This helps animals grow well. Corn and soy are very important. The United States sells a lot of these to other countries.

Feed can also help the earth. Feeding cows certain seaweed can lower their gas. This helps the air stay cleaner. But growing feed takes up a lot of land. This land could be used to grow food for people.

In some places, farmers even use bushes to make feed.

Animal feed is the food given to domestic animals like livestock. It is a vital part of animal husbandry, which is the way people raise animals.

Feed is often the biggest cost for a farmer. To save money, some farmers grow their own crops. Others let animals graze in fields or use food waste. For example, they might use spent grain from making beer.

Different kinds of food help animals stay healthy and grow. Good nutrition is very important for an animal's well-being.

There are two main types of feed called forage and fodder. Forage is food that animals find themselves, like grass.

Fodder is food that people cut and carry to the animals. This includes hay, straw, and silage. It can also be pellets or mixed rations. Some fodder is made by blending many different raw materials. These are called compound feeds. Companies make them in shapes like meals, pellets, or crumbles. They often add vitamins and minerals called premixes to the mix.

People have learned a lot about how to feed animals over time. In 1996, the United States passed the Animal Drug Availability Act. This was the first attempt to regulate medicated feed in that country. Later, in 1997, the U.S. and Canada banned certain animal tissues from cattle feed. This happened because of an illness called mad cow disease. In 2007 and 2009, Canada and the U.S. expanded these rules. These laws help make sure pet and animal food is safe.

Many different crops are used to feed animals around the world. Grains make up 11% of what livestock eat globally. Soybean products make up about 5% of the total.

Maize and soybean are the two most important feed grains. The United States is a huge exporter of these crops. In the years before 2012, the U.S. sold half of the world's maize. It also provided 40% of the global soybean trade. In 2011, the world produced about 734.5 million tons of feed.

Feeding animals can affect the planet and the environment. Growing feed crops uses land that could grow food for humans. This can lead to things like deforestation.

Some practices can also change the air. For instance, feeding cows seaweed can reduce their methane gas. However, feeding cows too much grain can make their systems more acidic. In places like Namibia, farmers use woody bushes as feed. This helps when there is not enough grass due to drought.

Animal feed refers to the food provided to domestic animals, specifically livestock, during animal husbandry. This practice is a fundamental part of animal agriculture. In many cases, feed represents the primary cost for raising or keeping animals.

To manage these costs, farmers use various strategies. They might grow their own crops or allow animals to graze on natural pastures. Some also use inexpensive substitutes, such as food waste from other industries. An example is spent grain, which is a byproduct of beer brewing.

There are two basic categories of animal food: forage and fodder. Forage is what animals find and eat for themselves, such as grass in a pasture.

Fodder refers to food that is cut and carried to the animals. This category includes hay, straw, and silage. It also encompasses compressed or pelleted feeds, oils, and mixed rations. Sprouted grains and legumes are another part of fodder. Globally, grass and crop residues serve as the most important sources of animal feed.

Farmers often use compound feed to meet specific nutritional needs. This is a type of fodder made by blending various raw materials and additives. Feed compounders manufacture these blends in several forms, such as meals, pellets, or crumbles. The main ingredients are usually feed grains like corn, soybeans, sorghum, oats, or barley. To ensure a balanced diet, producers often add premixes to the blend. Premixes are mixtures of microingredients, including vitamins, minerals, chemical preservatives, and antibiotics.

These are often purchased from specialized companies in sacked form.

Different species require different amounts of grain to produce meat. According to the FAO, ruminants need an average of 2.8 kg of grain to produce 1 kg of meat. In contrast, monogastrics require about 3.2 kg. These numbers can change drastically depending on the production system. In beef feedlots, the ratio can reach as high as 9.4 kg of grain per 1 kg of meat. Conversely, extensive ruminant systems may use only 0.1 kg.

Grain accounts for 11% of the total dry matter consumed by livestock globally. Oilseed by-products, such as soybean cakes, account for another 5%.

Historically, governments have stepped in to regulate what animals eat. In 1996, the United States passed the Animal Drug Availability Act. This was the first attempt in the U.S. to regulate medicated feed. In 1997, the U.S. and Canada banned certain animal tissues from cattle feed. This action followed outbreaks of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known as mad cow disease. Later, in 2007 and 2009, Canada and the United States expanded these bans. These rules prohibited the use of potentially infectious tissue in all animal and pet food, as well as in fertilizers.

Feeding practices have significant impacts on the environment and animal health. Modern practices, like fattening cows in feedlots on grains, can have detrimental effects. For example, high amounts of corn can make a cow's microbiome more acidic. This weakens their immune systems and makes them more likely to carry E. coli. However, other methods can help the planet. Feeding cows certain types of seaweed can reduce their production of methane, a greenhouse gas.

In Namibia, researchers have studied harvesting woody shrubs to use as feed during droughts.

Agriculture for animal feed also creates pressure on global land use. Feed crops require land that could otherwise be used to grow food for humans. This can lead to deforestation, soil degradation, and climate change. Environmental crises like droughts also impact the industry. A 2017 drought in Senegal reduced grazing lands and caused the price of manufactured feed to skyrocket. This forced many farmers to sell large portions of their herds. The feed industry remains a massive economic force, with the American Feed Industry Association noting that as much as $20 billion in ingredients are purchased annually.