Introduction

• These are plants which either grow naturally or are cultivated by man to be used for feeding livestock.

• The term forage crops include pasture and fodder crops.

• Fodder crops are purposely grown for feeding livestock.

• They are cut or uprooted when ready

• Pasture is a ground cover of grass or a mixture of grass and legumes grazed directly or cut and fed to livestock.

Classification of Pastures

• According to type of stand.

- Either pure 

- Mixed stands.

• According to ecological zones .

- Low altitude,

- Medium altitude,

- High altitude pastures

• According to the establishment .

- Natural 

- Artificial pastures.

Examples of grasses 

• Napier,

• Rhodes,

• Setaria,

• Molasses,

• Congo signal,

• kikuyu,

• star,

• Guatemala,

• Sudan 

• Guinea.

Examples of legumes;

• Lucern,

• Clover,

• Desmodium,

• Glycine,

• Stylo,

• Centrio,

Pasture Establishment

     Seedbed Preparation

• This involves clearing the land, primary and secondary cultivation to a fine tilth because the seeds are small.

• This is done during the dry season.

     Selection of planting materials 

• Select seeds of high germination percentage,

• Free from impurities or buy certified seeds.

• If vegetative materials are used, select from high yielding, vigorous-growing and healthy plants.

    Treatment of legume seeds

• Legume seeds are inoculated with the correct strain of bacteria which fix nitrogen for the crop.

    Planting

• This is done at the beginning of the rains

     Methods of sowing are;

• Direct sowing,

• Under sowing,

• Over-sowing

Oversowing

       This is introduction of a pasture legume in an existing grass pasture.

Undersowing

       The establishment of a pasture in an already existing crop which acts as a cover crop.

     Seeds  rate depend;

• On purity of seeds, 

• Pasture species 

• Whether pure or mixed stand.

Apply phosphatic fertilizer when planting and later top-dress  with nitrogenous fertilizer.

Pasture management

• Re-seeding or gapping; Re-seeding is done if the grass is completely denudated.

• But if partially, gapping can be done

• Control of weeds by slashing, uprooting and mowing

• Fertilization of pastures-done by use of manures and nitrogenous fertilizer.

• Topping;This is the removal of stemmy fibrous material left behind after grazing.It allows new growth  after the rains

• Control of pests-done by trapping of moles, use of pesticides and biological means. 

Pasture Utilization 

• Pastures should be utilized at maturity when nutritive value is high. 

       It is utilized through the following methods: 

• Direct grazing - this can be done through rotational grazing or herding. 

• Zero grazing - this is where the pasture is cut and fed to the animals in the stalls. 

Common fodder Crops 

Edible Cana 

• Altitude: 1500 - 2000m above sea level.

• Establishment: Young tubers or bulbs are used. 

• Spacing: 1m x 1m. 

• Management: Does well with application of farmyard manure and requires fertile land. 

• Utilization: Tops and tubers are sliced and fed to livestock. 

• Conservation: Bulbs or tubers are sliced and stored. 

   Napier Grass 

• Altitude: 0 - 2000m above sea level. 

• Establishment: Stem cuttings or splits.

• Spacing: 1 m x 50cm. 

Management: 

• Apply phosphatic fertilizers during planting time. 

• Top-dress with nitrogenous fertilizers in split application. 

• Clean weeding when young. 

• Cut when 6-8 weeks or 1m-1.5m in height. 

• Utilization: Cut stem is fed to livestock. 

• Conservation: Ensiled when in plenty. 

Types of Napier Grass: 

• Bana grass (broad-leaved with hairy leaves) 

• Clone (thin-stemmed and hairless) 

• French Cameroon (thin-stemmed and not hairy). 

• Pakistan hybrid (thin-leaved with hairy leaves). 

• Used for silage making. 

Lucerne 

• Altitude: 1500 - 2500m above sea level. 

• Soil: Deep red soil are ideal. 

• Establishment: Inoculated seeds are planted 30-50cm apart in the rows. 

• Management: Weeding and fertilizer application. 

• Utilization: Cut wilted and fed to livestock before flowering stage. 

• Conservation: Hay, silage, dried materials such as cubes or pencils. 

 Mangolds 

• Is a root crop. 

• Root is utilized as livestock feed. 

• Ripe ones are used. 

 Kales 

• Leaves used as livestock feeds. 

 Guatemala Grass 

• Leaves and stems used as livestock feed. 

  Sorghum Grass 

Two varieties: 

• Columbus grass 

• Sudan grass. 

• Established from seeds which are drilled or broadcasted. 

• Columbus grass should be dried before feeding to animals to avoid hydrocyanic and prussic acid poisoning. 

Desmodium (Desmodium spp) 

Two varieties ;

• Green leaf 

• Silver leaf. 

• Established from seeds on thoroughly prepared clean beds. 

• Can also be inter-planted with Napier grass. 

• Cut and wilted before feeding to livestock. 

Agroforestry, trees used as fodder crops include: 

• Leucaenia 

• Calliandra 

• Atriplex 

• Sesbania. 

Forage Conservation 

Forage can be conserved as;

• Hay, 

• Silage 

• Standing forage. 

Importance of forage conservation: 

• To reserve excess forage for use during time of shortage. 

• To avoid unnecessary wastage of forage. 

• Conserved forage can be sold. 

• To have sustained supply of feed for livestock throughout the year. 

Methods 

Hay Making 

• This is the dehydration of green pastures to a moisture content of 16-20 per cent: 

Steps in hay making: 

• Cut the crop when the sun is shining. 

• Dry the materials for 1-2 days. 

• Windrow the dry material to allow for further drying. 

• Bale the dry materials for storage. 

• Store under shed or shelter. 

Factors Determining Quality of Hay 

• Stage of growth at which forage is harvested. 

• Leaf content of the forage material. 

• Method of handling and curing the hay. 

• Form in which material is fed to livestock. 

• Species of forage used. 

• Amount of foreign materials in forage. 

 Silage Making 

• This is a feed produced by conserving forage in succulent form through the process of fermentation by anaerobic bacteria. 

Steps in silage making: 

• Cut the crop and transport it to the silo, 

• Material with a high moisture content is wilted in the sun for 4-48 hours before ensiling . 

• Material is chopped to reasonable size pieces before filling in the silo. 

• Spread the chopped material evenly. 

• Check temperature if below 31°C, needs further filling; if above 31 °C compaction is necessary. 

• Filling should be complete by the end of the third or fourth day. 

• The silo is covered with 15cm of straw, sawdust then 15cm of soil to make it air and water tight. 

• A trench is dug round the silo to keep off surface water. 

Factors Affecting the Quality of Silage 

• Maturity stage of the crop when cut. 

• Type of crop. 

• Moisture content of the material 

• Additives such as molasses. 

• Degree of compaction. 

• Size of pieces ensiled. 

• Amount of foreign materials included in the silage. 

• Amount of leaf of the ensiled material. 

Standing Forage 

• This is forage left in the field to be used during the dry season.